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.