We’ve written before, and wondered with something like despair, if we would ever be able to have a productive discussion about diversifying local revenue sources in North Carolina. The situation for local governments is only getting worse....

Federal tax law, and North Carolina state law, allow tax-exempt bonds to be issued to benefit privately owned, for-profit housing developments. The very popular 4% low-income housing tax credit program in fact requires that bonds be issued to finance housing...

This is the first installment in our series spotlighting different ways communities across North Carolina are tackling their housing needs. We heard about Morganton’s Housing Stimulus Program that offers forgivable loans to developers for water, sewer, and streets...

Our friends at the LGC have recently announced policy and process changes that will be useful to local governments in getting financings approved. Reducing the audit blackout period It has been LGC policy for some time that you couldn’t get a financing approved in...

We were glad to be in Sylva on June 18 for a Housing Summit hosted by Western Carolina University and the Southwestern Commission Council of Governments. Bob provided the keynote address (slides available on our LinkedIn) and were pleased to see and be around so many...

Local government disclosures regarding tax collections, outstanding debt, and any pension plans have always been important for complying with applicable disclosure rules and regulations. Climate and cybersecurity risks are two newer topics that have found their way...

As local governments face budget challenges caused by the slowdown in sales tax collections (and associated hold-harmless funding), the end of ARPA-related funding, and potential instability in Federal aid, a healthy fund balance may be more important than before. But...

We’ve all seen those signature blocks for attorneys at the end of contracts, under the caption “Approved as to Form.” But what does it mean? In Frayda Bluestein’s  2009 blog on this topic she wrote that the caption suggests “ a limited approval – approval as to form...

The State statutes and the tax-exempt bond rules generally provide that borrowed money can only be used to pay “capital costs” of a project. But what is a “capital cost,” or a “capital expenditure,” exactly? Let’s split the question into a few sections. For new...

We were among the 800+ folks at the North Carolina Main Street conference March 11-13 in Mooresville. So many interesting sessions and bits of advice, including the following:      If you don’t trust the private partner in your public-private...