County Officials Orientation Program

This week was something of a whirlwind for me and I'm sure for many of the newly elected county officials as well. The County Officials Orientation Program was a tremendous success with hundreds of officials in attendance. For the opening session on Tuesday, the room was set for 560 and completely filled up. The hotel staff brought in 100 additional chairs and there were still people filing in and standing around in the back and at the sides of the room. There were hundreds of newly elected county commissioners in attendance. Even more impressive than the crowd was the energy and attention they brought to the meetings. The rooms stayed full throughout hours of training and speakers. Tennessee saw a lot of change in this recent election, but if the conference this week was any indication, the new officials joining public service in Tennessee bring a great deal of energy, interest and ideas to county government.

Thanks to all who made the effort to come to the conference and best wishes on your new term that starts next week.

Tennessee Eligible for Teacher Jobs Funds

According to an article in the Commercial Appeal (find it on-line here#), Tennessee is eligible to receive federal funds recently approved to help protect teacher jobs. Since the state did not cut funding for teacher salaries, there was a concern Tennessee would miss out on this assistance.

This excerpt from the article indicates that the money may be used for certain other specific needs:

"Under the federal Department of Education guidance circulated to U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen's office on Thursday, even states that have not reduced their support to elementary and secondary education are eligible for the funding.

"If a state's (local education agencies) do not need funds to recall or rehire former employees, they may use the funds for activities such as paying the salaries and benefits for teachers who provide instructional services in after-school and extended learning programs," the DOE guidance suggests."

See the article linked above for more details.

Comptroller Releases Report on Missing Funds in County Government

As part of a continuing effort to provide greater transparency in government, Comptroller Justin P. Wilson is making information about cash shortages reflected in the annual financial reports and special reports of Tennessee’s 95 counties available online.

The report provides information about cash shortages and other thefts reported in the annual financial reports for the year ended June 30, 2009 and certain special reports for Tennessee’s 89 county governments audited by the Comptroller’s Division of County Audit and for six counties audited by private accounting firms.

In addition to providing information about the amounts of the cash shortages in each county, the report also provides explanations about how the shortages were discovered, why they occurred, what steps have been taken to correct the problems and any judicial actions resulting from the cash shortages.

“This report serves a dual purpose,” Comptroller Wilson said. “First of all, it gives Tennesseans easy access to important financial information about their county governments, which serves the purpose of increasing transparency in government. Also, bringing this information to light may help reduce fraud, waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars in the future, which is one of the primary missions of the Comptroller’s office.”

The report can be found on-line here.

Tennessee Ranked Best in the Nation in Debt to GDP Ratio

An analysis of the ratio of debt to gross domestic product for each state (and the District of Columbia) shows that Tennessee is lowest with a debt/GDP ratio of 1.95%. The next lowest state was Nevada with 3.58%.

You can find a slide show of all 51 figures at

the daily beast.

Thanks to Post Politics for the reference.

Lottery Scholarship Shortfall Not as Bad as Earlier Predictions

At one point during the last session, there was a concern that lottery revenues were not keeping pace with spending for the scholarship program. In reaction to rather dire predictions, the legislature created a task force to examine the issue. It met all day yesterday. The good news is, the projections have become much more optimistic, showing manageable shortfalls in the next few years. The lottery scholarship program has a large reserve fund which appears to be able to sustain it through a slight turndown. For more information, see this article by Richard Locker of the Commercial Appeal:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/aug/16/study-paints-rosier-picture-tennessee-scholarship-/

Education Standards - Understanding How we Got to Where We Are

In recent years, Tennessee has taken a number to steps to toughen up standards for K-12 education in the state. In the next couple of months, those changes will be felt as new assessments of the performance of our students and our schools are released. There is a general expectation and concern that the new higher standards will initially result in dramatically lower scores. But this hopefully is a necessary growing pain our state and our communities have to go through to get to the desired end result: a well performing and quality public educational system in Tennessee.

I recently read a good article on-line that succintly describes where we've been and how we got to this point. You can find it here on the Chattarati website.

Keynote Speaker at Governor's Economic Development Conference is President of Achieve

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Matt Kisber today announced Michael Cohen, president of the nationally recognized education reform organization Achieve, will keynote the Commissioner’s Luncheon on September 16, 2010 during the 57th annual Governor’s Conference on Economic and Community Development in Nashville, Tenn.

Founded in 1996 by a coalition of business leaders and the nation’s governors, Achieve is an independent, bipartisan organization dedicated to helping states raise standards and graduation requirements, as well as improve assessment and accountability. In 2005, Achieve created the American Diploma Project, of which Tennessee is one of 35 participating states. Governor Bredesen also serves as co-chair of the Achieve Board of Directors.

“Over the past seven and a half years, we’ve made substantial investments in Tennessee to push our state to the forefront of reforming our public education system,” said Governor Bredesen. “Tennessee recognizes that higher standards and greater achievement are key to a more competitive workforce and long term growth for our economy.”

For more, see the full press release here.

Comptroller Seeks Input on Debt Management Practices

To promote sound debt management practices, Comptroller Justin P. Wilson is encouraging Tennessee’s cities and counties to share what works best for them. The Comptroller is asking for comment on a draft statement on debt management. The draft is based on four guiding principles for Tennessee governmental debt issuers to consider while developing their own policies.

These principles are:

• Understanding transactions;
• Explaining to citizens what is being considered;
• Avoiding conflicts of interest; and
• Disclosing costs and risks

The draft sets forth specific language explaining these principles in greater detail. Included with the draft is a guide and checklist on best practices in debt management, which includes examples from current debt policies. And the Comptroller's staff has developed a list of recommended sources and resources for governments to reference.

Comptroller Wilson is inviting written comments and suggestions for these draft documents by Sept. 15. Comptroller Wilson plans to hold a public forum on debt management practices for Tennessee governmental debt issuers, tentatively scheduled to be held in Nashville Sept. 22. Further details on the forum will be posted on the Comptroller’s web site at a later date.

“Each local government’s debt policy should address each of the four guiding principles. Beyond that, it is not advisable or practical to try to create a ‘one-size-fits-all’ debt management policy,” Comptroller Wilson said. “Cities and counties throughout our state have different needs and different challenges relating to debt management. Once the basics are met, I believe it is best to create a general framework for sound debt management, but give governmental debt issuers the flexibility to adopt policies tailored to their specific needs. I want the Comptroller’s office to serve as a clearinghouse for the sharing of ideas about what works and what doesn’t.”

After receiving input from governments and interested parties, Comptroller Wilson will consider making recommendations to the State Funding Board regarding debt management. The State Funding Board has authority to adopt a model debt policy for Tennessee governmental debt issuers.

To view the documents prepared by the Comptroller’s office online, go here

Good News on Revenues

State sales tax revenues for July jumped with the largest monthly growth in over three years. Finance and Administration Commissioner Dave Goetz today reported July’s total revenue collections were up from July of last year. The last month in which sales tax collections exceeded this month’s growth rate was April of 2007.

“We believe the growth in both sales and corporate tax collections point to an economic recovery in Tennessee; however, we will continue to be cautious, keeping our budget in balance as we move forward,” Goetz said. “Franchise and Excise tax collections showed negative growth for the month, but this can be attributed to significant one-time payments received in July of 2009.The year-to-date growth in our corporate tax collections have shown considerable improvement over last year, posting a gain of over 4 percent,” Goetz said.

Overall, July revenues were $833.6 million or $22.5 million more than the state budgeted. Although sales tax collections were $1.0 million less than the estimate for July, the July growth rate was 5.94%. For twelve months revenues are under collected by $225.7 million. The year-to-date growth rate for twelve months was negative 2.25%.

Gasoline and motor fuel tax collections for July decreased by 0.36 %. For twelve months revenues are under collected by $8.2 million.

For more, go here
and here.

For Newly Elected County Commissioners

Congratulations to all those who were elected to serve on county commissions across the state last Thursday. Many are returning to continue their service to the communities. Many will be embarking on their first experience with holding elected office.

For those newly elected county commissioners, I strongly recommend you consider attending the County Officials Orientation Program in Nashville the last week of August. This event is a joint effort between the various statewide county officials organizations and the University of Tennessee County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS). If you are not familiar with CTAS, it is a very valuable resource for county officials in Tennessee. Check out their website at http://www.ctas.tennessee.edu/. for a wealth of training manuals, statistical information and training opportunities. The County Officials Orientation Program for county mayors, county commissioners and county highway officials will be held the afternoon of August 24th and the morning of August 25th at the Nashville Airport Marriot. Registration is free for all newly elected county officials. For more details, see the registration brochure
here.

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants Workshops

The Department of Economic and Community Development's Energy Policy Office will host Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG) Administration Workshops in August for communities who were awarded grants earlier this year.

The workshops will cover requirements related to Davis-Bacon, Buy American, historic preservation, reporting, receiving payments, waste management and procurement. Questions about the grants and expectations of the recipients will also be addressed.

Four workshops will be held across the state, as follows:

August 17, 1 - 4 p.m. CST, Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce, Jackson
August 24, 1 - 4 p.m. EST, Cleveland/Bradley County Chamber of Commerce, Cleveland
August 25, 9 a.m. - Noon EST, Walters State Great Smoky Mountains Expo Center, White Pines
August 26, 1 - 4 p.m. CST, Tennessee Tower, Nashville

Registration is required for the workshops. RSVP to 615-741-2994, 800-342-1340 or ecd.energypolicy@tn.gov.

The Tennessee EECBG program awarded $13.4 million in grants to 146 communities throughout the state to implement energy efficient projects. These grants are projected to produce more than 92 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy savings annually, resulting in an estimated cost-savings of $8 million per year for Tennessee communities. In addition, approximately 149 jobs will be created by the 146 grants awarded.

For more information on the EECBG program in Tennessee, visit http://tnecd.gov/recovery/eecbg.html.

Agenda for the County Officials Orientation Program

After this Thursday, there will be an entire new crop of elected county officials. One of the best things a newly elected county official can do is attend a workshop in Nashville later this month sponsored by the University of Tennessee County Technical Assistance Service. This training event is held from August 24th through 26th in Nashville. Different officials will attend different days. The program is set up so that an official would attend a general session one afternoon and an office specific program the next morning.

A basic agenda for the session can be found here.