In December of 2024, Congress formally reauthorized the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) with strong bipartisan support. The EDA reauthorization (S. 3891), the first in 20 years, is included as part of the Water Resources Development Act (S. 4367). The Economic Development Reauthorizat … Read more

In a forthcoming book, I define performance management as a continuous and cyclical process of making data-informed decisions to improve organizational outcomes. These systems allow public managers to define the organization’s purpose, identify its priorities, set clear expectations, measure progres … Read more

This post, co-authored by Kristina Wilson and Tyler Mulligan, also appeared on the Coates’ Canons Local Government Law Blog here. The open meetings law requires all official meetings of public bodies to be open to the public. G.S. 143-318.10(a). However, government bodies can hold closed-door meetin … Read more

While the response to Hurricane Helene continues, local governments are looking ahead to the long road to recovery. In a report issued by the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM), Hurricane Helene Recovery Recommendations: Preliminary Damage and Needs Assessment, OSBM notes th … Read more

Hurricane Helene caused historic flooding in Western North Carolina, destroying or damaging approximately 126,000 residential properties. Many of those properties were occupied by tenants who now find themselves in unfit or uninhabitable properties. The owners of affected rental properties face the … Read more

Low wage workers are core to the U.S. economy and often serve in vital front-line occupations related to childcare, food service, retail, personal services, transportation, and agriculture. Women and people of color, especially Black and Hispanic residents, comprise a large portion of the low-wage w … Read more

It is not uncommon for charitable housing organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity, to request land from local governments with the intent of developing housing on the property and then selling it to low- and moderate-income homebuyers. Unfortunately, North Carolina local governments sometimes co … Read more

North Carolina property tax law, nicknamed the Machinery Act, contains many dozens of full or partial exemptions for property as diverse as free drug samples, uranium 233, and Loyal Order of the Moose clubhouses. This blog post attempts to identify which of these property tax breaks that might be re … Read more

Hurricanes. Floods. Wildfires. Tornados. Earthquakes. Droughts. Blizzards. Ice storms. Infectious disease outbreaks. Pandemics. Industrial accidents. Chemical spills. Structural collapse. Transportation accidents. Grid failure. Water contamination. Large-scale layoffs. Factory closures. Recession. H … Read more

In the past year, activity around local food systems increased dramatically. Government has been involved in supporting food systems for decades, but primarily through programs adopted at the federal level to both promote food production and protect the health of consumers. But having government wor … Read more