Local Government Purchasing and Contracting

This bulletin focuses on the legal requirements for Historically Underutilized Business [HUB] participation in local government contracting: Part I outlines the statutory requirements under North Carolina law for HUB participation in public construction and repair projects, and Part II examines the constitutional limitations placed on such programs by federal court jurisprudence. To have legally valid HUB programs, local governments must understand their obligations under both state and federal law.

This bulletin explains how the North Carolina public records laws apply to bids and proposals submitted to local governments in North Carolina and addresses specific questions regarding the obligations of North Carolina local governments to disclose those bids and proposals.

This bulletin provides an overview of the statutory requirements and procedures that currently apply to local government contracts in North Carolina and uses examples to show how local governments can modify the application of these statutes through local policies.

Examines the issue of when a public contract governed by North Carolina's competitive bidding requirements becomes binding on the governmental unit.

This reference book on North Carolina county and municipal government provides a comprehensive treatment of the legal foundations, organization, and the administration of the state's counties and cities. This book describes the legal framework and common administrative practices that are currently in use and explains what counties and cities in North Carolina do, and how they do it.

County and Municipal Government in North Carolina is designed to meet the needs of elected and appointed county and city board members and the employees who, on a day-to-day basis, carry out the functions mandated and authorized for North Carolina local governments. It will also appeal to citizens, civic leaders, high school and college students, state employees, legislators, members of the media, and any others who need basic information about the legal authority and responsibilities of North Carolina counties and cities.

This edition will also be available for purchase in its entirety as a PDF file, or you may buy individual chapters in PDF format.

Discusses some of the avenues the contractor and other disappointed bidders have for challenging decisions about bids, the legal basis for claims that may be brought by a disappointed bidder, and some defenses to those claims that may be asserted by a local government.

Discusses the legal standard for determining when bids are responsive and summarizes rulings in cases evaluating a variety of commonly encountered bid irregularities.

Examines statutes and case law from other jurisdictions in order to provide guidance to North Carolina public contracting officials who are faced with decisions about whether a withdrawn bid from a contractor based on a mistake is proper.

Addresses questions that arose after a 1997 law made several changes to the competitive bidding laws that apply to local government contracts, including a new exception commonly referred to as the "piggybacking" exception.