Kara Millonzi is the Robert W. Bradshaw Jr. Distinguished Professor of Public Law and Government at the School of Government. She is an expert on local government finance law, general county law, school finance, utilities finance, development finance, and incorporation. 

As a faculty member, she administers the Coates’ Canons Local Government Law Blog and has authored well over 100 posts on issues related to local government law and finance. Millonzi also administers NC Finance Connect, an online community portal centered around the topic of local government finance. She has authored numerous publications, including A Guide to Billing and Collecting Public Enterprise Utility Fees for Water, Wastewater, and Solid Waste Services, Introduction to Local Government Finance (4th edition), and The Governance and Funding Structure of North Carolina Public Schools. She teaches several core finance courses and directs the NC County Attorneys Conference and Fundamentals Workshop and Local Government Finance Officers Conference each year. 

Millonzi is the lead faculty member for Lead for North Carolina, a fellowship program that aims to recruit, train, and place the state’s most promising young leaders in paid local government fellowships as a means of strengthening our public institutions, supporting our local communities, and cultivating a new generation of public service leaders. Before joining the School, Millonzi practiced law with Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, LLP in Boston and clerked for the Honorable Louis F. Oberdorfer, United States District Court for the District of Columbia. She is a member of the North Carolina State Bar and the Bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

She joined the School of Government in 2006. Millonzi earned a bachelor's degree, summa cum laude, from the University at Buffalo and a master's degree in economics from the University of Maryland at College Park. She earned a J.D. with highest honors, Order of the Coif, from UNC-Chapel Hill, where she served as editor in chief of the North Carolina Law Review.

Selected Publications

Millonzi, Kara. 2018. Introduction to Local Government Finance (4th ed). The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Government.

Millonzi, Kara. 2008. A Guide to Billing and Collecting Water, Wastewater, and Solid Waste Utilities. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Government.

Coates Canons Local Government Law Blog.