When is That Guy Going to Finish His Remodeling Job??

The story goes something like this:  Jones, who is something of an eccentric guy anyway, lives in a relatively good neighborhood. But his house has never really fit into the area. His house looks like a work in progress with no clear design plan. He apparently is in the process of remodeling and expanding the house himself. This project of his has gone on for several time. It seems as if the piles of construction materials scattered around the yard have been there forever. These do-it-yourself guys will drive you crazy. Isn’t there something that the government can do to make him finish the job or to revoke his permit? Read more »

Animal Control: Who is Responsible?

When I teach about animal control law in North Carolina, I often describe the work as multifaceted. The individuals involved wear various hats – they are animal control officers, animal cruelty investigators, communicable disease investigators, public safety officials, animal welfare specialists, shelter administrators, and community peacemakers. Given the wide range of responsibilities, who should be responsible for the work of animal control:  Law enforcement?  Public health?  An animal welfare organization? A separate county department?

North Carolina local governments have answered this question many different ways. In the last year, I have received quite a few inquiries on this topic as some local governments began revisiting their decisions, exploring new options, and making changes. I was curious about this increased call volume and thought it would be worth trying to pull together some baseline data about local government administration of animal control. The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners generously agreed to include some questions in its annual survey that focused on this issue.  The responses provide an interesting snapshot of a local government field that is tremendously diverse. They also raise an interesting legal question:  may a county health department delegate its rabies control responsibilities? Let’s first look at the survey responses and then we’ll dig into the legal issue.

Read more »

The Mysteries of Comp Time Revealed

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires all employers to pay employees time-and-one-half their regular rate of pay for all hours over 40 that employees work in a given week, unless an employee satisfies the FLSA’s salary basis test and one of either the executive, administrative or professional duties tests. Employees who meet the requirements of these tests are called “exempt employees” (that is, exempt from the FLSA’s overtime requirements) and need not be paid overtime if they work in excess of 40 hours in a week (for how to determine whether an employee is exempt or nonexempt under the FLSA, see my article here).

The FLSA (at section 207(o)) allows government employers an alternative way to compensate nonexempt employees for hours worked in excess of 40 that it does not allow private-sector employers: use of compensatory time-off or, as it is more commonly known, comp time. Comp time allows public employers to provide paid time-off in lieu of the cash overtime. When a government employer uses compensatory paid time-off instead of cash overtime, the time-off must be credited at the rate of one and one-half hours of compensatory time for each hour of overtime work — just as the cash rate for overtime is calculated at the rate of one and one-half times the regular rate of pay. It is a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act for an employer to compensate a nonexempt employee for overtime hours with hour-for-hour comp time. See here for the U.S. Department of Labor’s comp time regulation.

This post addresses common issues related to the use of comp time by government employers. Read more »

How Much Repair is Too Much Repair?

Hershel Greene runs a small animal hospital out on the edge of town. When the business first opened thirty years ago, he had a large billboard advertising the business installed out by the road.  Herschel had been heavily involved with other pressing matters recently and the sign has fallen into considerable disrepair.  Hershel had the local sign company come out to give him an estimate on fixing up the sign.  They suggested that given the poor condition of the sign structure, he should consider scrapping it and replacing it with a modern sign.  When Hershel called the city to ask about getting permits for a new sign, he was told that the city sign regulations that were adopted ten years ago no longer allow this type of billboard.  The city staff then told him this was a “nonconforming” sign and that while he could fix it up some, replacement would not be allowed.

 Can the city allow repairs but prohibit replacement of this sign? Read more »

New SOG Publication on HUB Participation Requirements . . . And Other SOG Purchasing and Contracting Resources

Which of the following statements is true?

Smoking Law Update: N.C. Court of Appeals Clarifies the Private Club Exemption

Smoking has been prohibited in most North Carolina restaurants and bars for three years now, since January 2010. The legislation that imposed the smoking ban (S.L. 2009-27) included an exemption for non-profit private clubs—an exemption that began provoking questions before the law even went into effect. In recent months, the North Carolina Court of Appeals has answered two key questions:

• Does the law’s distinction between nonprofit and for-profit private clubs deny equal protection of the law to the owners of for-profit private clubs?
• Must a country club be nonprofit to qualify for the private club exemption?

The Court of Appeals’ answers to these questions are no and yes, respectively. In Liebes v. Guilford County Department of Public Health,[1] the Court of Appeals held that there is a rational basis for the legislature’s decision to treat for-profit and nonprofit private clubs differently, and that the distinction therefore does not violate a for-profit club owner’s right to equal protection. In Edwards v. Morrow,[2] the court concluded that the law requires country clubs as well as other types of private clubs to be nonprofit in order to qualify for the exemption. The North Carolina Supreme Court denied review in both cases. Read more »

When Does An Appraisal Error Justify a Refund?

Which of these appraisal errors justifies a property tax refund?

1.  Taxpayer is taxed for property that did not have a taxable situs in the jurisdiction.

2.  Taxpayer is taxed for a house that burned the prior December.

3.  Taxpayer has vacant land but is taxed for the land plus a house.

4.  Taxpayer has an unfinished attic but was taxed for a finished attic.  Finish was never verified by appraiser.

5.  Taxpayer has a 1,500 square-foot house but the assessor appraised it at 1,750 square feet based on the size of similar houses in the same neighborhood. 

Most property tax professionals would agree that a refund is justified in situations 1, 2 and 3.  So do I.  But situations 4 and 5 are tougher nuts to crack.  Read more »