Counties could lose millions if appropriators don’t hurry after Ryan-Murray budget deal
Great coverage for the PILT program in the Washington Post. The PILT program was created in 1976 to offset costs incurred by counties for services provided to federal employees and families, the public and to the users of public lands. These include education, solid waste disposal, law enforcement, search and rescue, health care, environmental compliance, fire fighting, parks and recreation and other important community services. NACo is the only national organization that lobbies Congress on the PILT program.   

County Drop Off Sites Paying Off
WMNT radio in Minnesota reports on an innovative program in St. Louis County:

"The 'Take it to the Box' medication drop off sites are a proving to be a hit.  Area law enforcement agencies around Saint Louis County have collected more than 645 pounds of unused pharmaceuticals in the past ten months.  The county's Environmental Services Department set up the drop boxes earlier this year with the help of a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency grant.  There are also 'Take it to the Box' locations in Duluth, Hermantown and Proctor police facilities that are coordinated by the WLSSD.  Improper disposal of expired or unused medications can have adverse effects on fish and wildlife." 
 

Albemarle approves water, sewer connections for Monticello
Counties are ruled by state law and local ordinances. But sometimes you just have to break the rules for certain people, like the man who penned the Declaration of Independence. 

The Daily Progress in Albemarle County, Va. reports on the board of supervisors approving a request to connect Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, to public sewer lines and expand its access to public water despite the county’s comprehensive plan which restricts public utilities in rural zones.
 

Zucker plans massive change at CNN
If you like CNN, prepare yourself for big changes. This article is in "Capital," a new online-based news organization based in New York City affiliated with POLITICO. 

Counties Facing a 'Triple Threat'

NACo held a Capitol Hill briefing yesterday – “Local Priorities at Stake in Federal Budget Negotiations: Why Counties Matter” – to educate Congressional offices about the triple threat facing counties and communities across America. The Bond Buyer publication was there and nicely captured where NACo stands on these important issues.
NACo Executive Director: Counties Facing a 'Triple Threat'
BY NAOMI JAGODA
NOV. 20, 2013

WASHINGTON — Counties are facing a “triple threat” of tax reform, entitlement reform and sequestration, National Association of Counties Executive Director Matthew Chase said at a briefing on Capitol Hill Tuesday.

“We have a lot at stake in the budget conference committee,” Chase said. He said he hopes that counties see stability as a result of the negotiations over the federal budget, since cuts in federal appropriations have significantly affected state and local governments.

NACo is working to preserve the tax exemption for municipal bonds and is preparing for tax reform, whenever legislation actually moves forward.

“Our attitude is, whether it comes up in the next couple of weeks or it comes up next year, we want to be ready,” Chase said. As long as the Congressional Budget Office says that changing the tax-exemption for munis will generate a significant amount of revenue, the option will be on the table, he added.

Michael May, a supervisor on the Prince William County, Va. Board of County Supervisors, described how changes to the tax-exemption for munis would hurt his county, which is located in the Washington, D.C. suburbs.

To keep up with the county’s growing population, the county needs to develop infrastructure, and it relies a lot on bond financing to do so, he said. The county’s triple-A rating allows it to build projects at lower costs than if its ratings were lower.
But if munis became less attractive to investors because of tax reform, the county might have to raise interest rates to draw investors to its bonds. As a result, “the savings that you would achieve from that triple-A bond ratings is essentially not what it would have been,” May said.

In addition to working to preserve the tax-exemption for munis, NACo also wants to make sure that people will still be able to deduct their local property taxes on their federal tax filings, Chase said.
On entitlement reform, NACo opposes block grants for Medicaid that would cap how much the federal government spends on the program regardless of how much it costs. Chase said that when the federal government caps its spending, states shift costs to counties.

The congressionally mandated, across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration have resulted in cuts to programs like the Community Development Block Grant Program, Chase said. The program is used for affordable housing, social services and economic development.
NACo is also working to get more flexibility from federal agencies, because  some regulations are hurting them. Chase said that NACo supports the congressional water resources bills, which streamlines projects.

But NACo is concerned about the reauthorization of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, or MAP-21 — the federal transportation funding act that expires on Sept. 30, 2014, he said.
“We want to continue to see federal, state and local partnership and corroboration on infrastructure,” he said.

NACo also wants the House to pass the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would give states the authority to collect sales taxes from internet purchases, Chase said. The Senate passed its version of the bill in the Spring.

But Chase said that “we’re not here to whine about more money.” Instead, NACo wants to make sure that there’s a dialogue between all levels of government and that decisions made by Congress affect state and local governments.

For Some in Government, ‘Effective’ Is the New ‘Efficient’

Liz Farmer writes in Governing magazine:

For a generation now, the buzzword for government officials has been “efficiency”—faster and cheaper equals better. But that mindset misses the big picture, says Linda Langston, the county executive of Linn County, Iowa, and the current president of the National Association of Counties. “You can be really efficient at going 100 mph, but if it’s in the wrong direction, what good does it do?”

You can find innovations in county government under County Solutions at www.naco.org. 

 

Shelby Co. offers free prescription discount card
Welcome to the latest county to participate in NACo's Prescription Discount Card Program - Shelby County, Tenn. More than $530 million saved nationwide. 

Colo. Official Testifies in D.C. About Wildfire Budgets
NACo 2nd VP Sallie Clark was on Capitol Hill this week testifying before a Senate panel, telling members, "healthy forests and pre-fire mitigation efforts” are the only answers to help mitigate the
threats of wild fires and floods on public lands and private property across the country.

Clark, commissioner, El Paso County, Colo., testified before the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry subcommittee on Conservation, Forestry and Natural Resources. The hearing, “Shortchanging Our Forests: How Tight Budgets and Management Decisions Can Increase the Risk of Wildfire,” featured testimony from local Colorado business and government representatives from wildfire-affected areas. The subcommittee is chaired by Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.).
 

Kamenetz Honors County Agencies for Winning National Awards
County Executive Kevin Kamenetz honored six Baltimore County agencies today for winning 10 Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties (NACo). 

He presented Executive Citations to department heads and their staff members who contributed to the winning programs, which have been designated by NACo as model programs.

"It is a significant honor for a single County program to be selected as one of the best in the nation," said County Executive Kevin Kamenetz.

http://baltimore.citybizlist.com/contributed-article/kamenetz-honors-county-agencies-winning-national-awards 

Savings Continue to Add Up for Participants
Way to go Calvert County, Maryland.

Budget fight could hurt Beltway-area local governments
This article on The Washington Post website is from a new blog launched just last month called "Gov Beat: The Pulse of State and Local Government." This one quotes NACo on municipal bonds.  

Manatee County Wins Third NACO Award for Smart Justice Month
A little coverage in The Brandenton Times for Manatee County, Florida for winning a National County Government Month Award this year.  

Public official Chris Rodgers has made his shots count — on the court and off
A fitting and warm column in the Omaha World-Herald by Mike Kelly about Chris Rodgers, commissioner, Douglas County, Neb., who this week wrapped up his year serving as NACo President in Tarrant County, Texas. 

County leaders to set national policies, explore innovations during NACo annual conference
Attention Texas: Here comes NACo!

Local Officials Asked to Help on Health Law
New York Times reports that counties are being asked to help HHS on ACA implementation, especially encouraging the young and healthy, to sign up and purchase health coverage through the exchanges. Secretary Sibelius will likely be discussing this when she visits NACo's Annual Conference on July 22 in Tarrant County, Texas.      

Analysis: Disparity Exists in Condition of Local vs. State Bridges
Governing magazine reports: An analysis of 2012 FHA inspection data showed the disparity in bridge conditions to be widespread:

•About 15 percent of all bridges local governments own in the U.S. are structurally deficient, compared to 7 percent for states.

•Of states with at least 1,000 locally-owned bridges, only Colorado has a higher share of structurally deficient state than locally-owned bridges.

•Counties are responsible for more than half of the nation’s nearly 67,000 structurally-deficient bridges.

The disparity in bridge conditions largely hinges on funding, said Bob Fogel, senior legislative director for the National Association of Counties.

Local governments typically lean heavily on real estate taxes for general fund revenues. Smaller or rural counties don’t have expansive enough tax bases to pay for upgrades. And urban localities often need permission to levy taxes funding transportation projects from both state governments and taxpayers – a major hurdle.

A smaller share of bridge funding trickles down from states and the federal government, varying greatly from system to system. Michigan, for example, distributes a portion of gas tax revenues to cities and counties, some of which is set aside for its Local Bridge Program. Other states also share fuel or motor vehicles taxes with localities, but even this added money doesn’t begin to cover all the costs.

“Our members feel the federal government and most state departments of transportation don’t provide county governments with the share of funds generated by gas taxes that are reflective of the condition of bridges owned by counties,” NACO’s Fogel said.

Smart justice begins with smart sentencing
Nice column about the benefits of Smart Justice programs by Chester County, Pa. Commissioner Terence Farrell published in The Phoenix, a Journal Register community newspaper.   

Washington Post Profits Drop Sharply
Tough times remain for the one of the country's best-known daily newspapers.  

Md. Democrat challenges Obama budget, saying it will decrease local revenue
This may be a first: a major news organization - in this case NBC.com's First Read blog - cites a NACo policy brief and links to it.

The Maryland Congressman, a former county executive, makes an important point about changing the tax exempt status of municipal bonds which local government uses to raise monies to build America's critical infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, roads and bridges: it will have a negative impact on local communities.

Protecting the tax exempt status of municipal bonds is a NACo priority.

Public Approval of State and Local Government Rises, Federal Rating Tumbles
Americans think highly of their local government. In the latest Pew Poll, the high approval rating has gone even higher, Governing magazine reports.

Supervisors agree it’s time for immigration reform
Great example of bringing the national work of NACo back home to the local county board with positive results. Santa Barbara County Supervisor Salud Carbajal is chair of NACo's Environment, Energy and Land Use Steering Committee. Here's a link to the latest NACo statement on immigration reform. 

Odd allies fight against taxing municipal bonds
NACo is hitting the muni bond issue hard this year, trying to convince Washington not to change the tax-exempt status of municipal bonds. This article in POLITICO was a result of a press conference NACo, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities held on Feb. 27 at the National Press Club. NACo leadership met with editors and reporters from POLITICO two days later and continued to stress the importance of the issue for counties and cities, who use muni bonds to build America's critical infrastructure and create jobs.
 

Obama Calls for More for Infrastructure, Jobs, Energy
NACo is quoted in this Governing magazine article about Tuesday's State of the Union address.

“We’re excited [about] the president’s focus on infrastructure. We understand it’s going to be tough climb, but it’s essential to getting our economy restarted,” said Matthew Chase, executive director of the National Association of Counties.

Local Government Organizations Commend EPA’s Memorandum Concerning Financial Capability for Clean Water Act Requirements
NACo, National League of Cities and U.S. Conference of Mayors released a joint press statement regarding EPA's announcement that the agency will work with local governments to clarify how the financial capability of a community will be considered when developing schedules for municipal projects necessary to meet Clean Water Act (CWA) obligations.

NACo President Chris Rodgers said that NACo applauds EPA’s acknowledgement that the input of county and city leaders is critical to achieving the shared goals of the Clean Water Act.

"A reasonable balance between the costs to taxpayers and ratepayers and compliance with CWA regulations must be considered as we work to protect and improve water quality in communities across the country.”

With revenues still uncertain Natrona County prepares for worst case
Leah Todd of the Star-Tribune in Wyoming quotes NACo in an article about federal funding uncertainty regarding the Payment in Lieu of Taxes Program (PILT). 

PILT is funding is compensation for counties with tax‐exempt federal land within their boundaries. NACo supports full funding of the PILT program, to the authorized levels of P.L.103‐379 and beyond.

For more information about PILT, contact: Ryan Yates 202.942.4207 or ryates@naco.org.