RALEIGH, (SGRToday.com) - The UNC School of Government's Local Government blog has taken on the subject of "good cause" and late property tax exemptions.

Blogger Chris McLaughlin, associate professor of public law and government, begins the blog this way:

"The Machinery Act rarely gives local governments much discretion. Most often our property tax statutes proscribe exactly what should happen in a given situation.

There are a few tax collection situations in which local governments have flexibility, however.  Consider the unfettered authority of tax collectors to waive the 10% penalty for bad checks (G.S. 105-358) or the option for local government boards to waive discovery bills.  G.S. 105-312(k).

Another of these discretionary situations is the topic of today’s blog post: decisions by governing boards to allow late exemption applications for “good cause.”  G.S. 105-282.1(a1).  That statute does not define “good cause”, leaving it up to local governments to decide for themselves what facts justify late applications."

To read McLaughlin's full blog, visit canons.sog.unc.edu.