Tennessean Editorial

I was asked to write a guest editorial for the Tennessean on local government response to the recession. The article was published on December 23rd. It is still available on their website here:

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008812230321

The editorial was linked with this article:

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20081223/OPINION01/812230322

On the same page, there was another editorial about county government fiscal struggles by Wilson County Commissioner Bernie Ash which is available here:

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008812230320

Tennessean Article on Economic Impact in Middle Tennessee

This article appeared today in the Tennessean addressing the impact of the economic slowdown on counties in middle-Tennessee. It focuses on efforts in Nashville and the surrounding counties to deal with reduced revenues.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20081210/NEWS0202/812100409

It also links to this document estimating sales tax revenues for a few counties and school systems. http://www.tennessean.com/assets/pdf/DN1240811210.PDF

TACIR Report on Impact of Economic Slowdown on Local Governments

Follow this link for a report from the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations on how the economy is affecting local governments.

http://www.state.tn.us/tacir/Special%20html%20Reports/slowdown.html

The report confirms many of the same concerns that TCCA and TML reported to the joint fiscal review committee meeting back in November.

This report now reflects four months of data and also provides more detail on where losses are occurring. Looking at collections for the period of June - September, there are now 43 counties showing negative growth in sales tax from the same period in the prior year. This reflects collections in the entire county (both in cities and unincorporated areas). When you focus on collections in only the unincorporated areas, 52 counties are showing negative growth.

School Board Taxing Authority Not Receiving Warm Reception

This year the Tennessee School Boards Association is proposing an initiative to change the Tennessee Constitution to give school boards in Tennessee independent taxing authority. We discussed this issue at our regional TCCA meetings in late summer.

Here is an article from the Chattanooga Times Free Press on the topic:

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2008/dec/07/hamilton-county-few-back-tax-power-school-board/?local

The article quotes Hamilton County Commissioners Warren Mackey (who serves on the TCCA Board of Directors) and Chairman Jim Coppinger as well as Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey.

As things stand right now, the Tennessee Constitution would have to be changed in order to directly give school boards taxing authority. That takes time as such a proposal would have to pass two separate General Assemblies and then be approved by the voters. What could happen right away is that the General Assembly could lift the ban on existing school districts converting to special school districts. We have about 14 special school districts in Tennessee currently, but the law has prohibited the creation of any new special school districts for some time. Special school districts levy a property tax pursuant to a private act adopted by the state legislature that sets a tax rate for the school system. So it would take taxing authority away from the county commission, but would give it to state legislators who usually act based on the recommendations of the school board for the special school district.

Our board has traditionally taken the position that it is opposed to changes that would splinter the authority to levy taxes at the county government level. This proposal seems to be a move in the opposite direction of what is going on in other parts of the country. Other states currently are looking at their local government structure to see if it should be simplified. For example, an Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform issued a report last year recommending a reduction in the number of government entities that had the authority to levy property taxes. The conclusions of that study were that too many levels of taxing authority and decision making ability at the local government level reduced responsiveness to the voters. This study can be found here: http://indianalocalgovreform.iu.edu/assets/docs/Report_12-10-07.pdf To be fair, Indiana has a much more complicated structure of local government than Tennessee and school authorities there do have taxing authority.

Obviously not all county officials are of the same mind on this topic. As reflected in the Times Free Press article, not all school board members agree with this issue either. The article indicates that approximately two-thirds of the TSBA delegates at their annual meeting voted in favor of pursuing this initiative.

Possible Jail Overcrowding Legislation

The link below connects you to an article in the Johnson City Press about legislation proposed by State Rep. David Hawk. His bill is an attempt to provide relief to counties that are struggling with overcrowded jails. According to the article, Rep. Hawk is working on legislation that would provide that overcrowding alone cannot cause the state to de-certify a local jail.

The majority of counties across the state have either recently finished an expansion of an existing jail or construction of a new one or they in the planning or construction process currently. Many times the overcrowded conditions are compounded by the presence of state prisoners - convicted felons either sentenced locally or kept in the local jail because of a lack of room in state prisons.

http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/Detail.php?Cat=LOCALNEWS&ID=65947

News Article on Highway Department Challenges

As a follow up to the posts from last week on transportation and highway funding issues, here's a link to a Tennessean article on the issue that quotes Rodney Carmical of the Tennessee County Highway Officials Association and county officials in Wilson and Rutherford County. The article also refers to the on-going study committee of the State Legislature looking at these issues.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20081201/NEWS02/812010339/1001/NEWS

State Legislators Question TDOT Officials About Off-System Bridges

Counties are having a problem with delays in federal funding for bridge programs. TDOT officials confirmed today that the average amount of time for TDOT to get an "off-system" bridge project underway is four years. These projects represent bridges on county highways and city streets that are not part of the state highway system. Both representatives of local government and state legislators expressed concerns that these delays are dramatically inflating the costs of these projects. In some cases, the local government is then committed to paying their share of a project that is much more expensive than anticipated when the project began. TDOT officials stated that they recognize this long-standing problem and that fixing this issue is a high priority for them. They have hopes that either bonding or a new federal infrastructure stimulus package might free up funds to allow the department to make progress in this area.

Nationwide Decline in Miles Driven Indicates that Gax Tax Revenues May Not Rebound

A USA Today article indicates that even though gas prices are down, consumers have not started driving more. This trend reflects the deepening recession and signals a shift in lifestyles and driving habits that could outlast the current turmoil. Drivers logged 10.7 billion fewer miles in September than they did the same month a year earlier — a 4.4% decline, according to data issued Wednesday by the Federal Highway Administration.

For the full text of this article, follow this link:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-11-19-driving_N.htm

Transportation Funding Study Committee

Today a joint transporation funding study committee is meeting to hear proposals on how to shore up infrastructure funding in Tennessee. Earlier in the week, during the Department of Transportation's preliminary budget hearing, there was discussion of issuing GARVEE (Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle) bonds. These bonds essentially use the anticipated stream of federal grant dollars to fund a bond outlay which would give the state a large influx of money now. That money could be used to start a new wave of infrastructure projects now. As federal dollars come in over future years, those dollars are pledged to pay the costs of the bonds. As used in other states, in some cases the potential federal dollars are the only security of the bonds. In other cases, the state pledges additional sources of revenues in the event the federal dollars do not materialize. If the revenue bonds are only secured by federal grants, the interest rates are higher as the bonds are riskier.

State Comptroller John Morgan addressed the committee and proposed issuing general obligation debt as a alternative with the plan to budget to use anticipated federal revenue to pay off the bonds. While this may seem like a technical distinction, this structure of the financing results in the lowest interest costs. According to the Comptroller, other states have used GARVEE bonds because general obligation debt must be approved in a referendum, which is not the case in Tennessee. He also pointed that Tennessee has borrowed relatively little in the past, which makes it more possible for the state to borrow funds now.

An important point to keep in mind is that borrowing money for infrastructure needs actually does not increase revenue, it only increases costs (through interest and issuance of debt costs). Cost savings can be realized if starting projects earlier helps the state avoid future inflationary costs. In other words, if anticipated inflationary costs in bridge and highway construction are expected to be higher than costs of borrowing, then in the long run it may be costs efficient to borrow and build sooner.

Another element of this issue is that this effort can of course be considered a part of a state funding economic stimulus package. Starting all these road and bridge construction projects now can help provide employment and economic activity in Tennessee while preserving and protecting important infrastructure.

The proposal would be for borrowing approximately $350 million. Over a 12 year period, estimates indicate that a general obligation bond would cost about $90 million in interest costs. This essentially means that the state would be paying $8 million a year in interest costs instead of spending that money on transporation projects. Whether or not the state would save that much in inflationary costs is yet to be seen. GARVEE bonds would be more expensive. These discussions are all preliminary, but we have yet to see whether these borrowing proposals would include any funds to assist local county highway departments with their infrastructure needs.

K-12 Education Funding - Budget Hearing

Yesterday began a series of budget hearings conducted by the Governor as a preview to next year's budget. First up was the State Department of Education. While it is too early to know specifics, one thing that was clear fom the hearing is that the Governor is committed to protecting K-12 education funding. This would include funding the BEP at its current level plus improvements to cover increases in enrollment and inflationary adjustments. This improvement was estimated at $80 million. Note that this does not include any supplementary funding to continue with the phase-in of the so-called BEP 2.0 improvements. These improvements were passed the year before last with funding provided to pay for approximately 50% of the proposed improvements to ELL instruction, funding for at-risk students and restoring the state funding of instructional salaries to 75%. Last year, additional improvements were proposed, but could not be funded. In the current budgetary environment, it appears that the state will start the budget process hoping to hold K-12 funding where it is plus annual adjustments for growth and inflation. We must realize that this means cuts to other state departments and programs will have to be deeper in order to protect education funding.

Help for Tennessee Families

If you ever get requests from constituents for help and resources through the State, pointing them in the right direction just got easier. A new portion of the State of Tennessee's website entitled "Help for Tennessee Families" debuted recently. The state should be commended for setting up this central collection of links to helpful information for families facing tough times. Tennesseans have often complained about difficulty working their way through a maze of voice mail systems and bureaucracy when looking for assistance from their state government. This page cuts through the clutter and helps direct people to the programs they are looking for.

The site includes a job center, sections on mortgage and financial assistance, energy and transportation, health insurance, health care, food and nutrition, healthier living, financing college, small business assistance and more.

It can be found at: http://www.tennesseeanytime.org/gov/family-resources/

I'm adding this to the links section of this page as well.

Fiscal Review Presentation

The Fiscal Review Committee of the TN General Assembly held hearings on November 12 and 13 to examine the fiscal status of Tennessee's economy. I'm very greatful that Chairman Charles Curtiss invited cities and counties to present on the second day of the hearings regarding how the economy is affecting local governments in Tennessee. Chad Jenkins with the Tennessee Municipal League and myself made presentations to the committee and took questions. You can find a copy of my presentation here:

http://www.tncountycommissioners.org/files/Fiscal_review_presentation.pdf

As more data comes in, I will try to keep this information updated. You may be particularly interested in slides 5 and 6 of the presentation which show how local option sales tax collections performed for counties for the fiscal year ending June 2008 and for the first quarter of the curent fiscal year. Unfortunately the trend is not good.

Report on Social Security Numbers

The Office of Research and Education Accountability within the State Comptroller of the Treasury's Office has released a report on Safeguarding Social Security Numbers in Tennessee Government Records. This 44 page report is available on the Internet at this link for those who are interested:

http://www.comptroller1.state.tn.us/repository/RE/SSN2008.pdf

This issue is important as it relates to identity theft and the security of personal information of our citizens and county government employees. The report makes a number of findings regarding the current status of social security numbers in Tennessee government records and makes administrative and legislative recommendations.

TCSA Annual Conference a Success

It was good to see many of you in Memphis last week for the TCSA annual fall conference. We had a number of good meetings and informative workshops. During the conference, our association selected its new slate of officers for next year. We recognized out-going president Phil King of Greene County for his service this past year as our president and welcomed in Wallace Austin, White County commissioner as our new president for 2008-2009. Jim Westbrook of Weakley County who had been serving as association treasurer was selelcted as president-elect. Houston Naron of Williamson County was named to replace him as treasurer. Most of the board members are continuing to serve, but we have two new members: Scott Gillenwaters of Anderson County and Robert Barnwell of Williamson County. I look forward to working with all these good folks during the upcoming year.

State Revenue Collections Down Significantly

The State Department of Finance and Administration has reported that state revenue collections for September were $976.7 million, which is $85.5 million less than budgeted estimates. Even more sobering is the fact that this figure is actually 8.2% below September collections for 2007. For the state, this marks the second consecutive month in which sales taxes and corporate income taxes have shown negative growth rates from 2007 to 2008. So far this fiscal year, state revenue collections are off by $125 million over the prior year.

Great Save Program to Assist Homeowners with Adjustable-Rate Mortgages

As was discussed at our regional meetings, the Tennessee Housing Development Agency is now offering assistance to homeowners who are struggling with adjustable rate mortgage loans. As of October 1, THDA began administering "Great Save," a refinance program for certain homeowners who have ARM loans. The Great Save program provides a below market fixed rate mortgage to qualified homeowners. For information about this program and the other services offered by THDA, visit www.thda.org. More information about this program will be shared at the TCSA conference in Memphis.

Regional Meetings A Success

Thanks to all of you who came out for one of our regional meetings in September. We had good attendance and lively discussion of issues at the meetings. I hope those of you there found the presentation from the Tennessee Housing Development Agency timely and informative. With the housing crisis we are facing, the programs this agency administers are critical to our citizens and communities. If you are not already planning to do so, I encourage you to attend the Tennessee County Services Association Annual Fall Conference and Trade Show in Memphis October 29-31 at the Peabody Hotel. We will hold both Board and Nominating Committee meetings for TCCA at this event and will have a general membership meeting. In addition, there is a broad array of educational seminars and workshops available for attendees and excellent general session speakers. For more information about the conference, visit the TCSA website: www.tncounties.org.

New Association of County Mayors Site

The Association of County Mayors has debuted a new Internet site at www.acmtn.com. This site, together with the Tennessee County Services Association website and the Tennessee County Highway Officials Website, rounds out a family of information resources for policy making officials in county government. Links for these sites, plus the County Officials Association of Tennessee and the Tennessee Association of Assessing Officers can be found in the links section on the right hand side of this page.

New Material Available under the Legal Issues Tab of the Main Page

Back on the main association webpage http://www.tncountycommissioners.org/ we have added some new material to the Legal Issues section of the website. Click on the tab for "Legal Issues" to access this information or use the links below.


One item is a flow chart of the procedure for adoption of a resolution of the county legislative body. This chart covers the basics and gives citations to the Tennessee Code provisions related to the approval and veto process. Depending on your local rules, there may be some additional steps or details in your county. The chart can be found here: http://www.tncountycommissioners.org/files/resolution_flowchart.pdf

The second item is a set of Samples Rules of Procedure. These sample rules for a county legislative body were drafted by the County Technical Assistance Service. Many counties operate in accordance with Robert Rules of Order. But if you are interested in a set of rules more specifically designed for the functions of a county commission, you may want to consider these rules. These rules also appear in the appendices of the County Government Handbook, one of the many CTAS publications. A direct link to these rules is here:
http://www.tncountycommissioners.org/files/sample_rules_county_commission.pdf

I hope these materials are useful to you. If you know of resources or items that would help you in your service as a county commissioner, do not hesitate to ask. Send me an e-mail or post a comment and I'll see what I can do.

Mutual Aid: The Next Step in Coordinating Disaster Response

The University of Tennessee County Technical Assistance Service is offering a course entitled "Improving Mutual Aid in Tennessee" on several dates in the month of September. Their brochure describes the class as follows:

"No community, regardless of size, can handle a huge disaster without help. Working together in disasters will result in significant cost savings for government entities. In 2004, Tennessee passed the "Mutual Aid and Emergency and Disaster Assistance Agreement Act" which allowed all government agencies to participate in statewide mutual aid during disasters. Most local government entities are aware of the "Act" but not aware that UT is working with the International Fire Chief's Association to achieve "The Next Step." This next step involves an organized way to inventory, track and deploy resources when a disaster occurs. This course will introduce the concept, demonstrate how it works and offer important information that can be used by all local departments within city and county government including police, fire, EMS, public works, schools, utilities, finance and management. As the federal government improves the national response process, states and local agencies need to be prepared to effectively deploy or even receive mutual aid resources. Regardless of the type of agency, this program works and is the "next step" in Improving Mutual Aid in Tennessee."

If you or someone in your county could benefit from this class, contact CTAS at (615) 532-3555 or on the web at www.ctas.tennessee.edu. for more information. The scheduled dates and locations are as follows:

• Sept 4 Collegedale
• Sept 8 Franklin
• Sept 9 Jackson
• Sept 10 Bartlett
• Sept 17 Johnson City
• Sept 18 Knoxville

New AG Opinion on Filling a Vacancy on the County Commission

Below you will find a link to an Attorney General opinion that was issued August 19, 2008. It relates to the proper method for filling a vacancy on a county commission when the vacancy occurs after the regular August election, but more than 60 days before the November election. The short answer is that the vacancy is filled in a special election held in conjunction with the November 4th state and federal general election. Political parties may choose nominees for the position by way of a countywide nomination convention. The county commission in these circumstances may appoint a temporary successor to fill the vacancy until the November election, but is not required to do so.
http://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/op/2008/OP/OP138.pdf

Excellent Source for Environmental News and Information

Another resource in the myriad of services provided by CTAS is the CTAS "Environmental Blog." This website, found at http://ctasenvblog.tennessee.edu/ has been up and running for a little over a year. You can find up to the minute information on environmental issues affecting county government that is useful both for county officials and employees and the citizens in the communities you serve. For example, the most recent post from August 19 lists details for household hazardous waste collection events for Maury and Sequatchie Counties. Other topics covered on the site include landfill management, fuel conservation and renewable energy, recycling, waste collection and transfer, grants and loans for environmental programs and more. If you are concerned about environmental issues and how they affect your county's operations and your community, I strongly recommend you visit this site regularly. It is updated frequently and you can post comments and ask questions if you need more information on a topic.

Training Opportunities for County Commissioners

Education and training resources can help us all do our jobs better, help us make more informed decisions and give us a broader understanding of the context and environment in which we live and work. In Tennessee, there is a nationally recognized training program for county officials. It is the County Officials Certificate Training Program or COCTP.

The COCTP is a comprehensive training program administered by the University of Tennessee County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS). The COCTP is designed to provide specialized, office-specific, technical, administrative, managerial, and leadership training to elected officials and their employees in order to help county government run more effectively. Training is offered in the classroom setting, through on-line courses and through correspondence courses. Often, classroom training courses are offered in conjunction with TCSA conferences and meetings. In addition, many of the lectures and breakout sessions at TCSA meetings count for credit hours in the COCTP.

If you are interested in this program, you can find a brochure about COCTP here:

http://www.tncountycommissioners.org/coctp_brochure.pdf

and you can find much more information about educational opportunities on the training portion of the CTAS website here:

http://www.ctas.tennessee.edu/PUBLIC/web/ctas.nsf/COCTP?readform

Status of Planning in TN Communities

If your county is considering adoption or revision of zoning, building codes or subdivision regulations, there is a report available through the Department of Economic and Community Development (EC&D) which may be of interest to you. The annual Status of Planning and Land Use Controls report is produced by the Local Planning Assistance Office within EC&D each year. The report for 2008 can be found here:

http://tennessee.gov/ecd/pdf/status_of_planning08.pdf

This report is approximately 80 pages long and includes maps and charts identifying which counties and municipalities have subdivision regulations, building codes, zoning, active planning commissions and building inspection programs. The report also indicates which counties participate in the National Flood Insurance Program, the Tennessee 3-Star Program and the Retire Tennessee Program.

To find out more about these programs and others administered by the Local Planning Assistance Office, visit their website here: http://tennessee.gov/ecd/locplan.htm

Public Records Access Forms Available

With the passage of 2008 Public Chapter 1179, the Office of Open Records Counsel was created to answer questions and provide information to records custodians and citizens regarding public records requests. The Office of Open Records Counsel has prepared three forms for records custodians that are now available on its website at http://www.comptroller.state.tn.us/openrecords/forms.htm

The first form is an Inspection/Duplication of Records Request form to be used by both the records requestor and records custodian when someone requests a record. The second form is a Records Request Denial Letter to be used by a records custodian when denying a records request. This form lists reasons why a request may be denied and provides a place for communicating why the information cannot be provided. Finally, the third form is a Records Production Letter to be used by a records custodian when a record cannot be made available within seven (7) business days. Detailed instructions on the use of these forms can also be found at the above-referenced website address. Should you have any questions regarding the use of these forms you may contact the Office of Open Records Counsel at (615) 401-7891, toll free 1-(866) 831-3750 or by e-mail at open.records@state.tn.us.

County Profiles and Census Data

Ever wanted to find basic information about the demographics and statistics for your county? One source you may find useful is on the Internet site for the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. www.state.tn.us/tacir

Consisting of public officials from state and local government and private citizen members, the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) "serves as a forum for the discussion and resolution of intergovernmental problems." The commission and its staff research and examine a multitude of public policy issues related to government in Tennessee.

At their Internet home page, you may want to browse the catalog of publications available or look at the profile for your county or other counties. To view the profiles, click on the tab for "County Profiles," then either click on a county on the map or enter the county name in the appropriate blank and then choose the format for viewing the data.

The profile includes:

• Basic population data
• Income and poverty information
• Health and healthcare statistics
• Employment and wage data
• County finance and budget information
• Results of the TACIR public infrastructure needs survey
• Statistical information about educational attainment, and
• Statistics on the county public school system.

This information may be helpful to you or useful to share with community groups and organizations to help them understand and learn more about your community.

Re-Design of Main Association Website

You are likely linking to this page through the main association website: www.tncountycommissioners.org. If so, you have probably noticed the re-design there. If you have bookmarked this page and are coming here directly, I invite you to go to the main site to see some new features we've added.

There is updated information about our 2008 regional meetings and an on line form you can use to let us know which regional meeting you plan to attend. There is also a new "Legal Issues" section where we will be posting updates and information about new laws, court cases or legal opinions affecting county government from time to time.

Check out the new features and watch for more additions in the coming weeks.

On-Line Resources for County Commissioners

There are more and more resources available on the Internet to help local government officials perform their job better and more efficiently. For county officials in Tennessee, one of the best sources of information and resources is the University of Tennessee's County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS).

If you are not familiar with it, I want to recommend to you the CTAS website. It is located at http://www.ctas.tennessee.edu. If you go to the main webpage, you will see a column on the left that gives you access to the county officials directory, CTAS reference materials, information about training programs, upcoming events affecting counties, financial information about counties, environmental materials, legislative information and more. The site even has its own demo to help you understand how to use the resources available through the website. To find the demo, click on the tab for CTAS Reference Materials and scroll down to the bottom to find the section related to Interactive Learning. Not only will you find the website demo there which will walk you through all the features of the website, you will also find an on-line guide to the Tennessee Open Meetings Act.

The reference materials portion of the site includes a library of the many useful publications created by CTAS and a section of sample forms, including sample resolutions for use by county legislative bodies. (You can find the sample resolutions here: http://www.ctas.utk.edu/public/resolutions.nsf/View+By+Chapters?openview ) Within the CTAS library of publications you can find the comprehensive Tennessee County Government Handbook, the annual Tennessee County Tax Statistics publication and, under the tab for legislative information, the annual Index of Acts for county governments in which the CTAS legal staff summarizes all the new legislation that passed the TN General Assembly affecting county governments. Also on the page for Legislative Information, you will find a collection of the compiled Private Acts for Tennessee Counties. CTAS is essentially the only source for this comprehensive collection of private acts arranged and compiled by county.

In a future post, I'll provide additional information about training and educational programs offered through CTAS, but for now, I encourage you to spend some time checking out the many resources that CTAS provides to help you serve your consituents better.

Jay West Named as New COAT Director

Earlier this summer, the County Officials Association of Tennessee selected Jay West as the new executive director to succeed Marie Murphy. Marie left COAT to join the Department of Commerce and Insurance as Assistant Commissioner for Special Projects this past spring. Jay assumed his responsibilities this month. I look forward to working with him on issues common to our organizations. Jay has been a registered lobbyist on Capitol Hill for over 25 years and brings a wealth of experience to COAT. In addition, he is a former Councilman at Large and Vice Mayor of Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County and even served as a member of the board of directors of this association (TCCA) during his tenure as an elected Davidson County official.

The County Officials Association of Tennessee represents the court clerks, county clerks, trustees and registers of deeds of Tennessee's 95 counties.

Regional Meetings Planned for September

TCCA is continuing its annual tradition of holding a series of regional meetings across this state. These important grass roots events are a time when hundreds of county commissioners and mayors meet together to share a meal, discuss the issues of importance to county government and look ahead to the upcoming legislative session. State Senators and Representatives are also invited to these events and I encourage you to speak to them personally about the meeting in your area.

The tentative dates for these sessions are listed below. All meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. local time and include a dinner. You will be receiving more information about the meetings in the near future.

You will note that the meeting which traditionally had been held in downtown Nashville is moving out from town. It will be held this year on the campus of the Volunteer State Community College in Sumner County. Attendance at the downtown Nashville meeting had been declining in recent years due to difficulties with parking, traffic and other logistics. It is my hope that this alternative location will make it easier for county commissioners in the Northern Middle-Tennessee region to attend and participate. Our other middle-Tennessee meeting will remain at Henry Horton State Park in Marshall County which has traditionally had a strong turn out.

September 2 Holiday Inn Mountain View - Cleveland, TN
September 4 Henry Horton State Park
September 9 Volunteer State Community College - Gallatin, TN
September 10 Knoxville City/County Building - Knoxville, TN
September 11 Jonesborough Visitor's Center - Jonesborough, TN
September 18 UT Agriculture Extension Center - Jackson, TN
September 23 Leslie Towne Center - Cookeville, TN
September 25 Paris Landing State Park

While I am sure there will be conflicts, attempts were made to avoid scheduling conflicts with regularly scheduled county commission meetings, development district meetings and state-wide conferences that are also going on during September. If there are events and meetings you would like us to try to work around in scheduling these meetings in the future, please let me know.

I hope to see you there.

Upcoming Conference and Board Meeting

The Legislative Session has come to a close. As a part of the Tennessee County Services Association Post Legislative Conference, our affiliate association will be holding board and membership meetings next week. You should have received registration information about the conference numerous times through the TCSA Capitol Update and the Tennessee County News newspaper. The conference is being held in Gatlinburg, Tennessee at the Glenstone Lodge, June 3-4, 2008. Our TCCA board meeting will be held from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 3, in the "Azalea" meeting room at the hotel. For more information or to request any type of special assistance you need for attending the meeting, call our Nashville office at (615) 532-3767.

Hope to see you there.

Legislative Update

As I am sure you have heard, the General Assembly adjourned Thursday night with a plan for both the House and Senate to come back into session next Tuesday. The speakers of both houses indicated that they intend for the legislature to finish its business that day and adjourn for the year. This week the legislature was working through long calendars and long days in an attempt to complete its work, but ultimately that was not possible. Much controversy and many questions arose over the Governor's proposed budget cuts unveiled on Monday night and legislators who had planned to stay through Friday to pass a budget ultimately decided to go home Thursday night and come back next week.

The biggest impact on county governments in the budget changes are that proposed improvements to the Basic Education Program funding formula have been shelved. School systems will get normal inflationary growth in education funding provided by the state, but there will be no more phase-in of the BEP 2.0 reforms that began last year. A provision in a bill promoted by the Dept. of Revenue that would have closed a loophole in state franchise and excise taxes and generated $15 million was rejected in committee this week. This created another budget gap that legislators were trying to fill Thursday. It appears that members are looking at raiding more of the earmarked funds from the state real estate transfer tax. Of the dedicated revenue from this tax, counties may be impacted by cuts to the Local Parks Acquisition fund. But generally speaking, apart from postponing the improvements to BEP funding planned for this year, counties have not been otherwise hurt by state budget changes. There has been no talk of cutting state shared taxes. We continue to watch these issues as the State attempts to deal with major budgetary problems.

In terms of good news, before adjourning Thursday evening the House passed the Energy Efficient Schools Initiative which creates a council that will distribute $100 million in lottery excess funds to K-12 school systems through grants and loans for projects that enhance the energy efficiency of school buildings. The Senate had passed the proposal earlier in the week. The bills ended up with some slight differences in amendments which will have to be worked out next week but the differences appeared to be non-controversial. A last ditch effort was made to amend the bill in the House and convert it to the Hawk/Tracy capital expenditure plan. That competing legislation which was first proposed and discussed last year would have distributed a flat dollar amount from lottery excess funds to school systems on a per pupil basis without any requirement for the money to be spent on energy efficiency. Ultimately, the energy efficiency provisions of the Winningham/McNally bill convinced some members of the legislature to support the proposal who were otherwise against the idea of using lottery funds for capital expenditures.

Legislation that could have added more requirements on a county regarding local education funding appears to be shelved for the year. As an alternative, the Senate Education Chair, Sen. Jamie Woodson introduced a resolution to ask the BEP Review Committee to study the issue of local maintenance of effort requirements this summer. TCCA was concerned about the potential effect of some provisions proposed in amendments to the bill and prefers this option to study the issue.

More details on legislative developments will be forthcoming after next week and of course there will be much more information distributed at the Post Legislative Conference in Gatlinburg the first week of June.

End of Session Nears

This week, the legislature has a limited schedule as efforts are underway to wrap up business. Many committees are already closed, subject to the call of the chair. Neither chamber is holding a Monday night session this week. The House of Representatives is scheduled to meet Tuesday and the Senate is meeting all day Wednesday. At this time, neither chamber is scheduled to meet on Thursday either.

This week will likely see most bills taken care of that do not have a significant budgetary impact. Then, next Monday night there will be a joint session of the House and Senate to hear a budget address from the Governor. Governor Bredesen intends to present proposed cuts to his budget at that time. With revenue forecasts worsening, difficult cuts will have to be made. This financial outlook has severely limited the ability of the legislature to enact significant new programs this year.

It is expected that the General Assembly will quickly consider the Governor's proposed cuts and bring the budget to a conclusion next week. Once that work is completed, there is little left that will keep the Legislature in town.

Marie Murphy to Leave County Officials Association of Tennessee

At the end of this month, Marie Murphy will be stepping down at the executive director of the County Official's Association of Tennessee after serving in that capacity for 16 years. Marie began her indispensable public service in 1984 working for the University of Tennessee County Technical Assistance Service as a Staff Attorney. In 1992, she became the first Executive Director of the County Officials Association of Tennessee. Working for that organization which represents court clerks, trustees, registers of deeds and county clerks, she demonstrated an unsurpassed work ethic, breadth of knowledge and professionalism while advocating on behalf of the county offices she represented. Marie was instrumental in helping develop and promote many legislative reforms that made those offices more efficient and effective. Her efforts are greatly appreciated and will be missed.

William Snodgrass remembered

William R. Snodgrass passed away earlier this week. He was 85 years old. This esteemed gentleman served as the Comptroller of the Treasury for 44 years in Tennessee. As Comptroller Emeritus, he continued to work with the Comptroller's Office until shortly before his death. His wise fiscal management policies acting as a stabilizing force for decades in Tennessee and his influence extends throughout many facets of state and local government in Tennessee. Many career state employees serving in government today began their public service under the direction of Mr. Snodgrass. His funeral services were conducted this past Wednesday.

Back Up and Running

I apologize for the lack of updates to this site in recent months. In March, I had problems with a computer hard drive and was out of commission for several weeks. The County Government Day Conference April 8 and 9 took a good deal of time early this month. Now, the real crush of legislative activity is building up as the General Assembly moves toward adjournment.

I will try to re-establish the habit of providing updates and information. Hopefully this site will grow to become more useful to county officials and citizens across the state.

Finding Legislative Information

If you are not familiar with some of the legislative resources on the Internet, I have good news for you. Our state General Assembly provides an incredible array of information and services on line. From the main legislative website (www.legislature.state.tn.us), you can find information about your legislative delegation, read bios of members, find out how to contact or e-mail members, read legislation, find out which legislators serve on committees, get status updates and fiscal impact statements on proposed bills, and even watch live streaming video or archived video footage of committee meetings and legislative sessions.

On the legislature's home page, you will find a column on the left hand side of the screen that will guide you into the more substantive parts of the website. Under the headings "Senate" or "House" or will find links to pages of information about members, committees, schedules, and calendars. Under the heading "Legislation," you can look up a bill by number or scan through an index of all legislation filed with the General Assembly during this session. You can also search bills by subject. You can even find all bills sponsored by an individual legislator by looking at the list of members in either the House or Senate and then clicking on the icon on the far right that looks like a hand signing a document.

If you enter a bill number or click on an entry in the bill index, it will take you to a page that gives a brief summary of the legislation and outlines the history of the legislation. From this main page for a bill, you can click on the bill number at the top of the page to open or download a .pdf file of the legislation (this will require Adope Acrobate Reader). If amendments have been added to the bill, you can access those as well. If the staff of the legislature has written a more detailed summary of the legislation, there will be a link to the summary on this page. From this page you can also access something called a "fiscal note." This is a document that analyzes the potential impact of legislation on both state and local governments.

The lower portion of the page tracks the status of the bills under the heading "Bill History." The latest activity on the bill in each house of the General Assembly will be listed at the top with the history working backward from there to the bills initial introduction. In some cases, it is tricky to decipher the exact status of the bills due to the abbreviations used and the dual nature of bills. Each bill has a House and Senate companion. These bills may move through committees simultaneously, or the bill may move all the way through the process in one house will the other bill sits idle.

Of course, this association is here to serve you and provide information about legislative developments. If you have questions about bills, don't hesitate to contact TCCA. But if you want to be better informed and better acquainted with what is going on with your State Legislature, I thought it would be helpful to provide a basic primer here that lets you know all the resources your legislature makes freely available to the public.

Update on Legislative Session

The legislative session is getting into full swing. Bill filing deadlines have passed and the committee calendars are starting to get full. Already this session, several significant issues affecting county government have been discussed. To date, none of these issues have been finally resolved, but several are moving through the committee process. Included in the 1800-plus new bills filed this year are proposals related to open meetings and public records; education funding; jail management; tort liability; water resources; planning and zoning; economic development; and environmental regulation. These are on top of the approximately 2400 bills that were filed in the first year of the session, many of which remain active.

There are bills that would establish new mandates on local governments, bills that would restrict revenue sources for counties and bills that would manage how local budgets are adopted and tax rates are established. There are always exceptions to the rule, but in general, the Tennessee County Commissioners Association stands for the prospect that county governments need the tools, resources, and flexibility to govern effectively. As a result, we often oppose efforts that limit the autonomy that county governments have. Every week I communicate to your Senators and Representatives about how potential legislation enhances or stifles your ability to serve your constituents. As I have been getting to know the members of our General Assembly, I find many members who began their politcal careers on the county commission. These folks are quick to recognize your issues and they are imporant allies for us in the State Legislature. They know well that you have a challenging job to perform and they commend you all for your service.

Board Meeting Scheduled

The Board of Directors of the Tennessee County Commissioners Association is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, February 6, 2008. The meeting will begin at 11:00 AM in the ground floor conference room of the Capitol Boulevard Building at 226 Capitol Blvd. in downtown Nashville.

Apart from a few routine administrative matters, the meeting will focus on pending legislation of interest to the association. If you need further information or directions to the meeting, please contact the association office at (615) 532-3767. If any person desiring to attend the meeting needs special accomodations, please contact the association at the same number to inform us of your needs.

Update on Filing Disclosure Statements

Our organization and several others expressed concerns to the Ethics Commission about the ability of local officials to comply with the electronic filing requirement for disclosure statements. At a meeting earlier this week, the Ethics Commission considered the issue and voted to change the practice for this year. The commission will allow both paper and electronic filing and has stated that it will not pursue sanctions for failure to meet the January 31 deadline so long as the statement is filed, electronically or by paper, by February 15. Printable forms are now available on the ethics commission website: www.state.tn.us/soc/tec

The Ethics Commission was very responsive to our association's concerns and I appreciate very much their consideration on this matter and willingness to work with us. I believe the commission's staff has also been working very hard to assist a great number of officials who called them with problems they were having with the electronic system. According to the commission website, over 2100 local officials have successfully filed electronically since January 8 when the portal was activitated. The commission is still very committed to moving toward electronic based filing for this statement to the extent possible. If you have internet access and an e-mail account (which you probably do if you are reading this post), I encourage you to use the electronic filing system.

Filing your 2008 Disclosure of Interest Statement

For elected county officials, the 2008 Disclosure of Interest Statement is due January 31, 2008.

This is the disclosure statement that was formerly filed with your local county election commission office. After the passage of the Comprehensive Governmental Ethics Reform Act of 2006, the form is now filed with the State Ethics Commission. You should have filed a disclosure statement with that office in January 2007.

This year, the Ethics Commission is requiring that the statement be filed electronically. According to the Ethics Commission website, county elected officials should have received an authorization number in the mail which will permit filers to access the system starting on Monday, January 7, 2008. Filers will be required to sign in on the Conflicts portal, establish a TN.gov account with their authorization number and complete the Disclosure of Interest Statement. The Ethics Commission is indicating that it will no longer be accepting paper Statements. The Ethics Commission also has posted a schedule of statewide training seminars to instruct you on how to file your statement electronically. It appears there will be 17 training seminars taught across the state during January, so you should be able to find one near you. You can find that schedule of times and locations here: http://state.tn.us/sos/tec/TrainingClasses.pdf

The primary Ethics Commission Website is here: http://state.tn.us/sos/tec/

If you are reading this information here, you probably will not have substantial difficulty using their websites or filing electronically. Many of your fellow commissioners will not have it as easy. There are still many county commissioners who do not have e-mail or internet access. If you or one of your fellow commissioners has concerns about this requirement for electronic filing, please let me know ASAP. The Ethics Commission will meet on Jan. 15th and there may be a chance to present these concerns to the Ethics Commission at that time.