Finance is a cornerstone of local government operations, cutting across multiple departments within a unit and defining the duties of many local government officials and employees. This book provides an overview of budgeting and financial management laws applicable to local governments and public authorities in North Carolina.

This book reviews and explains the principal public records statutes applicable to records held by North Carolina local governments and examines the public's right of access to those records. It expands the coverage of the first edition and its cumulative supplement and also includes developments in the law since 2004. Although the book focuses on records held by local governments, state government officials also will find it useful.

"Chapter 160D of the North Carolina General Statutes is the first major recodification and modernization of city and county development regulations since 1905. The endeavor was initiated by the Zoning and Land Use Section of the N.C. Bar Association in 2013 and emanated from the section's rewrite of the city and county board of adjustments statute earlier that year. This bill summary and its many footnotes are intended to help citizens and local governments understand and navigate these changes."--Page vii.