To Apostrophe or Not to Apostrophe - That is the Question

Interesting little item in The Washington Post's Sunday "Answer Man" column about the proper spelling of Prince George's County, Md. It seems that back in the day the name of the county - a close suburb of the Washington, D.C. Metro area - was spelled without the apostrophe. A 1931 Post article reported that the original name was spelled without an apostrophe. We cannot be certain because because the original "engrossed acts" of the Maryland General Assembly were destroyed in a State House fire in 1704 which would easily resolve the matter. In 1952, the Answer Man (John Kelly) reports, a Maryland state archivist insisted that the apostrophe was correct. "It just wasn't used often in the 17th century," the archivist reportedly said. But there's more: For the most of the 20th century, The Post did not use the apostrophe as a matter of style nor did the local Post Office. However, in 1947 the Prince George's Press Association urged its member publications to use the apostrophe. In 1965 The Post began to use the apostrophe and in 1965 the Post Office followed suit. I wonder how many other counties have similar disputed name stories?

Washington Post Shutters Last U.S. Bureaus

Another sad chapter in the story of the shrinking print media in America. The Washington Post - one of the most important and powerful American newspapers ever - announced that it is closing the last of its U.S. news bureaus to save money. The Post has shed several hundred reporters and editors in the past three years. Just last week many were let go from washingtonpost.com after the Web site team and print team were consolidated. Now, the Post is left with covering the nation all from the Washington, D.C. metro area after shuttering the Los Angeles, Chicago and New York bureaus. I was asked by a county official a couple of years ago during a NACIO workshop on media relations what I thought the future holds for newspapers in America. I said then that I thought your regular city-based daily newspapers would shrink and focus more on local issues instead of trying to cover the world. This is what is happening as newspapers continue to close bureaus in suburbs and eliminate delivery areas.

Governing Sold to eRepublic

For many years, NACo leadership and staff has worked with the excellent writers and editors employed at Governing magazine. During each Legislative Conference, NACo leadership meets with the editorial team at Governing's Washington, D.C. office on Connecticut Avenue to discuss NACo initiatives, trends in county government, etc. We've also participated in their forums on governance and trends in state and local government. We sincerely hope and expect that relationship remains strong. Governing's parent company, Times Publishing Co., sold the magazine to eRepublic, the parent of Government Technology. Unfortunately, as much as half of the editorial department was let go on Nov. 20. The job losses are a sad reality in today's ever-changing media environment. These are excellent, dedicated journalists who are suddenly out of work and we wish them the best as well as the continued success of Governing.

States Hit by Drop In tax Collections

Tax collections tumbled 11% across the 44 states in the third quarter, according to a report that suggests government revenues will remain depressed long after the economy has recovered from recession -- so reports Conor Dougherty in The Wall Street Journal. He was writing about a new report from the Nelson Rockefeller Institute of Government at the State University of New York. The reports says every major source of state revenue -- sales, corporate and personal income taxes fell in the third quarter. A recent NACo survey -- How Are Counties Doing? An Economic Status Survey -- finds much of the same. The leading revenues causing county budget shortfalls are: property taxes (52% reporting counties said), reductions in state or federal funding (50%) and sales taxes (46%). Four out of five counties said they expect budget shortfalls to continue into next budget year.

New report: State tax collections down 16.6%

More bad news for state tax revenues. As reported by Michael Cooper in the New York Times: "Total state tax collections from April through June dropped by a record 16.6 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, according to a report to be released Thursday by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, the public policy research arm of the State University of New York. The report found that total state tax collections were down by $63 billion for the year ended in June, which is roughly twice the amount of money that the states had received in fiscal relief through the stimulus program up to that point."

Obama Sets Sights on Urban Renewal

Fine article today in the Washington Post by Michael A. Fletcher on President Obama's urban agenda. Missing from the story is how counties are just as vital to urban renewal as cities. NACo's Large Urban County Caucus (LUCC), who met recently in Allegheny County, Pa. prior to the G-20 meetings in Pittsburgh, are focusing on three initiatives this year: health care reform, building urban communities, and improving government operations. More information is available on the LUCC page of the NACo Web site.

Falling Tax Revenues Slam States

Alarming second quarter tax revenue numbers reported today in the Wall Street Journal. Of course when state revenues fall, counties are next in line.