Day: August 15, 2013

Peak-season soil-test fee coming this fall

The 2013 Appropriations Act passed by the General Assembly approved a $4 fee for soil samples analyzed by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for the period from December through March. The fee is an attempt to lessen the backlog associated with the busy season when the lab is routinely inundated with tens of thousands of samples. The rest of the year — April through November — NCDA&CS will continue to analyze soil samples without a fee.

Five great financial freebies

There are free financial products and services to be had, but consumers may have to shell out money to get some of them. The September 2013 issue of ShopSmart magazine, from Consumer Reports, features an up-close look at five truly free financial produ…