The North Carolina League of Municipalities works each year to provide members with the best information, resources, and knowledge to help all municipalities across the state succeed in their individual goals.
Each year, we like to demonstrate a high-level overview of the work being done across each team within the League for our members.
NEW SERVICE LINES
Since 2021, the League has worked to build a team of subject matter experts to help cities and towns in North Carolina utilize their American Rescue Plan funds appropriately and effectively.
The League’s Technical Assistance for Cities department houses the ARP field services team that visited 464 different municipalities in 2023 and conducted 590 site visits in total. These site visits include providing the assistance we offer through various ARP Service Lines:
- The Legal Services saw 14 towns sign on for assistance.
- The Grant Writing Services connected 53 members to Witt O’Brien’s, the League’s grant services provider, for a consultation or are in grant identification/pursuance.
- 34 towns began Municipal Accounting Services (MAS) software conversion, with seven conversions fully completed by the end of 2023.
- 27 towns utilized Cybersecurity Services (outside of MAS towns, which are provided cybersecurity assessments through the program).
- The League hired a Communications & Multimedia Strategist in 2023 to help towns tell the story of how they have made transformational investments in their communities with their ARP funds across North Carolina. Let the League help you share those stories and encourage growth and prosperity across the state.
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
In February 2023, the League held its annual Town & State Dinner which had 444 members and 80 legislators in attendance. This year, Town & State Dinner: From Jones St. to Main St. is traveling across the state and hosting five different events throughout March and April. Town & State Dinner provides the opportunity for local leaders to connect with their state legislators to aid in building impactful relationships between local
and state governments.
To help orchestrate relations between the local and federal levels, the League hosted Congressional Luncheons, one in May with Representative Valerie Foushee, and one in June with Representative David Rouzer.
To continue to foster the relationships and professional training of local leaders across the state, the NC Mayors Association met five times throughout the state in 2023. The Metro Mayors coalition met twice in 2023.
The League attended two NLC Conferences in 2023. In March, 101 of our members gathered at the NLC Congressional Cities Conference for our NC Leadership Reception. In November, we hosted another NC Leadership Reception at the NLC City Summit.
The GA team tracked 325 municipal-related bills in the 2023–2024 long session, kept League members up to date on matters within the General Assembly, and lobbied municipal issues on behalf of cities and towns.
STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS AND MEMBER ENGAGEMENT
More than 400 League members attended CityVision 2023. Adding in guests, speakers, special guests, non-members, staff, and vendors, the total attendance soared to just at 600. This year, CityVision 2024 will be held in Winston-Salem, April 23–25, register online at cityvision2024.com.
The Inaugural Risk Management Services Trust Matters Conference was held October 5, 2023, in Durham, and hosted 93 members and staff for a daylong training on risk management topics.
Through the League’s Advancing Municipal Leaders program, we’ve educated at least 373 members via On-Demand courses (Ethics and Utility Management Best Practices with DEQ) and Webinars (Ethics and others); held 10+ in-person courses, and launched the Advancing Municipal Leaders (AML) Certification Program for elected and appointed municipal officials.
LEGAL
The League’s Legal teamwork included in-house advising of NCLM departments. League attorneys also trained municipal officials through popular offerings within Advancing Municipal Leaders learning platform, including the on-demand Ethics for Municipal Officials course. The team also provided 200+ direct legal consultations for 120 towns.
BUSINESS SERVICES
The League’s Business Services team, whose work includes the handling of insurance questions, renewals, as well as serving as main points of contacts for all NCLM programming, logged big numbers, with consultants having made 622 member visits during the 2023 calendar year.
RISK MANAGEMENT SERVICES
Risk Control & Public Safety:
The League’s Risk Control Field Services division, whose work includes risk management consulting and training, recorded nearly 1,165 member consultations providing guidance and resources to members one-on-one.
They also included:
- 4 Law Enforcement Risk Reviews were completed with 27 new agencies now in progress with Risk Review completion expected in 2024.
- 5 Fire Department Risk Reviews began in 2023 and remain in progress with completion expected in the spring of 2024.
- 5 HR-related training events took place, including Employment Liability and Recruitment and Retention.
- 37 RMS training events including Flagger Training, OSHA-10 courses, Driver Training classes, and Sewer Backup training.
Workers’ Compensation:
The Workers’ Compensation Trust provides members with fair, competitive rates and personalized safety training to help reduce accidents, injuries, and municipally focused risk exposures. The League covered 475 towns and completed 471 premium audits in 2023.
WC Claims Processing in 2023:
New: 970
Closed: 915
Total Open Pending: 741
Property and Causality
The Property & Casualty Trust has decades of proven service showing NCLM is the expert in North Carolina for municipal risk management. The League covered 423 members in 223.
PC Claims Processing in 2023:
New: 2,230
Closed: 2,439
Total Open Pending: 761
Health Benefits Trust
The Health Benefits Trust (HBT) is a self-insured, member-governed health insurance pool that is 100% committed to providing the insurance coverage options that our member cities and towns need.
- 400+ member groups with over 10,000 lives in the Health Benefits Trust program: medical, dental, vision, life,
and disability - HBT Field Consultants attended +230 member visits
- Wellness Grants provided over $55,000 in funds to 30+ groups
