Going into a New Year, everyone has an interest rate prediction. We thought we’d look at expectations for construction costs instead. Aided by the 0.5% Federal Reserve cut in the Federal funds rate in November, the second such cut of the year, Q3 of 2024 saw the...

As we get to the start of 2025, 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: Do something with unused financing proceeds. Why pay...

Brad Briner will be our new North Carolina State Treasurer starting in January. Naturally (for us) we thought we’d offer some completely unsolicited advice for how the Treasurer’s office, through the Local Government Commission, could make life better for the LGC’s...

Learning about our new State Treasurer – Brad Briner won the election to succeed Dale Folwell, who did not seek re-election.  Briner was the Republican candidate, and he’ll take over in early January.  You can read more about Briner and some thoughts on issues facing...

We now have a schedule for the  2025 meetings of the Local Government Commission. We thought a table might be handy. In addition to the meeting dates, this table shows the application due dates. We’ve also noted the dates 45 days prior to the meeting dates...

Usually people run for county or municipal office because of their interest in government activities or programs – they want to advocate for schools, or parks, or affordable housing. Some have a general sense of wanting to give back or be involved in what’s going on...

North Carolina local governments are all too familiar with FEMA’s role in reimbursing local government costs of natural disaster remediation. We know that FEMA is good for the reimbursement payments (so long as you follow their rules), but it can take years to receive...

The role of parking as it relates to a growing downtown has always been a topic of debate, regardless of the community you call home. We’ve written about the dangers of using valuable land for surface parking in the past but have also acknowledged that parking is...

There’s a provision in the statutes that says many financing arrangements with a term of less than five years don’t need LGC approval. This provision has been in the law since well before installment financing under Section 160A-20 was approved by the State Supreme...

One often wonders what problems an unexpected piece of legislation is designed to address – especially when something as broad as the new 159-154 (found in Section 5(a) of Session Law 2023-138) sweeps into town. This legislation now requires Local Government...