Update on Purchasing Computer Equipment and TVs

As I mentioned in my last post, Session Law 2010-67 (S887/H1426) requires the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to develop a list of manufacturers who are in compliance with certain new requirements pertaining to recycling of used equipment and televisions and to post this list on the Department’s website.  The list is now available here (click on “List of Registered Manufacturers” on the left-hand side of the page).

(Electronic) Notice of Subdivision Construction Development Fees Revisited

In 2009, the General Assembly enacted new electronic notice and public comment requirements with respect to the imposition of, or increase in, certain fees and charges assessed by local governments, and (at least potentially) sanitary districts and water and sewer authorities. See S.L. 2009-436 (S698) (hereinafter “2009 Act”). I blogged about the new requirements last fall—see here and here. I divided my analysis of the legislation into two parts because I believed there were at least two conflicting interpretations with respect to the types of fees and charges (and, correspondingly, types of entities) to which the new requirements applied.

This year the General Assembly revised the legislation to alter the notice requirements. See S.L. 2010-180 (H1766) (hereinafter “2010 Act”). The General Assembly did not clarify, however, the types of fees and charges to which the requirements apply—leaving local governments to once again speculate as to the scope of the legislation. Read more »

2010 Local Government Purchasing and Contracting Legislative Update

[Updated 8/26/2010 to include link to list of approved computer equipment manufacturers and television manufacturers.]

This wasn’t a big year for changes to local government purchasing and contracting in North Carolina, although there were significant changes affecting North Carolina state agency purchasing and contracting.  Since this blog focuses on local governments, this post highlights those small changes affecting them, and mentions in passing the changes affecting State entities. Read more »

Zoning Religious Land Uses

From the nation’s largest city to North Carolina’s smallest towns, land use regulation of religious uses can be particularly contentious. While the siting a mosque in lower Manhattan morphed from a local zoning dispute into a national political and policy debate in the past few weeks, the town of Coats (population 2,126) in Harnett County found itself in federal court defending its zoning restrictions on locating places of worship in its small downtown area.

Religious uses have land use impacts, just as their secular counterparts. Large places of worship create the same traffic, noise, and congestion issues as do other places of assembly of comparable size. The fact that a community center, event space, school, daycare, homeless shelter, or food pantry is sponsored by a religious rather than a secular organization usually makes no difference in its land use impacts. So a basic proposition that religious land uses should be subject to the same land use regulations as their comparable secular counterparts makes sense and is noncontroversial, right?

Read more »

Are N.C. property tax assessments underwater?

For two years now we’ve read story after story about the increasing number of homes that are mortgaged for far more than they are now worth.  A recent report by the N.C. Department of Revenue suggests that for the first time a similar problem may be afflicting property tax assessments across the state.  Last year, real property tax assessments exceeded market value in 31 of North Carolina’s 100 counties.  These figures suggest that many city and county tax bases are overvalued.  What does this mean for local government finances in North Carolina? Read more »

Individual Board Member Access to Email

Imagine that you’re a local government IT administrator, clerk, manager, or other employee, and your job requires you to have access to employee and board members emails for your unit of local government. A member of your governing board contacts you and says, “I need to review all the emails sent to or received by the HR director during the past week.” Your first instinct is – “Hey, this is my boss – an elected official – asking me for information. I’d better provide it!” “But then again,” you think, “Some of this information might be confidential. Some of it might be personal.” Then you have another thought, “How do I know if the board member has a legitimate reason for asking, or is she just out to get this particular employee?” Who is allowed to have access to email? How should you respond?

The short answer is: An individual board member is just like any other member of the public when he or she requests individual access to employee emails. The board may have access to some emails that the public doesn’t, but an individual board member doesn’t have any special access unless a majority of the board has authorized it. A different rule applies to school board and community college board members with regard to personnel records, because of the language in the statutes that govern those types of agencies. Here’s the long answer. Read more »

2010 Public Health Legislation: Vaccines and Pimiento Cheese

I am in the process of coordinating the Local Government Legislative Review Webinar scheduled for this Thursday, August 12 from 10-12 (it’s not too late to register!).  We have a fantastic and diverse lineup of presenters talking about everything from ABC changes to zoning for video sweepstakes.  As the faculty coordinator for the program, I was feeling some pressure to present some content about public health or animal control law. After working through the agenda, I ultimately decided not to present my riveting update on the regulation of pimiento cheese sandwiches. But, for those of you who are just dying to know what happened, I’ll tell you here. I’ll also review some important changes to our state’s vaccine program. Read more »