The Balance Sheet

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The Balance Sheet

The Balance Sheet is the blog of the Local Government Commission staff. Click below to sign up to receive email alerts when new blog posts are released.

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For announcements and resources related to the impacts of COVID-19, visit our Local Government COVID-19 Resources page.

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Post Issuance Compliance Requirements for Tax Exempt Debt Issuance

Monday, February 10, 2020

Arbitrage rebate and yield restrictions aren’t things that most issuers have been concerned about over the past several years – very low investment earnings rates essentially eliminated concern about exceeding any limits on earnings from debt proceeds. Many NC issuers receive advantageous lower bond yields, and interest earnings rates recently have risen where an issuer may be receiving returns approaching or in excess of the related debt yield. It might be a good time to review the requirements for post-issuance compliance for both arbitrage rebate and yield restrictions. 

Issuers are limited to the amount of positive net yield they can earn on tax-exempt debt proceeds; anything over that limit must be paid back or “rebated” to the IRS. For NC issuers, this debt includes not only bonds, but also notes, installment financing agreements, leases, and other forms of debt that require a Form 8038G as part of the closing documents. Rebate requirements are effective at the date of issuance of the debt. Yield restriction rules also limit the amount of net investment income recognized but these rules don’t kick in until a later date, usually three years after the initial debt issuance. Arbitrage rebate and yield restriction calculations are two separate processes and cannot be combined.

Issuers, please...

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Changes to the Local Government Budget and Fiscal Control Act – GS 159-24 and 25 (S.L. 2019-19)

Friday, February 7, 2020

Session Law 2019-19, adopted by the General Assembly during its 2019 session, makes some changes to the Local Government Budget and Fiscal Control Act, primarily with regard to the duties, responsibilities, and qualifications of the local government finance officer. Specifically, the law does the following:

  • Clarifies that local units must have a finance officer, and that they can contract out almost all responsibilities of the position (responsibility for fulfilling duties still lies with the finance officer) (159-24 and 159-25(a)(9))

    Please note: we are finding during our unit visits and by other means that not all units have an appointed finance officer; that person must be bonded in accordance with GS 159-29(a) [GS 159-42(h) for housing authorities, and GS115C-442 for schools]. Any entity that that is subject to GS 159-24, must have an appointed finance officer in order to disburse funds (GS 159-25(a)(2)) among other responsibilities; schools follow a similar statute – GS 115C-436(a)(3). If your appointed finance officer leaves the organization,...

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Training Opportunity for ElectriCities Members

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Photo of Fayetteville Public Works employee at substation working

The 2020 ElectriCities Connections Summit will be held February 18-20 at the Cary Embassy Suites. This is a unique opportunity to gather with colleagues from across the area.

Five tracks are available - Finance & Customer Service, IT, Operations, Management & Workforce - plus some excellent general sessions. The full agenda is available online HERE. 

The finance & customer service track features the following sessions:

  • Financial Assessment for Sustainability A utility’s overall financial health can help ensure its current and future ability to provide reliable service to customers.
  • The Newest Strategies for Optimizing Collections Customer engagement plays a significant role in collections.
  • What’s in Your Piggy Bank? This session discusses the importance of a formal cash reserve policy and how it can relate to the...
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Good News for Units Recovering from Storm Damage!

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Operator on phone with computer screen showing approaching hurricane in rain and wind totals expectedThe NC Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR) has launched this year’s NCORR Grants and Loans to Distressed Local Governments programs. NCORR initially established these programs in 2019 to allocate funding appropriated by the General Assembly to assist counties and cities struggling to fund their recoveries from Hurricane Florence. Funding made available in 2020 is available through the grant program for units that were affected by Hurricanes Florence or Dorian.  Funding available through the loan program can be accessed by units recovering from Hurricanes Matthew, Florence, or Dorian or from Tropical Storm Michael.  
 
To be eligible for the grant program, the applicant must be:

  • A county (under G.S. 153A-10) or an incorporated municipality (under G.S. 160A-1(2)) and
  • Designated under...
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Local Government Finance Training Available - Hendersonville Area Beginning Jan. 21

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

 

Blue Ridge Community College Logo

Local Government Finance in NC is being offered at Blue Ridge Community College, Flatrock Campus, TEDC 337, starting Tuesday, January 21, 5:45 – 7:45 pm. Classes will run through March 10. Students will learn the basics of local government finance in North Carolina from a very practical perspective in this overview course. This is not a “debit and credit” accounting course, nor does it assume you have a formal accounting education or background. Rather, you will be introduced to the basic job functions that are typically housed in the finance department, with more attention given to those that are found in smaller governments. This course also will tie those functions back to the statutory requirements for all NC local governments, primarily the Local Government Budget and Fiscal Control Act (G.S. 159 Article 3). 

To register please click here. The course ID is ACC-8120-001. The class fee is $70 and no textbook is required. The instructor is John Buchanan, CPA, Finance Officer for the City of Hendersonville. For more information please contact MC Gaylord at Blue Ridge Community College at...

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LOGOS Account Information

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Thanks again to all the units that have submitted their account requests for the new LOGOS system. As noted in previous blog posts, LOGOS will launch on January 2, 2020, and will initially include a module for the semi-annual cash and investments report (LGC-203). Additional modules will be added over time to automate other reporting requirements and to offer additional functionality.

As of the December 31, 2019 report date, all LGC-203 reports will be submitted via LOGOS. We will no longer provide Excel report forms or accept emailed or mailed reports. (If you still need to submit a report for a date prior to December 31, 2019, you will need to use the Excel process. See our website, provided below, for details).

Here’s what’s next: 

On Wednesday, December 18, email messages were sent to all users who have been assigned accounts. If you requested an account and do not receive an email by Friday, December 20, please first check spam, then email LOGOS@nctreasurer.com if you have no email message. 

**Note that if you submitted a request on or after Dec. 18, your request will be processed, and you’ll...

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IMPORTANT! New LGC 203 Process for December 31, 2019 Reporting Cycle!

Monday, November 25, 2019

As of the December 31, 2019 report date, all LGC-203 reports will be submitted via LOGOS, a new online reporting system. We will no longer provide Excel report forms or accept emailed or mailed reports.

Finance officers will need to request user accounts for any individuals (including themselves) requiring access to the new system.  Information and instructions for establishing user accounts have been emailed to units at the email address included on their June 30, 2019 report. 

Thanks to all of the units that have already submitted their requests. Once you've submitted a request, you will receive an email either confirming that your requests have been processed or asking for a corrected request.  Please note that it is taking a few days to process and confirm requests, but you will receive a follow up email from us.

If you are a unit finance officer for a unit that files LGC-203 Cash and Investment reports and your unit did not receive this information by email, please let us know at LOGOS@nctreasurer.com.

More about LOGOS -

The staff of the Local Government Commission is automating our reporting processes and is pleased to announce that LOGOS (Local Government System), a web-based system, will launch in...

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Updated BOE Conversion Workbook Now Available

Thursday, November 14, 2019

The updated BOE conversion workbook is now available on our website.  You can access it here.  Please contact us with any questions!

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My audit is late - what happens now?

Monday, November 4, 2019

One of the most frequent questions we get this time of year is “my audit wasn't submitted by October 31st?  What happens now?"

While the contracted due date for all June 30 fiscal year end entities is October 31, not all units are able to submit their audits by this date, for a variety of reasons, most of which are fairly inconsequential.  If your audit will be submitted to us by December 1, 2019 you don't need to do anything.  We have a grace period from November 1 to 11:59 pm on December 1 during which time you can submit your 2019 audit with no additional documents or notifications needed.  We will not consider the audit to be late for purposes of writing unit letters or for purposes of amending audit contracts as long as it is received in our portal by 11:59 pm on December 1.  The portal will date and time stamp each document that is submitted.   

If your audit will not be in by December 1, you and your auditor will need to submit an LGC-205 Amendment to Contract to Audit Accounts.  You can access the form here, and its instructions ...

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Registration for Online Finance Class Now Open!

Monday, November 4, 2019

​Registration for this course opened on Friday, November 1, and can be accessed at http://cpcc.edu.  You also may call 704-330-4223 to register.  The course is FIN7900-80 - Local Government Finance.  Class will begin January 13, 2020 and end on May 4th.  The cost is $125

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