In times gone by, I worked for many years as outside counsel to a bank that made dozens of loans each year to local governments across North Carolina. Big loans, small loans, real estate loans, equipment loans, you name it. The wide majority of those loans were done...

As we get to the end of 2025 and the start of 2026, we offer this list of items to keep in mind as you plan for new capital projects and manage your existing projects and financings. Here are a few things to think about at least once a year: Put your unused financing...

There was quite the fanfare back in 2004, when we amended the State constitution to authorize our version of tax increment financing (called “project development financing” in our statutes, but we’ll call it TIF). Money was raised to support the ballot question,...

We have been interested in how cities and towns use incentives to spur downtown housing development. It’s not often you see a single tool that both addresses the housing issue and also helps with downtown invigoration. We understand some folks are hesitant to spend...

This is the next installment in our series spotlighting the different ways communities across North Carolina are tackling their housing needs. Here, we are highlighting an idea being implemented by our friends in the Town of Chapel Hill that expedites the review...

A recent article in The Assembly newsletter asked, “Why do politicians love the sales tax?” The article discusses Mecklenburg County’s upcoming referendum on an additional 1-cent sales tax for transportation uses. The whole piece is worth your time. There are a couple...

This is the next installment in our series spotlighting different ways communities across North Carolina are tackling their housing needs. Local governments across North Carolina have adopted “penny for housing” policies. These units range is size from Raleigh through...

C-PACE financing, also known as Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy financing, is a financing tool that allows property owners to borrow money for clean energy projects which is then repaid through a special assessment that appears as an addition to one’s...

This is the third installment in our series spotlighting the different ways communities across North Carolina are tackling their housing needs. Here, we are recalling one of our favorite projects in Waynesville, which we first wrote about in 2023 (read that post...

This is the second installment of our series spotlighting the different ways communities across North Carolina are tackling their housing needs. Here, we are highlighting the Town of Troy’s Smitherman Village rent-to-own program which is providing residents with an...