Property Tax Alert: North Carolina

October 2004

A solid waste availability fee assessed by Halifax County, on all parcels of land in the county was unlawful. The fee had been imposed pursuant to a statute that authorized the imposition of such a fee for the availability of a disposal facility. However, the statute also provided that the fee imposed could not exceed the cost of providing the facility. Although there was a dispute as to the cost of operating the solid waste facility, there was no dispute that the funds generated by the imposition of the fee exceeded the costs of providing the facility. As such, the county violated the explicit statutory mandate and the imposition of the fee was unlawful.

Please contact Rash & Associates for more information.