NCLM Southern City, Volume 72, Issue 1, 2022

SOUTHERN CITY QUARTER 1 2022 10 Preservation Tax Credit Program, so important to redevelopment projects, had the program expiration date extended several more years to 2030. A budget provision created a new employee benefit for firefighters by providing an insurance program for those with cancer diagnoses deemed to be work-related, providing state funding and avoiding a mandate on local employers, and doing so while not creating the cost uncertainty of making changes to workers’ compensation insurance. Other policy provisions would require the Local Government Commission to develop a new system for monitoring the fiscal health of local government units and prohibit state agencies and local governments from paying ransom associated with cyberattacks. By the time of its passage, the policy packed into the budget had also become noteworthy for what wasn’t there. After the House budget proposal included provisions to eliminate local stormwater programs, do away with local school siting authority, undermine local short-term rental rules, and eliminate local tree ordinances, all of those provisions were dropped. That success came only after a substantial effort by NCLM members to make their concerns known to legislators and how the policy changes would have detrimental effects in local communities. THE REST OF THE STORY While the state budget took up most of the chapters of this legislative session, other important chapters played out earlier. NCLM worked extensively with elections officials and legislators to put together a solution to the problems associated with delayed U.S. Census results and how delays in data would affect municipal elections in which councils are elected by districts. Substantial pieces of land-use legislation that would have damaged local decision-making also were defeated, failed to pass, or were modified—the most significant being a bill that would have continued from page 9 eliminated all single family-only zoning and put severe hurdles in the way of special use zoning that is crucial to mixed-use development. In the aftermath of 2020’s protest of police use of force, criminal justice reform became a key topic, with legislation approved that requires police departments to collect information about critical incidents, creates a statutory duty to intervene and report excessive force by law enforcement, provides additional mental health resources, adds screening requirements for law enforcement officers, and adds to training programs. NCLM Executive Director Rose Vaughn Williams reiterated how the legislative session’s high points came about due to hard work that occurred over several years. “This success would not have been possible without the work of our members engaging their legislators in positive dialogue for change. Our members set the highest priority goals for all cities and towns from across the state, and then followed up by working to make them a reality through the actions that occurred at the General Assembly,” she said. That hard work now continues with the utilization of these new resources to see lasting effects in communities across the state. Legislators want accountability, but they left it to us. This is not one-size-fits-all. » Karen Alexander, NCLM President Cities See Highly Successful Legislative Session

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