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North Carolina Government Finance News
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President Zachary Hewett Requests Your Input
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Our 2026 NCGFOA Summer Conference was an incredible success—and what a way to wrap up an outstanding week with the amazing performance by Punch! It was the perfect ending to several days of learning, collaboration, and reconnecting with colleagues from across North Carolina.
I want to extend my sincere thanks to everyone who helped make this conference possible. To our presenters, sponsors, volunteers, committee members, conference planning team, and my fellow Board members—thank you for your hard work, dedication, and countless hours behind the scenes. Events like this simply would not happen without your commitment to our association.
This year, approximately 500 local government finance professionals, including sponsors, gathered in Wilmington to strengthen their knowledge and professional connections.
Together, we participated in 19 educational sessions, learned from 31 outstanding speakers, earned nearly 13 hours of Continuing Professional Education (CPE), and spent more than 20 hours networking with peers from communities across North Carolina. If you attended the conference, I encourage you to complete the conference evaluation. Your feedback is invaluable as we continue improving future conferences and ensuring they provide meaningful educational opportunities for our members. As we celebrate another successful conference, we're also looking ahead. Over the past three years, NCGFOA has accomplished many of the goals established in our Strategic Plan. Now it's time to refresh that vision and identify the priorities that will guide our association into the future. Your voice is essential in that process. One of the best ways you can help is by completing the NCGFOA Conference Schedule and Structure Survey before the August 1 deadline. We've already received responses from 180 members, but with nearly 800 members statewide, we know there are many more perspectives to hear. Every response helps us better understand what our members value and where we should focus our efforts in the years ahead. Here is the link: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/g/rmiJEeQ1K1Thank you for your continued support of NCGFOA and for everything you do to advance our profession. I look forward to working alongside each of you as we build on our successes and continue shaping a strong future for our association. Zachary Hewett President, NCGFOA |
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New Statutory Compliance Resource
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The UNC School of Government has posted a new Statutory Compliance Checklist that offers local governments and auditors a practical tool to review key financial management requirements under North Carolina law. The resource is intended to support annual self-review, improve internal practices, and help auditors work with units to identify issues early and strengthen compliance over time.
The checklist has been released in draft form for FY 2026-2027. During the pilot year, the goal is to encourage use of the tool as part of a broader effort to improve understanding of legal requirements, strengthen internal financial practices, and identify areas where additional guidance or clarification may be helpful. Feedback will be gathered from local government officials, auditors, LGC staff, and other stakeholders before the tool is finalized. See this blog post for more information.
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Significant Changes Proposed to Uniform Guidance for Federal Funding
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From the National Association of Counties (NACO): "On May 29, 2026, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in coordination with every federal grantmaking agency, published a proposed rule in the Federal Register rewriting 2 CFR Part 200 — the Uniform Guidance. This is the largest revision to federal grant rules since the Uniform Guidance was first published in 2013.
The Uniform Guidance governs every federal grant, cooperative agreement and pass-through award that counties receive — covering public safety, transportation, housing, public health, workforce development, child welfare, emergency management and more. The proposed rule introduces new national policy requirements, modifies grant termination authority, integrates grants administration with the Treasury Do Not Pay system, reclassifies 2 CFR Subtitle A from guidance to binding regulation, and revises cost principles, audit requirements and pass-through entity responsibilities."
Along with many other organizations, NACO and GFOA have websites dedicated to the topic. The NACO site, linked here, includes a recording of a joint webinar hosted by NACO, the National League of Cities, ICMA, GFOA, IMLA and The United States Conference of Mayors. The sixteen page GFOA response can be found here. The OMB opened a comment period that closed on July 13, 2026. Your NCGFOA Advocacy Committee submitted a comment letter in response to the proposed federal grant funding regulations. The letter reflects extensive research and incorporates input from North Carolina local governments, state and national organizations, including GFOA, the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners, and NACO. The NCGFOA comment letter is available on the NCGFOA website here in this new advocacy resource. Statnews.com reports that 496,769 comments were submitted by the deadline. Because these proposed regulatory changes could have far-reaching implications for local governments, NCGFOA is committed to keeping members informed. An educational session on the proposed changes is scheduled for the Fall Conference. NCGFOA is exploring the opportunity to offer a webinar to provide timely updates and additional guidance. To stay informed about these educational opportunities and other important advocacy updates, be sure you are receiving NCGFOA emails from ncgfoa@nclm.org.
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Reminder: Cash And Investments Report is due July 25
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The LGC-203/COLL-91 Cash and Investments report for the June 30, 2026 reporting period is due on or before July 25, 2026. You can initiate and submit your unit’s LGC-203/COLL-91 report with information as of June 30, 2026, via the North Carolina Local Government System (LOGOS) beginning on July 1, 2026.
Find helpful information at this link on the nctreasurer.gov website.
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State Treasurer Blog Update
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In case you missed it, the State and Local Government Division of the State Treasurer's office has issued the following blogs since our last newsletter including:
Changes to GO Bond Sale Process
Effective September 1
Units of local government and the general public should be aware of upcoming changes concerning LGC staff involvement in competitive general obligation (GO) bond sales. Units are advised to discuss these changes with their bond counsel. Learn more here.
Blog posts on pension journal entry updates and pension fund disclosure amounts can be found here.
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UNC School of Government Blog Post Update
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Beyond the new blog about the new statutory compliance checklist mentioned above, be on the watch for a new blog post from Kara Millonzi on new mandated requirements for rounding in cash transactions. New state law SL 2026-31 sets specific rules around property tax cash payments and other payments.
Chris McLaughlin has posted about Affordable Housing Exemptions and "Truth in Taxation" in this link.
Crista Cuccaro has posted about statutory HUB language on this site.
Chris McLaurin has written about the General Assembly action to postpone reappraisals here.
Kara shared new process and disclosure requirements for certain outside water and wastewater rates in this early July blog post. |
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Beyond the Balance Sheet: Mark Your Calendar
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NCGFOA EVENTS:
September 24 - 25, 2026 NC CLGFO Examinations: www.sog.unc.edu/courses/finance-officer-certification-exams
November 17 - 19, 2026 NCGFOA Fall Conference, Asheville, NC. Registration will open by mid- September.
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OTHER EVENTS to support your professional development:
July 28 - 30, 2026 GFOA eLearning: Understanding Government Compensation and Payroll. GFOA.org
July 30, 2026, 9:00 AM
Classes beginning in August NCLM Advancing Municipal Leaders (AML), Learn more about this program and register at nclm.org/aml
August 3 - 5, 2026 Fundamentals of the Local Government Budget and Fiscal Control Act, Asheville, NC, or remote.
August 13, 2026 NCLM Municipal Finance: Comprehensive Fiscal Training for Local Governments, Hickory, NC. NCLM.org
August 20 - 22, 2026 NCACC Annual Conference, Durham County NCACC.org
August 25 - 26, 2026 NCLM Strategic Planning: A Workshop for Small Towns, Leland, NC NCLM.org
September 2026 - May 2027 UNC School for Finance Officers, Chapel Hill and online. sog.unc.edu
September 11, 2026 UNC SOG Strategic Planning for Local Government, Chapel Hill, NC sog.unc.edu
September 14 -16, 2026 UNC SOG Capital Financing in Local Government, Chapel Hill, NC sog.unc.edu
September 21 - 22, 2026 UNC SOG Preparing for Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Projects, Chapel Hill, NC and online, sog.unc.edu
October 9, 2026 UNC SOG Affordable Housing Seminar: Tools, Strategies and Case Studies for Local Government Leadership, Chapel Hill, NC sog.unc.edu
Classes beginning in August NCLM Advancing Municipal Leaders, Learn more about this program and register at nclm.org/aml
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Beyond the Balance Sheet: School of Government Office Hours
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Finance office hours, University of North Carolina School of Government (“SOG”) with Kara Millonzi, an opportunity for NC local government finance professionals to get guidance and share insights:
• Tuesday, July 28, 8:30-9:30am
• Tuesday, August 11, 8:30-9:30am
• Wednesday, August 19, 12:00-1:00pm
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NC Certified Local Government Finance Official Exams
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The next exam dates for certification are September 24th and 25th. See more about the process on the School of Government website.
Thank you Greg Allison and Shannon Morris for administering this program for NCGFOA.
Wondering who you know that is already a NCCLGFO? See the list on the ncgfoa.org website. Looking to see who has been certified and active the longest? For 35 years, Terri Goodman, CFO of Forsyth County, and Mike Wilson, Water and Sewer Authority of Cabarrus County, have maintained their certification.
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Survey Deadline - August 1 NCGFOA Wants to Hear From You
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If you haven't had a chance to complete the NCGFOA Conference Schedule and Structure Survey yet, there's still time—and we'd greatly appreciate hearing from you. First, thank you to everyone who has already participated! We have received more than 150 responses so far, and we're excited by the level of engagement. However, with more than 800 members across North Carolina, we know there are still many voices we haven't heard. We want this survey to reflect the diverse experiences and perspectives of our entire membership, so if you haven't had a chance to participate yet, we encourage you to do so. One of the goals of this survey is to ensure that future conference planning reflects the needs of our members. The Board is evaluating several aspects of our conference model, including conference frequency, scheduling, locations, conference length, and potential educational opportunities such as virtual programming and regional events. The decisions made by the Board will be guided by the feedback we receive. If you have an opinion about the future of NCGFOA conferences, this survey is your opportunity to help shape those decisions. Whether you attend every conference, occasionally attend, or haven't been able to participate recently, your feedback is important. Every completed survey helps us better understand what our members value most and where improvements can be made. The survey takes approximately 8–10 minutes to complete. Remember: - Your responses are anonymous.
- After submitting the survey, you'll have the opportunity to enter a separate drawing for one of five (5) $100 Amazon digital gift cards.
- Winners will be randomly selected during the week of August 10 and notified by email.
The survey closes Friday, August 1. Survey Link: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/g/rmiJEeQ1K1 On behalf of the NCGFOA Board of Directors, thank you for taking the time to share your perspective and help shape the future of our Association. We sincerely appreciate your participation and look forward to hearing from you.
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NCGFOA Summer Conference Report
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The 2026 Summer Conference just wrapped up 19 sessions with 31 expert speakers to serve 300 members in attendance. The conference provided attendees with 12.9 credit hours of CPE and 20 hours of networking time in receptions, an exhibit hall, breaks, meals and a dinner buffet with a live band. 64 sponsors helped us make this conference a bargain for your unit budget. Mark your calendars to join us next year July 25-27 in Wilmington now to work your audit schedule around this valuable opportunity of updates, education and connections. Check out more photos from the conference at on the NCLM site here and watch the newsletter next month for a business meeting update. If you went to the conference, please complete the conference evaluation that you can find via this QR code. A link and request will also come by email:
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Job Board Re-Branding
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NCGFOA's Career Center is powered by one of the industry's leading job board platforms, offering robust tools for both job seekers and employers. Job seekers can search for opportunities using a variety of filters, including distance from a ZIP code, access complimentary resume reviews, and post confidential resumes that can be viewed by prospective employers. These are just a few of the many features available through the platform. You may notice a new look when visiting the Career Center in the coming weeks. The platform provider, YM Careers, is rebranding to Momentive. While the name and appearance may change, the features and functionality you rely on will remain the same, so there is no cause for concern or change in the process to post your next position.
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