If you haven’t reexamined your community engagement practices during COVID, you should! It’s not too late. When it comes to community engagement practices, finding a balance between practical and effective can be difficult even under the best of circumstances. Throw a...

We’ve posted before (here and here) on the relationship between public records and confidential lawyer information. Though not a novel topic, it does seem to pop up in a different context every so often.  Recently, the State Bar Council of the North Carolina State Bar...

We at Sanford Holshouser LLP are pleased to announce that Sam Smotherman has joined our Firm as an associate attorney. He’ll be working primarily on our local government finance projects, but also contributing to our work on community economic development and...

Happy New Year! As 2021 begins, we offer this list of items to keep in mind as you plan for new capital projects and manage your existing projects. Here are a few things to think about at least once a year: Compliance with financing covenants. If you have any...

Over the last few months, we have worked as bond counsel with two towns that wanted to assemble land for economic development, and that needed to borrow money to pay for the land. The towns took different approaches that illustrate the flexibility available for this...

The LGC’s policy has been to not approve financings in November (or later) for a local government until it has approved that unit’s new audit. The LGC’s refusal to approve new borrowings is one of the few tools the Treasurer’s office has to force local governments to...

“When you’re alone and life is making you lonely, you can always go downtown. When you’ve got worries, all the noise and the hurry seems to help, I know, downtown.” Downtown plays a vital role in our lives and the health of our communities.  It is a major...

North Carolina local governments rarely have cash flow problems. Fund balances, on-going sales tax receipts and the predictability of property tax collections in January allow localities to manage their cash with predictability and a healthy safety margin. We all hope...

            We’ve had a few questions recently about funding sidewalk projects.  Sidewalks are expensive, so it’s hard to rely on stretched general fund tax revenues to fund sidewalks on a pay-as-you-go...

Keep your local authorities and nonprofits in good working condition Every county has an industrial authority (whether you know it or not). Most cities and towns will have a housing authority (sometimes whether you know it or not). Did you ever create a nonprofit...