A Year of Progress: NCLM 2025 Highlights

SUPPORTING RECOVERY AFTER HURRICANE HELENE 
In the wake of Hurricane Helene, the League established a dedicated western NC team—Regina Mathis, Desmond Worrell, and Patricia Cantrell—to provide hands-on guidance to impacted towns on FEMA compliance, emergency coordination, and reimbursement. To do this, we partnered with leading experts: Witt O’Brien’s and ICF for FEMA Public Assistance and grant navigation; Parker Poe for disaster-related legal issues; and N-Focus for capacitybuilding, inspections, and planning. Together, these collaborations ensured municipalities had the resources and expertise needed to rebuild stronger.

CONTINUED SUCCESS WITH MUNICIPAL ACCOUNTING SERVICES (MAS) 
The League’s MAS program provided direct support to members, including providing new accounting software implementation and training, audit support, catch-up accounting, cybersecurity and guidance on best practices. More than 60 members attended the Black Mountain Software User Conference to gain insights into their new software.

The League’s Accounting Instruction & Mentorship (AIM) program delivered oneon-one mentoring and hands-on training to strengthen municipal finance departments. In 2025, 18 municipalities participated, bringing the total to 44 since its launch. AIM participants attended 10 specialized Lunch and Learn trainings, which will continue into 2026 as both live and on-demand courses for future AIM cohorts. 

Going through [AIM] has allowed me to know what I'm doing well, what I can sharpen on, and as a result, each time we're done with our training, I feel a little bit more confident. » Joel Killion, Bailey town administrator and CFO

With the [new] software and the League’s help, when you call and they're there to assist you and help you, it makes the whole package worth it. We've come a long ways. » Wendy Holland, Pikeville town clerk

PRIORITIZING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Education and leadership development remained a top priority in 2025 through the Advancing Municipal Leaders (AML) program—more than 1,500 members from 347 municipalities attended an AML course this year! And there were plenty to choose from with 40 different in-person workshops and webinars covering municipal finance, customer service, strategic planning and more.

CityVision, the League’s annual conference, hosted 604 attendees, speakers and special guests across 20+ sessions over two days in Greenville, NC. Additionally, we were able to celebrate those who earned a certificate of municipal achievement and excellence, as well as the municipalities that adopted AML's "Commit to Civility" resolution. 

ADVOCACY
The 2025 legislative long session was marked by yet another tough battle over land-use planning authority, but municipal officials, acting in concert with NCLM staff, successfully staved off this unprecedented attack on local decision-making. Engaging with legislators, we explained the consequences to local economies, existing home values and the ability to plan for major economic development projects and their infrastructure needs. In addition, the League’s Government Affairs team tracked 300+ bills during the long session.

More than 400 League members and state legislators attended the League’s Town & State Dinner, held in Raleigh in late February. The event provides a chance for state and local leaders to break bread and discuss policy issues, further strengthening their relationships.

RISK MANAGEMENT SERVICES
The League’s Risk Management teams, whose work includes the handling of insurance questions and claims, renewals, as well as providing vital safety information and training to protect both people and property, had another outstanding year of supporting members.

The Business Services team conducted 513 visits to 371 municipalities and conducted nearly 70 claim and policy reviews, while the Claims department managed more than 1,800 workers’ compensation claims and more than 2,800 property and casualty claims.

Our Field Services team took to the road providing 25+ member trainings across the state, on HR liability, OSHA-10 Standards, safe driving and law enforcement best practices. The team also launched the Municipal DriveSafe fleet management safety campaign, which highlights safety tips, template forms and policies, and a fleet management toolkit to educate members about preventing dangerous and costly driving-related claims.

The League’s Shield Services team conducted 17 law enforcement agency risk reviews with 105 more in the pipeline and four fire department risk reviews. The League’s risk review programs assess a department’s adherence to best practices and policies to mitigate liability exposures, enhance employee safety and ensure that training and operating procedures meet industry standards.

As we move forward into 2026, the League remains committed to identifying new and expanding existing programs to continue supporting local governments. Thank you to our members, municipal staff and elected officials for your leadership throughout 2025.