more than 2,000 county ofﬁ cials to restore the · 2019. 12. 21. · clingan at 202/942-4246 or...

QuickTakes

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES ■ WASHINGTON, D.C. VOL. 41, NO. 5 ■ MARCH 9, 2009

Source: realtytrac.com

INSIDE >>See BUDGET page 7

Counties help the troops call home. >> Page 3

Capture your county’s ‘green’ initiatives >> Page 2

Cuyahoga County battles foreclosures with land bank.>> Page 3 Using incentives before layoffs to reduce county workforces >> Page 5

State California 523,624Florida 385,309Arizona 116,911

Highest Percentage/RatioNevada 7% (1 in 14)Florida 4.53% (1 in 22)Arizona 4.49% (1 in 22

States with

Most Foreclosed Properties (2008)

States with

Most Foreclosed Properties (2008)

BY LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS STAFF

The House of Representatives recently passed the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Bill (H.R. 1105) by a vote of 245–178. The bill covers the nine appropriations bills that are currently funded through a continuing resolution that was set to expire March 6.

The Senate took up the measure the week of March 2. It was unable to reach agreement on the House version and passed a short-term continuing resolution.

BY LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS STAFF

The following report summarizes President Barack Obama’s budget sub-mitted to Congress Feb. 25. Line item details will not be available until sometime in April.

Agriculture and Rural Affairs

Provides more than $20 billion • in loans and grants to support and expand rural development activities including small businesses, renewable energy and telecommunications

Eliminates federal funding for • the Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) program.

President Obama’s FY10 budget outline includes $26 billion in discre-tionary funding for the U.S. Depart-ment of Agriculture (USDA). This is $2 billion above the likely 2009 level and will be bolstered by $6.9 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) fund-ing. USDA Rural Development programs are funded through the department’s discretionary funds.

The budget specifi es that more

BY JIM PHILIPPS

MEDIA RELATIONS MANAGER

The recently enacted $787 bil-lion economic stimulus package is the main focus for the more than 2,000 elected and appointed county offi cials attending NACo’s 2009 Legislative Conference, March 7-11, in Washington, D.C.

Featured guest speakers include U.S. Department of Homeland Se-curity Secretary Janet Napolitano, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu and NBC News’ Chuck Todd, chief

More than 2,000 county offi cials to Restore the Partnership with Washington

White House correspondent. During the fi ve-day conference,

county offi cials will learn more about what is in the just-passed stimulus package and how they could best utilize the federal re-sources. Educational workshops such as Maximizing Funding Opportunities for Your County in the New Farm Bill, and Safe Invest-ments and Deposits are available to explore strategies to cope with the economic downturn back home.

Other Business at NACo’s 2009 Legislative Conference

NACo’s 11 steering commit-tees met during the conference to

review and make recommenda-tions on issues and legislation impor tant to counties. More than a dozen policy proposals were submitted for committee action.

Issues covered by the commit-tees included justice and public safety, agriculture and rural affairs, taxes, environment and energy, telecommunications, economic and community development, health care, human services, education, labor and employment, public lands and transportation.

FY10 budget provides $20 million to rural development

House passes 2009 Omnibus approps bill

See OMNIBUS page 6

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Transportation

Leaders from two local government associations met with the new Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood (3rd from left) to provide their views on the implementation of the transportation sections of the stimulus and brief LaHood about several major transportation bills which are due to be re-authorized this year.

Pictured here (l-r): Leslie Wollack, National League of Cities (NLC) principal counsel; NACo Executive Director Larry Naake; LaHood; NLC Executive Director Don Borut; Ed Rosado, NACo legislative affairs director; and Bob Fogel, NACo senior legislative director.

2 March 9, 2009 CountyCountyNews News •

SpeedRead »»»

» NACo asked to support more local health workforce education and training

» County economic development funds proposed to help rural health care providers

» NACo encouraged to strongly support local collaboration for prevention and wellness, and electronic health records

Coastal Counties Restoration Grants Grants of $50,000 and $100,000 are available for the Coastal

Counties Restoration Initiative. The deadline is April 6.The grants provide fi nancial assistance on a competitive basis to innovative, high-quality, county-led or -supported ecosystem restoration projects. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Community-based Restoration Program is providing major fi nancial support for this partnership.

For more information, visit www.naco.org/ccri or contact Carrie Clingan at 202/942-4246 or e-mail [email protected].

In Case You Missed It ...News to Use from Past County News

NACo wants to help your county communicate how your green government practices are helping to save taxpayer dollars, boost the local economy and benefi t the environment. Thanks to the generous support of the 19 corporate sponsors of NACo’s Green Government Initiative (www.greencounties.org), digital camcorders are now available for loan to your county.

A member county may reserve a digital camcorder for a four-week period and record 5-minute videos on the county’s green government efforts.

Suggested categories for the green government videos include:

• green buildings and energy effi ciency

• green fl eets and alternative fuels

• climate protection and air quality

• purchasing and procurement• waste management and recy-

cling• land use and conservation,

and• water quality and conserva-

tion.Videos may showcase efforts

in any or all categories but must adhere to NACo’s guidelines,

You can capture your county’s green initiatives on video

including a maximum time of fi ve minutes. Any county is welcome to submit more than one best-practice video.

Videos will be uploaded to NACo’s YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/NACoVideo) for all to access and learn from.

Reserve a camcorder by con-tacting Kelly Zonderwyk at [email protected] or 202/942-4224 for more details.

Already have a digital camera or an applicable video? Be sure to get in touch for guidelines and in-structions on how to participate.

NACo’s Green Government Initiative sponsors include: the

American Institute of Archi-tects, Diesel Technology Forum, Constellation Energy EcoMedia, Edison Electric Institute, General Motors, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Johnson Controls, Inc. and NACo Financial Services Center/U.S. Communities Government Pur-chasing Alliance.

Also sponsoring the program are NORESCO, Offi ce Depot, Real Estate Advocacy Group for States, Siemens, U.S. Green Build-ing Council, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Waste Management, and as-sociate sponsors, the International Code Council and the United Soybean Board.

BY PAUL BEDDOE

ASSOCIATE LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR

The Wake County, N.C. Board of Commissioners gave up its chambers on Feb. 19 for the second of NACo’s hearings on U.S. health reform.

Chairman Harold Webb, Com-missioner Betty Lou Ward, a past-president of NACo, and Commissioner Joe Bryan, who also serves as fi rst vice president of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners, were on hand to welcome the Health Reform Working Group to Wake County and Raleigh.

Southern counties weigh in on U.S. health reformlocal collaborative networks of care like North Carolina’s Care Share Health Alliance.

Noting the growing shortages in the health workforce, she suggested that using county economic develop-ment funding to support local health care providers is a good investment, particularly for rural counties. She also promoted the idea of county support for health workforce training in local community colleges.

Counties can also contribute to the improvement of health care quality by engaging with federal and state authorities to implement health information technology, electroni-cally linking health care providers — including county agencies and other safety net institutions.

Working group members Roy C. Brooks, Gregg Goslin and Lee Kyle Allen each offered brief statements for the record. Brooks, a Tarrant County, Texas commissioner, spoke in favor of realigning fi nancial incen-tives for health care providers in order to improve health outcomes across an entire community.

He also urged NACo to continue to strongly support local collabora-tion for prevention and wellness, and building a health infrastructure which includes fully interoperable electronic health records and a robust health workforce.

“Only when we, as a nation, and as counties, which are our national building blocks, take health care reform seriously, can we assure the tenets set out in our [nation’s] found-ing documents...”

County Hospital Task Force Input

Goslin, a Cook County, Ill. commissioner serves as the chair of another NACo task force formed by then-President Eric Coleman in 2007 to study best practices in operations, identify common issues, and develop recommendations to address challenges that face all counties operating hospitals.

Goslin reported that the County Hospital Task Force had conducted site visits and case studies of fi ve outstanding hospital health care systems and held seven meetings to discuss fi ndings. Goslin observed that while there is no “one size fi ts all” model for county hospitals, “Successful county hospitals have often been given an independent governing board, with the county providing oversight, but not involved in day-to-day management.”

He also noted that the best seem to have grown beyond their 19th century origins as institutions pro-viding “charity care” and compete

See HEALTH CARE page 8

The hearing gave an opportunity for county offi cials from across the southeastern states to contribute their voices to the national debate. The effort is chaired by NACo President-elect Valerie Brown.

“The purpose of these hearings is to engage county offi cials and health care professionals from across the country to help NACo contribute to national health policy reform,” said Brown. “Counties play a critical role in the national health care system and must be part of the reform discussion in Washington in the months and years ahead.”

Pam Silberman, president and CEO of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine (NCIOM), offered keynote remarks. She observed that counties can play a critical role in improving health outcomes by partnering with state and federal governments to invest in health promotion, disease prevention and wellness programs. She also sug-gested that counties are uniquely able to convene community-wide coalitions to invest in multifaceted evidence-based strategies.

With regard to expanding cover-age for the uninsured, Silberman urged NACo to consider allocating for removing some of the categori-cal restrictions on Medicaid. In the meantime, counties can help strengthen the health safety net by supporting safety net organizations and facilitating the development of

Photo by Jim Philipps

Jodi Harrison, Southern Health Partners, Inc., testifi es on jail health care issues before members of NACo’s Health Reform Working Group at its second hearing on U.S. health care reform. Pictured are: (l-r) Broward County, Fla. Commissioner Ilene Lieberman. NACo President-elect Valerie Brown; and Paul Beddoe, associate legislative director.

• County CountyNewsNews March 9, 2009 3

President | Don Stapley

Publisher | Larry Naake

Public Affairs Director | Tom Goodman

Executive Editor | Beverly Anne Schlotterbeck

Senior Staff Writer | Charles Taylor

Staff Writer | Elizabeth Perry

Graphic Artist | Jack Hernandez

Editorial Assistant | Christopher Johnson

ADVERTISING STAFF

Job Market/Classifi eds representativeChristopher Johnson

National Accounts representativeBeverly Schlotterbeck

(202) 393-6226 • FAX (202) 393-2630

Published biweekly except August by:National Association of Counties

Research Foundation, Inc.25 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.,

Ste. 500, Washington, D.C. 20001

(202) 393-6226 | FAX (202) 393-2630

E-mail | [email protected]

Online address | www.countynews.org

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Mail subscriptions are $100 per year for non-mem bers. $60 per year for non-members pur chas ing mul ti ple cop- ies. Ed u ca tion al in sti tu tion rate, $50 per year. Member county sup ple men tal sub scrip tions are $20 each. Send pay ment with order and address chang es to NACo, 25 Massachusetts Ave. N.W., Wash ing ton, D.C. 20001.

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© National Association of CountiesResearch Foundation, Inc.

Ohio county fi ghts foreclosures with land bankBY ELIZABETH PERRY

STAFF WRITER

Ohio’s largest county is taking the lead in fi ghting the glut of home foreclosures with a new land bank program that allows Cuyahoga County to buy foreclosed and aban-doned properties, rehabilitate them and sell them to private owners. Gus Frangos, who runs the program out of County Treasurer Jim Rokakis’ offi ce, said that land banking may not solve the foreclosure crisis, but it is a step in the right direction.

“It’s a long-term approach,” said Frangos. “If something had been done 10 years ago the problem wouldn’t have been as catastrophic in Cuyahoga County. It’s a way to stabilize values in a meaningful, strategic way that most urban coun-ties don’t have.”

The purpose behind the land banking process is to have local governments involved in buying properties, fi xing them and selling them. It is a process that is supposed to circumvent unscrupulous sellers intent on purchasing homes and reselling them without fi rst making needed repairs.

Earlier this year, Rokakis suc-cessfully lobbied members of the

Ohio Legislature to vote in favor of the locally fi nanced land bank, which is based on a similar one in Genesee County, Mich. It is the fi rst of its kind in Ohio, a fact that has counties around the state watching to see how well it will work.

State Senate approval was needed for the land bank because state law needed to change on a number of levels, including:

• authorization to protect pen-alty and interest payments, so the revenue stream could be used as a source of bonding,

• authorization to act as a cor-poration in every respect, and

• authority to take profi ts from foreclosures and redirect them to the land bank without needing to hold auctions.

The main argument Rokakis

faced in the Legislature against land banking was that it would give the county too much power over private properties, turning it into a type of landlord. Responding to the land bank critics in a recent Associated Press article, Lucas County, Ohio Treasurer Wade Kapszukiewicz said he was convinced of the pro-gram’s viability.

“Whenever meaningful reform

BY CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Every year, it is estimated that 130 million cell phones are replaced due to age and functionality. For many, it is often hard to decide what to do with an old phone that has seen better days. Fortunately, there is a solution that many counties across the country are turning to: Cell Phones for Soldiers.

On Feb. 25 in York County, Pa. commissioners approved a measure, sponsored by Veterans Affairs Chair-man Philip A. Palandro, to send 100 of its discarded phones and Blackber-rys to the Massachusetts-based Cell Phones for Soldiers. This nonprofi t company sells donated phones to buy prepaid calling cards for soldiers who are overseas.

“We wanted to support the larger community as a whole,” said Michelle Smith, York County project administrator. “What better way than through this program where soldiers and their families can benefi t?”

Cell Phones for Soldiers was created in 2004 by then 13-year-old Brittany Bergquist and her then 12-year-old brother Robbie Bergquist. It began when the siblings heard a news report about Sgt. Brian Fletcher, who was charged $7,624 for his overseas calls on his cell phone bill. The kids raised money to help the soldier by emptying their piggy banks and getting snack money from their friends at school. With $21 in hand, they went to a local bank to open an account. The bank in turn donated $500 to the charity.

What started out as car washes and yard sales to help soldiers pay phone bills turned into raising money to buy phone cards for soldiers. After researching and talking to their two cousins stationed overseas, the Bergquists decided that recycling cell phones for money that went to buying phone cards was the way to go.

Calling Those Called to Serve

Courtesy Photo

In the past two years, Cell Phones for Soldiers has collected more than 2 million cell phones and has sent over 500,000 prepaid phone cards to troops.

is advanced there are skeptics,” said Kapszukiewicz. “I’m convinced that it will work, and now we have that chance for Cuyahoga County to show it can work.”

Frangos said delinquent tax pen-alties and interest will raise between $7 million and $9 million annually to fund the program.

The county intends to issue between $50 million and $70 million in bonds based on the anticipated revenue from the delinquency pen-alties. Meanwhile, Frangos said many of the properties acquired by the land bank will need to be demolished, while others will be tapped for future rehabilitation. Down the road, the sale of the rehabilitated properties will create another revenue stream for the county, he said, although that one is a bit more amorphous.

Assessment of individual prop-erties will be done internally through staff or contract, but Frangos said much of it was already done through the city of Cleveland. “The utilities will have been cut off; the house would have been boarded up — it’s been vandalized, stripped and already condemned,” he said.

As for the actual work of sta-bilizing and rehabbing properties, the county will hire contractors to do it all, with a small component of county workers hired through workforce development programs.

See CELL PHONES page 5


Number of years active in NACo: 12Years in public service: 28Occupation: County auditor and commissioner of electionsEducation: B.A. in English and M.A. in History, University of Northern IowaThree people (living or dead) I’d invite to dinner: Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain and Bob DylanA dream I have is to: play center fi eld for the New York Yankees.You’d be surprised to learn that I: wrote a musical about elec-tions.The most adventurous thing I’ve done lately is: learned to surf at age 53.My favorite way to relax is: playing music with my sons.I’m most proud of: my wife, Kim, and my sons, Ryan and Sean.Every morning I read: the funny papers.My favorite meal is: beef pasties.My pet peeve is: intolerance.My motto is: Honi soit qui mal y pense (Evil be to him who evil thinks.)The last book I read was: Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation by Allen Guelzo.My favorite movies are: Dr. Strangelove, Notorious, The Big Lebowski, Casablanca; I have a lot of favorite movies.My favorite music is: whatever music I’m playing with my sons.My favorite president is: Abraham Lincoln.

» Grant Veeder County Auditor and Commissioner of ElectionsBlack Hawk County, IowaNACo Board of Directors

Profi les Profi les inin ServiceService

BY KATI GUERRA

COMMUNITY SERVICES SENIOR ASSOCIATE

Counties are currently faced with a budget crisis. While today’s eco-nomic issues are diffi cult, the situ-ation also provides an opportunity to review budgets and make smart changes to augment funds.

As counties look to make budget cuts and shift resources, one group is promoting juvenile justice reform as a way to increase available money in tough times.

Local governments spend more money per year on corrections than federal and state governments (see chart). In 2006, local govern-ments spent over $100 billion on corrections.

The Juvenile Detention Alterna-tives Initiative (JDAI), a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, is focused on getting the word out that alternate youth detention strategies can have a profound impact on both expenditures and public safety. Through publications and on-the-ground results, JDAI demonstrates that modifying youth detention

Youth detention program cuts costs, increases public safetystrategies can lead to decreased criminal justice costs and increased public safety.

JDAI functions through an in-formal process. Interested counties contact JDAI and request additional information about becoming a site. Through conversations with JDAI staff, both parties assess whether the program is a good fi t for the county. This process can be quick or can take several conversations, depending on the needs of the county.

Some potential sites may already have programs and policies in place and simply need technical assistance to organize all parties involved. Other potential sites may be interested in a complete overhaul of their current system.

After a needs assessment and an agreement is made, JDAI offers grant money, a site coordinator, technical assistance and access to its vast support network to implement JDAI’s core objectives toward youth detention reform.

JDAI is a big proponent of data-driven solutions and outcomes. The initial and continued assessments

throughout a site’s development help ensure the process is working and allows sites to adjust strategies accordingly. Continued funding for training and assessment may be made available.

Ultimately, JDAI seeks to ensure that the right youths, and only the right youths, are detained and only for as long as needed. Contact the JDAI help desk at www.jdaihelpdesk.org for more information.

JDAI’s approach has seen proven results at sites all around the coun-try. For example, due to decreased detention use, Multnomah County (Portland), Ore. closed three 16-bed detention units between 1998 and 2001. Closing these units has saved the county $2.4 million each year in detention operating costs; this is a total of more than $17 million saved cumulatively. By increasing system effi ciency, keeping only the “right” youths in detention facilities, and reinvesting money in alternative so-lutions for youths, JDAI has proven to be a cost-effective solution.

It is a natural assumption among many public safety decision-makers that this approach of cost-savings through decreased youth detention would also decrease public safety. Most youths currently in detention are nonviolent. Since JDAI is a pro-ponent of only appropriate youth de-tention, rates will logically decrease as part of their strategy. With youths returning to the community instead of being detained, many people fear that public safety will decrease. JDAI sites have demonstrated that decreas-ing youth detention populations is not accomplished at the expense of public safety.

In JDAI’s four model sites, the average daily population in deten-tion declined dramatically. At the

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2008. Justice Expenditure and Employment Extracts

for County Officials, available at www.naco.org. The publication funded by a grant from the Casey Foundation.

Juvenile detention reform is not only effective as a cost-reducing strategy, but also as a public safety strategy. JDAI helps to identify the youths most likely to reoffend, thereby reducing the need to detain low-risk youths. JDAI focuses on data and evidence-based programs that allow for monitoring public safety indicators and adjusting strategies accordingly. It also helps to develop alternatives to detention that help young people succeed.

NACo has recognized the need for youth detention reform and sup-ports JDAI’s efforts. In late 2009, the association will release a publica-tion featuring 10 counties and the county-level costs associated with unnecessary juvenile detention.

If you are interested in learning more about JDAI, call 410/547-6600 or visit the Annie E. Casey Foundation at www.aecf.org Major Initiatives Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiatives.

(For more information on NACo’s role in supporting JDAI efforts and NACo’s 2007 juvenile detention reform publication, contact Kati Guerra at 202/942-4279 or e-mail [email protected].)

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same time, juvenile arrests fell between 37 percent and 54 percent. These drops in arrest rates were similar or larger than the decreases in arrests throughout the rest of the country.

Criminal Justice Expenditures by Level of Government

Juvenile detention reform is not only effective as a cost-reducing strategy, but also as a public safety strategy.

Cook County, Ill. is one model site that has seen proven results. Between 1996 and 2005, Cook County reduced its average daily population in locked detention from 682 to 420. Cook County leaders did this by developing alternatives to locked detention for youths who did not pose a serious threat of fl eeing or reoffending. These alternatives include community-based reporting centers that provide constructive activities and allow youths to stay at home and in school.

By reducing their average daily population in detention, Cook County has been able to save money and did not see a decrease in public safety as a result. For more information on JDAI’s model sites, please see NACo’s 2007 publication Juvenile Detention Reform: a Guide


Bergen County, N.J. offi cials say they followed correct procedure, but the state of New Jersey alleges the county owes it $1.4 million for offering an unauthorized early retirement program.

Twenty-nine Bergen County employees took advantage of the buyout last year, The Star-Ledger reported. The state Treasury Department also billed the county $5,700 for its work calculating what the county owes.

In New Jersey, counties must get state approval before offering early retirement programs.

“We’ve always framed this as a severance package, and they’re saying it’s not a severance package. It wasn’t an early retirement,” Brian Hague, chief of staff to Bergen’s county executive told The Star-Ledger.

New Jersey County Billed for Severance Program

BY CHARLES TAYLOR

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The names differ — early leave incentive, employee buyout, sepa-ration incentive, early retirement — but across the country, the goal is the same. Faced with budget shortfalls, counties are shrinking employee ranks using a variety of paid incentives.

Canyon County, Idaho is looking at a $6.6 million budget gap. New Hanover County, N.C. needs to make up $3 million in lost revenue due to the economic downturn. In Hernando County, Fla., the shortfall is $3.1 million.

“Sales tax is down. Houses are not going to be appraised at the same values, so that’s going to be less dollars coming in,” said Rose Rocco, a Hernando County commissioner. “We have some businesses that have closed and we’re not going to be get-ting tax revenue from them either.”

To cope, this Florida Gulf Coast county crafted an early leave incen-tive program — “not a retirement program, not tied to age,” said Human Resources Director Cheryl Marsden. Rather, it focuses on em-ployees who earn $50,000 or more who have worked for the county for at least six years, the time it takes to become fully vested in county benefi ts.

The program offers qualifying employees one week of pay for every year of employment up to 18 years. It also pays for 18 months of health insurance coverage.

Incentives reduce county workforces without layoffs

Marsden said the package is “not as generous” as some she’s seen, but the county’s goal is to pay for it out of current funds without tapping its reserves.

“We have approximately 128 individuals that are eligible, and originally I said I’d like to see about 10 percent take it,” Marsden said. But because of high unemployment in the state, she doesn’t expect to meet that goal. “I truly think we’re just going to have a handful of people that may consider it.”

In New Hanover County, 43 employees have opted to take advantage of its employee buyout. The county offered three months’ severance for employees with 30-plus years of service, two months’ severance for employees with 25 years or more, and a one month’s for 20-to-25-year employees. The program also includes “county health insurance” and health care cost incentives, County Manager Bruce Shell said.

The package comes after “ad-justment in expenditures” and a hiring freeze on all but essential positions, Shell continued. “As re-tail sales projections became more and more dismal, ... we felt like we had to take some more steps.” And this may not be the county’s last resort.

New Hanover, like many coun-ties, is trying to avoid involuntary layoffs. But if savings fall short of their targets, reductions in force may follow in some counties.

Oakland County, Mich. suc-ceeded in avoiding layoffs with an award-winning “separation incentive program,” recently hon-ored by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) with an “Economic Stimulus Prize.” Fifteen winners nationwide were recognized “for creating HR solu-tions that are successfully helping their companies survive the current economic crisis by avoiding layoffs, saving money and maintaining morale.”

The program offered employees who were eligible to retire one week of salary for every year of service up to a total of 35 years, Judy Fandale, the county’s retirement administra-tor, said.

Her boss, HR Manager Jennifer Mason, said, “Beginning in 2008 and continuing into our adopted budgets for Fiscal Years 2009 and 2010, we were able to delete 180 positions without laying off a single employee,” according to SHRM’s summary of the program. “The cost of the incentive was a one-time payout of $5.6 million, but the an-nual yearly savings going forward will be $10.5 million.”

She also noted that this program differed from incentive programs

“Brittany and Robbie have been in charge from the start,” said Gail Bergquist, their mother. “Robbie’s soccer coach is a lawyer and helped them secure the nonprofi t status.”

Since then, the registered 501(c)3 organization has raised nearly $2 million in donations and distributed more than 500,000 pre-paid calling cards to soldiers serving overseas through its partnership with AT&T.

“We have drop-off sites for used cell phones in all 50 states as well as in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands,” added Gail Bergquist. “AT&T helped amplify our cause and reach out to troops around the world.”

Cell phones of all makes, models and conditions are accepted for dona-tion. Some have no value because

they were damaged and are so old they can’t be refurbished or reused. Most phones average $5, while newer phones and Blackberrys bring in $120 or more each.

Troops and their loved ones can go to www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com and click on the link to have phone cards sent. Phone cards are also sent to military family support groups, military hospitals and bases throughout the world.

Any county or organization can join Cell Phones For Soldiers at any time. They can visit www.cell-phonesforsoldiers.com/becomeDropoff.html for more information and to receive a welcome kit that will help them organize and advertise their collection site.

For more information on Cell Phones for Soldiers, visit www.cell-phonesforsoldiers.com or call 800/426-1031.

More than 500,000 phone cards distributed to soldiersCELL PHONES from page 3

the county has offered previously, that were open to not only to those near retirement. “…We have offered something similar in the past and felt that as an organization we could not afford another ‘brain drain’ of that magnitude.”

Losing years of institutional knowledge is a concern for coun-ties. New Hanover County’s Bruce Shell said, “The retirement package was not something that we entered into lightly — not because of the expense and the severance — but it was because of the loss of some truly very talented folks.”

Among those who took the package is Sid Causey, the county’s

sheriff of six-and-a-half years — with a total of 39 years in law en-forcement in the county, according to StarNewsOnline.com. A reporter’s call to his offi ce confi rmed that he has retired.

“In our government, we were not overstaffed by any means,” Shell said. “So when you do these cutbacks your challenge is what you do about your services.

“I suspect we may have to look at some reorganization to see how we can continue to deliver services without having to hire some of those [positions] back.”

And layoffs may stil l be necessary.


The Department of Homeland Security is not included in this bill because it was already funded for the full year in the Security, Disaster Assistance and Continuing Appro-priations Act (P.L. 110-329).

The following is a summary of key provisions important to coun-ties, compared to 2008 funding. These fi gures do not include any additional funds that were part of the economic stimulus bill.

Agriculture and Rural Development

USDA Rural Development Programs: $2.7 billion, $400 million above 2008 levels. Many of these program accounts are fl ush with funding as this yearly appropriation will add to stimulus funding that is double, and in some cases triple the yearly appropria-tion for rural housing, rural water projects, rural community facilities and rural economic development efforts.

Rural Housing: $7.6 billion, nearly $2 billion more than 2008 which will help to bolster several rural housing programs. Most of the agency’s overall funding increase is due to a doubling of the Rural Rental Assistance Program.

Rural Community Facilities: Funded at $63.83 million, $4.64 million below 2008. However, grant funding remains level at $20.37 million, while direct loans increase slightly and guaranteed loans de-crease by $1.24 million.

Rural Business Programs: Funded at $87.39 million, most business programs remain relatively unchanged from 2008. The Rural Business Enterprise Grants remain funded at $38.73 million and the Rural Business Opportunity Grants are at $2.48 million. The Value-Added Agricultural Product Grants are cut to $3.87 million because the $15 million in mandatory Farm Bill funding was used in 2008. Rural Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities Grants stay fl at at $8.13 million.

Rural Water and Waste Dis-posal Program: $556 million for the Water and Waste Disposal Program, about $2 million less than 2008 due to a cut in high energy cost grants. The bill provides the same budget authority for water and wastewater loans and grants as 2008 at $537.29 million. NACo and appropriators are concerned about the Farm Bill’s provision that seeks to place a higher reliance on loans and less on grants. Therefore, ap-propriators direct USDA to deliver

at least the same level of funding to all communities including the poorest and most remote that cannot rely on loans.

Rural Broadband: Provides an estimated loan program level of $400.49 million, $100 million more than 2008. The Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant program stays funded at $34.76 million.

in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to cover expenses related to the 2010 Decennial Census.

Criminal Justice

Byrne Justice Assistance Grants: $532 million for formula grants, an increase of $360 mil-lion.

State Criminal Alien Assis-tance Program: $400 million, a decrease of $5 million.

Drug Courts: $40 million.

Energy and Water

Energy Efficiency and Re-newable Energy: $140 million for research on energy-effi cient buildings; $200 million for weath-erization grants and $40 million for water-power research.

Climate Change Research: Provides $178 million, an increase of $41 million.

Department of Energy Envi-ronmental Clean-up: $6.5 billion, an increase of $301 million.

Army Corps of Engineers: Overall funding is reduced to $5.4 billion, $185 million below 2008.

Department of Interior Water Reclamation: $39 million, an increase of $15 million, to expand the use of recycled water.

Interior and the Environment

Clean Drinking Water and Waste water: $1.5 billion for the State Revolving Fund, including $689 million for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, $829 mil-lion for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and $145 million for State and Tribal Assistance Grants for drinking and wastewater infrastructure.

Cleanup of Hazardous Waste and Toxic Sites: $815 million, an increase of $22 million, including $605 million for Superfund, $112 million for underground toxic spills and $97 million for brownfi elds.

Clean Air: $224 million for Clean Air Act implementation, an increase of $7.2 million; and $60 million for grants to reduce diesel engine emissions, an increase of $11 million.

Environmental Protection Agency Climate Change Pro-grams: $50 million for the Energy Star program and $10 million for new grants to encourage local communities to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Wildland Fire: $3 billion, an increase of $239 million.

National Parks: $2.5 billion, an

increase of $135 million.U.S. Forest Service: $2.6 bil-

lion, an increase of $79 million for programs other than forest fi re.

Health

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: $6.6 billion for public health programs, an increase of $239 million.

Community Health Centers: $2.2 billion, an increase of $125 million.

State Health Access Grants: A new initiative that would provide $75 million for start-up grants to states to expand health care coverage to targeted groups.

State High Risk Insurance Pools: $75 million, an increase of $26 million.

Health Professions Training: $171 million for nurse education programs, an increase of $15 million, and $222 million to train doctors and other professionals, an increase of $28 million.

Ryan White AIDS: $1.9 billion for parts A and B to be available through Sept. 30, 2011. The bill includes language similar to that contained in the FY08 bill that limits 2008 program year reductions in Ryan White Part A grants for metropolitan areas to 6.3 percent and for transitional areas to 11.3 percent by providing $10.85 million for supplemental grants for FY09.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration: $3.5 bil-lion, an increase of $110 million.

Rural Health: $289 million, an increase of $27 million.

Housing and Urban Development

Community Development Block Grant: $3.64 billion in formula grants an increase of $56 million.

HOME: $1.81 billion in for-mula grants, an increase of $181 million.

Public Housing: $2.45 billion, level funding

Section 8 Voucher Program: $16.82 billion for tenant-based vouchers, an increase of $430 million, and $7.1 billion for project-based vouchers.

McKinney Vento Homeless Housing Programs: $1.68 billion, an increase of $29 million.

Brownfi elds Redevelopment: $10 million to clean up commercial and industrial sites.

Human Services and Education

Child Care Development Block

Grant: $2.1 billion, an increase of $65 million.

Community Services Block Grant: $700 million, an increase of $46 million.

Head Start: $7.1 billion, an increase of $235 million.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act State Formula Grants: $11. 5 billion, an increase of $558 million.

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance: Since P.L. 110-329 provided $5.1 billion for LIHEAP, the program is not included in the omnibus bill.

Refugee Resettlement: $633 million, which is $22 million below 2008. However, the bill assumes that there are suffi cient carryover funds to increase the available dollars to $685 million, and also allows the funds to be available through Sept. 30, 2011.

Safe and Stable Families: $345 million for the mandatory program and $63 million for dis-cretionary grants, both of which are level funding.

Senior Nutrition Programs: $810 million, an increase of $52 million.

Social Services Block Grant: $1.7 billion, which is level fund-ing.

Title I Grants for Elementary and Secondary Education: $15 billion, an increase of $648 mil-lion.

USDA Nutrition Programs: $6.9 billion for the Women, Infants and Children program, an increase of $1.2 billion.

Vocational Education State Formula Grants: $1.16 billion, which is level funding.

Labor

Workforce Investment Act Adult Training: $861 million, level funding.

Workforce Investment Act Dislocated Workers: $1.18 billion, an increase of $2 million

Workforce Investment Act Youth Programs: $924 million, level funding.

TransportationHighway Infrastructure: $40.7

billion, an increase of $484 mil-lion.

Federal Transit Administra-tion: $10.1 billion, an increase of $773 million.

Airport Modernization, Safety and Effi ciency Grants: $3.5 bil-lion, level funding.

Essential Air Service: $127 million.

Amtrak: $1.5 billion, an in-crease of $165 million.

Omnibus bill would increase rural housing funding to $7.6 billionOMNIBUS from page 1

SpeedRead »»»

» Rural Housing funding would increase to $7.6 billion, nearly $2 billion more than 2008

» $2.9 billion included for Census Bureau’s 2010 Decennial Census

» $125 million increase for Commu-nity Health Centers to $2.2 billion

» Airport Modernization, Safety and Efficiency Grants level-funded at $3.5 billion

Rural Energy for America Program: Funded at $5 million, a cut of $30 million from 2008. The new program authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill fi nances rural energy-effi ciency and renewable-energy initiatives.

Conservation Programs: Funded at $968 million, $32 mil-lion above 2008, for the Natural Resources Conservation Service to improve service in the fi eld, deliver conservation efforts to protect the environment and upgrade aging fl ood-control dams at risk of cata-strophic failure.

Country of Origin Labeling (COOL): Implements the program requiring country of origin label-ing for fresh fruits and vegetables, meats and other products by providing $9.6 million for the Agricultural Marketing Service to administer and oversee COOL labeling requirements.

Census and Elections

Help America Vote Act (HAVA): $106 million was appro-priated to the Election Assistance Commission for election reform programs, including $100 million for “requirements payments” to states that are in compliance with HAVA.

2010 Census: Approximately $2.9 billion was appropriated to the Census Bureau for expenses related to periodic censuses and programs required by law. Specifi c authority was given to permit the use of such funds for additional promotion, outreach and marketing activities associated with the 2010 Decennial Census. The Census Bureau also received an additional $1 billion


than $20 billion in grants and loans will be available for rural develop-ment programs. This would be a $300 million increase over the cur-rent version of the 2009 Omnibus. This increase will only be meaning-ful if it is not achieved by shifting from grants to loans. NACo will work for a strong commitment to grants and priority county pro-grams, including rural water and wastewater infrastructure, rural community facilities, rural hous-ing, rural broadband infrastructure and rural business programs.

Rural broadband and rural re-newable energy are two key pillars of the president’s rural develop-ment strategy. The budget provides $1.3 billion in loans and grants to increase broadband capacity and improve telecommunications ser-vices in rural areas. The budget also provides $250 million in loans and grants to promote rural renewable energy initiatives including biofuels and wind power.

The budget demonstrates a com-mitment to rural small businesses and value-added agriculture. A total of $61 million will be split

among fi ve Rural Development programs which focus on these is-sues. The programs in this category are the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program, Rural Co-operative Development Grants, Value-Added Producer Grants, grants to minority producers and cooperative research agreements.

The Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) pro-gram is targeted for elimina-tion. The administration believes that the program’s councils are self-sustaining at the state and local level. Former President George W. Bush also tried to eliminate this program, but congressional ap-propriators continued the program which fi rst began in 1962. The new Rural Collaborative Investment Program is not mentioned in the budget, but NACo will continue to advocate for full funding for this innovative rural development program.

Housing and Urban Development

The U.S. Department of Hous-ing and Urban Development FY10 budget proposes to provide $4.5

billion to fully fund the Commu-nity Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and revamp the program with a “more effective formula, appropriate incentives and accountability measures,” and a new “Sustainable Communities Initiative.” The budget would provide $1 billion to fund the Af-fordable Housing Trust Fund to fi nance, rehabilitate and preserve affordable housing for very low income families. The Trust Fund was authorized last year as part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.

The FY10 budget also proposes increased funding for the Housing Choice Voucher program and Project-Based Rental Assistance and preservation of 1.3 million af-fordable housing rental units. Two other initiatives are proposed: a new “Choice Neighborhoods Initiative” to transform neighborhoods with concentrated poverty, using public, private and nonprofi t partners, and a new “Energy Innovation Fund” to drive the creation of an energy-effi cient housing market including usage of private-sector lending for retrofi tting older, energy ineffi cient housing.

The HUD budget also proposes funds for efforts to combat mort-gage fraud and predatory lending practices, and increases funding for fair housing enforcement. It calls for elimination of the Sec-tion 108 Community Develop-ment Loan Guarantees program, and also the American Dream Downpayment Initiative, which did not receive funding in FY09.

Environmental Protection Agency

The president’s budget pro-posal provides $10.5 billion for the EPA. This is anticipated to be 34 percent over expected 2009 levels of $7.6 billion.

The Clean Water and Drink-ing Water State Revolving Funds (SRF) combined would receive a total of $3.9 billion. This is approximately $1.5 billion more than expected 2009 levels. This approximation does not include the $6 billion that was included in the recently enacted ARRA stimulus legislation.

The SRF fund allows states to provide funding to wastewater and drinking water treatment systems

through low-interest loans to com-munities.

The Superfund program would be funded at approximately $1 billion. The budget also proposes to reinstate Superfund excise taxes that expired in 1995. The admin-istration estimates that this move will re-energize the fund at a tune of $1 billion per year. However, the taxes would not be reinstated until after 2011 to give the economy time to recover.

Additionally, the budget also expressed a strong intent to pass climate change legislation through a cap-and-trade program, after enactment of the budget. The administration proposes to insti-tute an economy-wide emissions reduction program to reduce greenhouse gases to 14 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, and 83 percent below 2005 levels by 2050.

Department of Energy

The budget proposes $26.3 bil-lion for the Energy Department. This is relatively consistent with 2009 proposed numbers, aside from

Budget proposal advocates increase for housing choice voucher programBUDGET from page 1

See BUDGET page 9


Application Deadline: April 17, 2009

in the health care marketplace as providers of choice. Seeking a more diverse patient mix by increasing the number of private-pay patients is important since the payment-to-cost ratio helps cover the defi cit of Medicare/Medicaid patients or bad debt, and enables the safety net mission to be sustainable with less direct county subsidy.

Partners Needed to Ensure Safety Net

He also pointed out that success-ful county hospitals and their county elected offi cials effectively engage their governors and legislators as partners in fulfi lling the safety net mission. This helps to ensure that fed-eral resources fl ow appropriately to

the hospitals. He offered two policy recommendations for NACo to carry into the health reform debate:

“NACo should reaffirm its commitment to a strong Medicaid system including a more generous DSH (Disproportionate Share Hospital) program. Even as we join the movement for more universal health care coverage, we must not allow the safety net infrastructure to be undermined,” he said.

He also suggested that NACo should support a review of the federal tax exemptions for not-for-profi t hospitals. “To meet a local community’s health care need, we have seen that it is often necessary to shift — legally, ethically and respon-sibly — some indigent care from the county hospitals to other institutions. Hospitals which enjoy federal, state

and local tax-exempt status should have a meaningful commitment to community benefi t.”

Prevention Focus SoughtAllen, a Craven County, N.C.,

commissioner, represents the Na-tional Association of Local Boards of Health on the NACo Board of Directors. He spoke strongly in favor of a health system that promotes wellness and invests in prevention, noting that such inter-ventions should be research-based. “Prevention and public health and wellness with local delivery access to everyone are an essential part of what we should pledge to do. The act of prevention far outweighs the act of treatment and cure in every case,” he said.

“Research is also a vital part of the prevention process. We as a hu-man race have essentially eradicated many of the diseases of the past. Now it is up to us to anticipate the basic elements of keeping everyone healthy so they might live happier lives and be productive citizens of their communities.”

Danny Staley, the health direc-tor for North Carolina’s Appala-chian District Health Department, described some of the ways his agency is trying to implement the best practices endorsed by NCIOM’s Silberman. He described traditional public health activities of assessment, prevention, tracking communicable diseases, food-borne illnesses and STDs as helping to control costs for already strained safety net systems.

Improving Rural HealthBill Clark, county administrator,

Orangeburg County, in neighboring South Carolina, explained that his county is the largest rural county in the state and is in part of the state referred to as the “poverty belt.” Health statistics within this area are frequently worse than the state average, especially among minority populations. He called on NACo to support Community Health Centers as a means to provide access to health care. Community Health Centers provide medical services to all, including patients with Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance and the uninsured. He also noted the role of poverty as a determinant of poor health.

“The objectives for improving rural health and supporting rural economic development share much in common,” he said. “Orangeburg County supports the present federal stimulus initiative as a means to both save and create jobs. We encourage NACo to recognize and support the relationship that exists between economic development

Health care hearings seen as part of ‘Restore the Partnership’ campaignHEALTH CARE from page 2

2009artsarts and and culture culture

award programaward program

NACo’s Arts and Culture Commission is pleased to announce the 5th Annual County Arts and Culture Award program.

This award is designed to recognize county gov-ernments for their efforts in enriching Ameri-cans’ cultural and intellectual life, promoting lifelong learning and protecting the national heritage by supporting local museums and other cultural institutions, supporting historic preser-vation, helping children succeed in school, work, and life through arts education, and supporting America’s nonprofi t arts organizations.

For additional information on this award, please contact Kathryn Murphy at 202.661.8806 or [email protected] or visit www.naco.org.

spoke about the importance of incorporating mental health ser-vices into primary care. “Through integration models, we are placing mental health and substance abuse specialists into primary care prac-tices,” she said. “This helps the primary care physician feel better equipped to provide full service to his or her patients, and it is also far more patient-friendly, since the person can access all needed services at the same location.”

She also recommended NACo support electronic health records. “The improvement in the quality of care that could result if everyone treating or serving an individual could know what everyone else treat-ing or serving that person was doing would be remarkable,” she said.

“We have a relatively new database in North Carolina that simply monitors pharmaceutical prescriptions and the potentially life-threatening drug interactions that are identifi ed are truly frighten-ing. An electronic health record would also help to achieve the goal of better coordinating and integrat-ing a person’s physical health care with their behavioral health and developmental disability services and supports.”

Group to Share Findings with Obama Administration

The NACo Working Group will submit its proposed recommenda-tions to the Health Steering Com-mittee and the Board of Directors at the Legislative Conference and will begin to explain them on behalf of the nation’s counties to the Obama administration and the 111th Con-gress as soon as possible thereafter. The aim is to advise the administra-tion on how best to achieve national health system reform that enhances the health of families and commu-nities and has a positive fi nancial impact on counties.

NACo President Don Stapley, said the hearings are part of NACo’s mission to Restore the Partnership between the federal government and counties.

“For decades, the federal gov-ernment and counties worked together to answer the challenges facing the nation, but in recent years that partnership has dimin-ished,” Stapley said. “The need to Restore the Partnership has never been greater in this time of shrinking county revenues and increased demands for services.”

and health within impoverished communities.”

Dean Lynch, Virginia Associa-tion of Counties, outlined some of the health policy priorities for counties in the Commonwealth of Virginia — particularly the problem of access, noting that there are not enough medical professionals to provide health care in the rural counties. Observing that the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech motivated the legislature to provide funding for behavioral health programs, which had languished for years, he suggested that, regrettably, it may take a crisis to focus lawmakers’ attention.

Jail Diversion Programsfor Mentally Ill

Jodi Harrison and Leza Wain-wright addressed health issues unique to county governments. Har-rison is an attorney working as the risk manager for Southern Health Partners, Inc., a private company that provides medical services under contract to small and medium-sized jails in 11 states, including nine in the South. She spoke about jail health issues. Harrison described the challenges posed by inmates with substance abuse and other mental and behavioral health problems, and suggested greater emphasis on diversion programs. She also outlined the diffi culties counties face providing adequate nursing staff for their jails and called for NACo to support more local health workforce education and training. “Counties can also advocate for more nurs-ing license exam opportunities and quicker reporting of results, to expedite the process of nurses becoming licensed,” she said.

“We also suggest that counties consider encouraging the nursing authorities to consider expanding the responsibilities LPNs may undertake in an institutional setting and/or the means by which LPNs will be supervised, thereby further expanding the pool of providers jails can utilize to meet their obligation to provide necessary medical care.”

She also urged greater support for legislation requiring providers to offer Medicare or Medicaid rates for jail inmates.

Mental Health and Primary Care

Wainwright, the director, North Carolina’s Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services,

Restore the PartnershipA Part of NACo’s Efforts to


the $7.5 billion in emergency loans to the automobile industry, included in the 2009 numbers. Additionally, the DOE received $38.7 billion in the stimulus package for the 2009–2010 period for alternative energy and effi ciency programs.

The budget focuses on smart grid technologies and other ways to upgrade the current electric transmission infrastructure. Ad-ditionally, it focuses on ways to improve use of wind and solar power and energy-effi cient ve-hicles. The budget proposes to cut back on costs associated with developing Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste storage facility until the administration, and the involved agencies can craft a new proposal on nuclear waste disposal. There is no mention of potential funding for the Energy, Effi ciency, Conservation Block Grant program, which received $3.2 billion in the stimulus bill.

Finance and Intergovernmental Affairs Increased Funding for Census Bureau

The president’s $3.55 trillion budget request includes approxi-mately $7 billion for the Census Bureau to ensure it has the re-sources necessary to complete the 2010 Decennial Census. This is approximately $3 billion more than the Bureau received for FY09. In addition, the bureau is receiving an-other $1 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The decennial census will employ an estimated 500,000 temporary workers and will engage in extensive advertising and other activities to encourage a full and accurate count. Census data is used to determine how seats in the U.S. House of Representa-tives are apportioned and how federal funds are distributed to state, local and tribal governments.

Health

President Obama’s FY10 Bud-get Summary lays out an ambitious plan for health reform this year, laying to rest speculation that the recession might cause him to scale back or delay his campaign promise to fundamentally change the health care system.

The centerpiece of the proposal is a reserve fund of $634 billion over 10 years to pay for fundamental reform of the system to bring down costs and expand coverage. Accord-

ing to the White House, half of it is paid for by program savings and half with taxes. On the tax side, the plan reduces the Schedule A deductions for couples making over $250,000 per year. On the program side, it would create a competitive bidding process for Medicaid Advantage plans, and increase Medicaid payments. The plan calls for all program savings to go into the reserve fund.

The White House explains that because cost, coverage and qual-ity are all interrelated, all three structural problems with the health system have to be dealt with at the same time, rendering an incremen-tal approach useless. However, the president is not offering detailed legislation, preferring to begin negotiations with Congress over legislation with money on the table.

According to White House of-fi cials, the president will come to the negotiations with eight basic principles: fi rst, the plan must protect the fi nancial health of all Americans — not just the poor and uninsured; second, coverage must be affordable; third, universal cov-erage is the ultimate goal; fourth, coverage must be portable, so that people can leave their jobs without losing their insurance; fi fth, people must be able to keep the plans they currently have, if they choose; sixth, signifi cant investments in prevention and wellness must be made; seventh, improvements to patient safety and quality of care must be made; and fi nally, the plan must be fi scally responsible and sustainable.

The White House believes that enacting the budget, with this reserve fund, will be an essential precondition to achieving its health reform aims.

Other highlights include: $6 billion for cancer research at the National Institutes of Health; $330 million to address the health workforce shortage in underserved areas; $211 million for research into the causes of and treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), screenings, public aware-ness and support services; $73 mil-lion to strengthen regional and local partnerships among rural health care providers, expand community-based prevention interventions, and promote the modernization of the health care infrastructure in rural areas.

The summary also suggests that the detailed budget, which will be released in April, will call for expanding the treatment capacity of drug courts including services to protect methamphetamine’s youngest victims, as well as re-

sources to reduce health disparities, which is identifi ed as a presidential priority.

The summary mentions the ongoing work to implement the Health Information Technology provision contained in the stimulus bill, but provides no additional detail on that project.

Besides the mention of ASD and substance abuse, behavioral health does not feature promi-nently, a fact conceded by White House staff on a recent health budget briefi ng conference call.

Human Services

The president’s budget sum-mary proposes a major increase in early childhood education. Spe-cifi cally, the administration wants to double funding for Early Head Start, and increase the Head Start program and the Nurse Home Visitation program. In the realm of child nutrition, the administra-tion is proposing a $1-billion-a-year increase as part of the reauthorization process, but doesn’t specify how that increase would be divided among the different programs. The proposal also calls for $3.2 billion for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

Justice Budget Emphasizes 50,000 More Cops

The general summary of the FY10 budget places major empha-sis on hiring an additional 50,000 law enforcement offi cers under the COPS program. While NACo supports the concept of com-munity policing, the association has favored the systematic focus of the Byrne/JAG program. In 2002, counties spent $53 billion on criminal justice — more than any other unit of local govern-ment. The county justice func-tion spans the entire system. In addition, counties are the primary providers of health and human services programs in the public sector at the local level. These functions frequently interrelate to justice programs at the local level.

Labor and Employment

The president’s proposed budget includes a slight increase in discre-tionary funding for the Department of Labor from FY09 levels. The budget allocated more than $13.3 billion dollars in discretionary funding to the DOL, in addition to the $4.8 billion included in the stimulus act. Some highlights of the budget proposal include:

• Unemployment Insurance (UI) System Reform — The budget focuses on making the UI program more accessible to unemployed workers; and ensuring the fi nancial integrity of the system. The budget proposes legislation to make Extended Ben-efi ts (EB) available more quickly to long- term unemployed workers. In addition, the budget proposes increased funding for program integrity and legislative changes that would, among other things, col-lect benefi t overpayments through garnishment of federal income tax refunds, and boost states’ resources to go after benefi t overpayments and UI tax evasion.

• Support for Workforce Training Programs in Emerging Industries — The budget proposal will build on signifi cant support in the Recovery

Act for training in “green jobs,” as well as supporting new tran-sitional jobs and career pathway programs. Investments in Youth-build, and other programs which focus on expanding opportunities for disadvantaged young people receive support in the president’s budget proposal. In addition, the budget provides additional resources to support job training for ex-offenders returning to their communities, as well as, service members transitioning to civilian employment.

• Restores Labor Standards — The budget increases funding for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, increases en-forcement resources for the Wage

Increased funding called for in early childhood education, child nutritionBUDGET from page 7

See BUDGET page 10


and Hour Division and increases funding for the Offi ce of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

• Establishes Automatic Work-place Pensions — The president’s proposal lays the groundwork for establishing a system of automatic workplace pensions, to operate in tandem with Social Security. Under this proposal, employees would be automatically enrolled in workplace pension plans. Employers who do not currently offer a retirement plan would be required to enroll employees in a direct-deposit IRA. Employees may opt out if they choose.

Public Lands

The president’s FY10 budget re-quest for the Department of the In-terior (DOI) and the USDA Forest Service provides several signifi cant funding highlights. The adminis-tration proposes fully funding the 10-year average for wildland fi re suppression costs. In addition, a $282 million (USDA Forest Service) and $75 million (DOI) discretionary contingent reserve would be created to fund fi refi ght-ing when the appropriated $1.1 bil-lion 10-year average is exhausted. Other highlights include:

• $50 million increase to USDA Forest Service operations

• $410 million (Forest Service and DOI) for state and Federal land acquisition through the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF)

• $50 million increase of in DOI youth environmental educa-tion programs

• creates a new Western water conservation initiative within the Bureau of Reclamation to assist local communities create voluntary water banks, wastewater treatment, and other market-based conservation measures

• $130 million in new fund-ing to assess and respond to the impacts of climate change on wildlife, and

• Reform proposed for fee structure, royalties, and other federal payments related to oil, gas and other mineral de-velopment on federal lands.

Transportation

The president’s FY10 bud-get provides $72.5 billion for transportation, which represents about a 2.5 percent or $1.8 bil-lion increase over 2009. While few details are included in the budget, the proposal does state,

Grants of $50,000 to $100,000 are available for the Coastal Counties Restoration Initiative. The grant provides fi nancial assistance on a competitive basis to innovative, high-quality, county-led or -supported ecosystem restoration projects.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Community-based Restoration Program is providing major fi nancial support for this partnership.

For more information, visit www.naco.org/ccri or contact Carrie Clingan at 202.942.4246 or e-mail [email protected].

Coastal CountiesRestoration Grants

Administration proposes full funding of wildland fi re suppression costsBUDGET from page 9 “The Administration intends to

work with Congress to reform surface transportation programs to improve the system’s fi nancial viability, enhance transit options, and generate better investments to reduce congestion and improve safety.” There were several specifi c

items in the president’s budget:• a proposal to spend $5 billion

over the next fi ve years on high-speed rail This would be in addition to the $8 billion for high-speed rail in the stimulus bill

• a proposal to spend $800 million to modernize the air traffi c

control system, a proposal known as “Next Gen”

• a proposal to increase spending for rural air service by $55 million and reforming Essential Air Service to continue to give small communi-ties access to the nation by subsidiz-ing commercial air service, and

• a change in the budgetary treatment of transportation pro-grams to make the process more transparent. This could cause an alteration in how transporta-tion spending is “scored” or ac-counted for in the federal budget process.


Model Programs FROM THE NATION'S COUNTIES

Photo courtesty of Kinship Care Resource Center, Clayton County, Ga.

Devin Boyd (center) is fl anked by his grandparents Yvonne and Raymond. Yvonne Boyd said grandparents raising children play a dual role. “As grandparents we want to spoil and support them. But as parents we can’t let them just get away with anything, because we have to prepare them for the real world.”

BY ELIZABETH PERRY

STAFF WRITER

Grandparents Yvonne and Raymond Boyd were married for 43 years and thought their child-rearing years were far behind them — that is, until their three-month old grandson Devin came to live with them.

The Boyds credit Clayton County, Ga.’s Kinship Resource Center with helping them and other grandparents to access the resources, recreational activities, camaraderie and emotional support they needed to successfully raise their grandchildren.

“We have to deal with our own emotions,” said Yvonne, 73. “We’ve raised our kids and it’s our time, but we don’t want our grandchildren ending up in the foster care system, so we sacrifi ce for them.”

The Boyds recently celebrated their 55th anniversary, and Devin is a bright, well-rounded 13-year-old at Clayton County Middle School. Like many doting grandparents, Yvonne is pleased to rattle off his ac-complishments, including fi rst chair cello in the school music honors program, the magnet program for students who excel at math, science and the performing arts, and year-round sports teams. “He’s a very bright child and he always works up

Grandparents Get a Hand Raising Grandchildren

to his potential,” she said.Devin has two older siblings

who have also lived with the Boyds off and on, but he is the only child permanently living with them. His mother suffers from mental illness, which worsened after Devin’s father died in a car crash in 2005. Since then, she has been institutionalized several times. Yvonne said that when she and Raymond, now 77, became Devin’s

guardians their son was comfortable with the arrangement.

“My son was comfortable with it because he realized [Devin’s mother] had a problem and they couldn’t give him the things he needed or wanted,” she said.

The Kinship Resource Center

began modestly in 2003 serving eight families from a storefront offi ce with limited services, includ-ing support groups and computer training. The idea for the center came about after results of the 2000 census showed that there were more than 100,000 Georgia households headed by grandparents raising grandchildren.

Clayton County reported 7,056 grandparents living with children under 18, and 2,984 were solely responsible for their care.

In 2005, with the help of federal, state and county funding, Angela Burda, program coordinator for the center, became a full-time employee and the center expanded its services. It also moved into the 10,000-square-foot building it now shares with an adult day care program.

Other resources for grandparents raising grandchildren exist, however Burda said center was the prototype for a state model because of its comprehensive blend of social and recreational services. Despite the advertising on local cable TV stations and in newspapers, she said most of the referrals to the center come via word of mouth from participants at school fairs, PTA meetings and

through school counselors.“So many people don’t know the

program exists,” said Burda. “There are 8,000 in our community that could be benefi ting from it. We have 130 active families participating in the program right now.

“Many of the grandparents who are younger are still working. They aren’t going to go the Department of Family and Children’s Services because they aren’t looking for services.”

To participate in programs and services at the center, families fi ll out an application, are interviewed and a case plan is prepared to meet their needs. Burda discusses the program, gives them a tour, and gives on-the-spot referrals for any housing, medical or childcare needs. She said one of the greatest needs the center fulfi lls is emotional support for grandparents, who sometimes find themselves isolated from their peers.

“It gives them a peer group,” she said. “They take the children suddenly in a crisis situation, and they don’t know anyone else in the same situation. Their friends do not have children and they cannot

»In the NewsJacqueline Byers, research director, was quoted on Bloomberg.

com in an article about California’s social services problem due to the rise in unemployment Feb. 26.

»NACo Staff• Erik Johnston, associate legislative director,

spoke at the Council for Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching (CARET) Executive Committee Meeting March 1 about the NACo Rural Action Caucus priorities. Johnston also served as a general session panelist at the National Association of Development Organization’s Wash-ington Policy Conference March 3.

• NACo Legislative Director Ed Rosado participated in a forum on implementation of the economic stimulus bill at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. held by the Regional Reporters Association Feb. 19.

»Coming UpIlene Manster, membership coordinator, will showcase NACo

membership benefi ts at the Police Jury Association Annual Conven-tion March 19–21 in Orleans Parish (New Orleans).

On the Move is compiled by Christopher Johnson.

NACo on the Move

Erik Johnston

See KINSHIP page 14


News From the Nation’s Counties

See NEWS FROM page 13

CALIFORNIASACRAMENTO COUNTY

assessors have been warning resi-dents about a scam by a company attempting to bill homeowners for reassessments of their properties, a service they already get for free. The Sacramento Bee reported the letters tell recipients their home values were overassessed and that getting reassessed by them for a fee would save money.

Kathleen Kelleher, county assis-tant assessor, told the Bee the scam reappears when California property values decline. She said her offi ce would not consider new property values until June. “We’re in a period of time where it’s too late for last year and too early for next year,” she said. YOLO, PLACER and EL DORADO counties have also sent out warnings about similar scams.

FLORIDA• HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY

Security Services Department col-lected 2,000 unused and outdated cell phones, chargers and other accesso-ries that will be donated for recycling to the nonprofi t Cell Phones for Soldiers program. In exchange for the phones, Cell Phones for Soldiers will give the county 2,000 pre-paid calling cards to send to troops serv-ing abroad. The program began in 2004, has raised almost $2 million in donations and distributed more than 500,000 prepaid calling cards to

troops overseas. (See story “Calling those called to serve,” p. 3)

• ST. LUCIE COUNTY’s days as an unincorporated entity may be numbered, as the cities of Fort Pierce and Port St. Lucie declare interest in splitting the county. Tcpalm.com reported the halfway point for an-nexation is Midway Road, with Port St. Lucie negotiating for the land to the south for the past several years, and Fort Pierce vying for land to the north within the past year.

GEORGIAFULTON COUNTY lawmakers

and residents who want to split up the county and resurrect Milton County won the fi rst round of an ongoing legislative battle, when the House State Planning and Affairs Committee voted 7–1 to authorize a statewide vote. Milton, a suburban area to the north of Fulton, was an-nexed in the 1930’s.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported those advocating for Milton County’s return say the move would lower taxes, improve services and increase home values. Bringing back Milton could prove to be an arduous task, which would involve amending the state constitution to allow for more than 159 counties.

INDIANALAKE COUNTY’s library sys-

tem is providing the muscle behind a State Senate bill to allow districts

to opt out of library consolidation efforts. Nwitimes.com reported the bill, which cleared committee by a 9–2 vote, calls for planning committees in each district to draw up plans for consolidated county library systems, or proposals to maintain multiple library districts.

MARYLAND• MONTGOMERY COUNTY’s

speed camera program raised more than $2 million in revenue and de-creased speeding at camera locations in 2008, the Baltimore Sun reported. Now police chiefs in PRINCE GEORGE’S, HOWARD and other counties around the state want their own programs.

Gov. Martin O’Malley supports a plan that would authorize use the cameras in work zones on highways where the speed limit is at least 45 mph, and in school and residential areas, where the speed limits are lower.

• ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY Councilmember Ed Middlebrooks introduced a bill to eliminate a new $500 ambulance fee before it goes into effect next month. The fee, which was approved by the County Council nearly a year ago to help balance the budget, takes effect April 1.

Middlebrooks told Capitalonline.com that he has “a real concern” about imposing the $500 fee on residents during an economic recession. “I’m concerned that a lot of older people, regardless of what the county says, are going to get a bill and think that they have to pay it.”

County offi cials say only insur-ance companies will be charged, and non-insured residents will be charged on a sliding scale.

MINNESOTAFollowing the footsteps of HEN-

NEPIN COUNTY commissioners who froze their salaries at 2009 levels, 30 Hennepin department directors will have to take three days of unpaid leave in 2009, or a loss of 1 percent of salary.

“Given the current economic crisis, the rising need for services and the signifi cant state and federal cuts being handed to the county, we need to use any alternative that we can to reduce our costs,” said Hennepin County Administrator Richard P. Johnson.

Johnson has also asked other managers to consider voluntary unpaid leave.

NEW JERSEYESSEX COUNTY is proposing

eliminating four paid holidays to save $1 million a year in overtime costs, according to The Star-Ledger:

Word SearchCounties Named After WomenL M D A C E G R C O L S Y E T R U N H IL N E Y M M V H E C N E R O L F B S G TA G F R U M A A J G L O Z R B I I E T FH A S O R R S A N T N T M W V R M V V BS K X U L I N T X G Z I L U A J O B A IR C B O M R C O N Y E C A P V A N R B IA Y T R U R U K S R C L A R L O T A A SM T R E M E R B A I E N I L G O O D I JE S L Y D S X D J V A G E N N Y U A L OW O N I J R I V G I B B K L E K R V E SN A R D S F E G C Q A Q I L H G C Q M EA J K D C W K I E S C A R O L I N E A PW L G E P A L N I F C L O D L G X A G HW I A L E E O W A D Z V R T Q T Q A U IW E S T F E L I C I A N A P A R I S H NT H G T T T E N J B H F I H N A T W Q EI X S F L A H A R T R Z E N A K O J T UE A R N N W Z R I Z J P M X R Q Q A V YE S W G Z D N W S G E C T D B G A I R AG H A J J T J N K H C M I M V J L B X M

Created by Christopher Johnson

»Collier County, Fla.

What’s in a Seal?

www.colliergov.net

Collier County, Fla. was one of a dozen new counties created during the dizzying Florida land boom of the 1920s. It is the state’s 62nd county and the third largest in total land area — 2,305 miles.

Collier County was created from the southern portion of Lee County by an act of the Florida Legislature on May 8, 1923. The decision was signed into law by Gov. Cary A. Hardee, Florida’s 28th governor.

The fi rst Board of County Commissioners adopted the wild turkey as Collier County’s offi cial emblem on July 9, 1923. A bird native to the area and an important food source for the area’s early settlers, the wild turkey is still at home in the county’s woodlands.

In 1962, the county’s clerk of courts, Margaret T. Scott, incor-porated the wild turkey into the county seal and later, a county fl ag patterned after Florida’s state fl ag.

(If you would like your county’s seal featured, please contact Christopher Johnson at 202/942-4256 or [email protected].)

ADAAMELIAATTALA (fi ctional Native American heroine)BARTON (Clara)BREMER (Frederika)CAROLINECHARLOTTEDARE (Virginia)EAST FELICIANA PARISHEVANGELINEFLORENCE

GRAINGER (Mary Grainger Blount)HART (Nancy)ISABELLAJOSEPHINEMARSHALL (Nellie)MERRICK (Elvira)MONTOUR (Madame)WAKE (Margaret)WEST FELICIANA PARISH

Good Friday, the day after Thanksgiv-ing, Lincoln’s Birthday and Election Day, in non-presidential years.

“Boom, $1 million right off the top,” Executive Joseph DiVincenzo said during a recent news conference. “We can no longer afford these days.” He said the proposal is a starting point in negotiations with 26 unions that represent approximately 3,300 unionized employees.

NEW YORKThe Cayuga Indian Nation

has laid the groundwork for a pos-sible lawsuit against CAYUGA and SENECA counties over an ongoing cigarette tax dispute.

The tribe has fi led notices of claims, preserving its right to sue for more than $500,000 in damages, The Post-Standard reported. The coun-ties confi scated and are holding as evidence cigarettes and computers from two of the tribe’s Finger Lakes convenience stores.

“As we’ve said, the counties’ hold-ing of the nation’s property is at their own risk. Now the counties will have two more lawsuits — at taxpayers’ expense,” said Lee Alcott, an attorney representing the Cayugas.

The counties seized the cigarettes, alleging the Cayugas failed to pay $485,000 in state excise taxes on

them. The Cayugas say as a sovereign nation, they’re exempt.

OHIOLUCAS COUNTY commis-

sioners are looking for some “green teens” to get fresh ideas on how to make the county more eco-friendly.

“Young people are so smart, and they’re so enthusiastic, and they’re learning things far beyond what we’ve ever thought of before. So why not embrace those ideas?” said Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak. Her offi ce sent letters to all of the county’s junior highs and high schools asking school offi cials to pick three students to serve on a Teen Green Ribbon panel, WTOL-TV reported.

The group will meet later this month to discuss the environmental issues they care about. The teens will also be asked to recruit as many of their peers as they can to attend a Youth Sustainability Summit.

OREGONThe MULTNOMAH COUN-

TY Library now has regional brag-ging rights: It’s the only library in the Pacifi c Northwest to receive the Library Journal’s highest fi ve-star


Pennsylvania county jail turns on ‘green’ lightsNEWS FROM from page 12

Research News

Services department reports that 385 permits were issued in January 2009 as compared to 662 permits in January 2008, a 42 percent decline. This decrease includes permits for new construction of single-family homes which declined from 155 per-mits in January 2008 to 90 permits in January 2009. Although many residential projects have been placed on hold, large commercial projects in Clark County continue.

In addition to issuing a reduced number of permits, Horry County, S.C. is also experiencing a decline in documentary stamps from the register of deeds’ offi ce. A docu-mentary stamp is a tax on offi cial documents such as mortgages, conveyances, leases and powers of attorney. Revenue from stamps and building permits was originally budgeted at approximately $4.5 million each, but revised fi gures from 2009 estimate that each fee will only produce around $2.5 million. Revenue from business

With Permit Revenues Declining,New Programs Encourage Development

licenses is also expected to decline since a portion of the license fee is based on the gross income of the business.

Although many counties are confronting similar revenue de-clines from permit fees, some counties are looking at innova-tive programs to encourage new development.

Recently, Sacramento County, Calif. reduced industrial permit fees on construction projects for manufacturers and others who house equipment valued at $5 mil-lion or more. These reduced fees will be based on the value of the equipment in the manufacturing process at that location. As the value of the equipment increases, the percentage of the industrial fee decreases. The goal of the new fee structure is to attract manufac-turing and industrial projects to Sacramento County.

To encourage new projects in Santa Rosa County, Fla., the

Board of County Commissioners granted a one-year suspension on transportation impact fees. The moratorium will be reviewed after 12 months to see how it has affected the local economy.

Reports by county staff showed the reduction in fees could help encourage new construction for commercial and residential build-ings. The county is also consider-ing reducing other permit fees to encourage new projects.

Collier County, Fla. reduced its impact fees for commercial build-ings to help its local businesses. The

program eliminates change-of-use impact fees for existing commercial buildings with the exception of sewer and water fees. Although the program does not waive zoning laws, the county hopes to reduce the number of unused commercial buildings and assist local businesses during the current economic down-turn. The program will remain in effect for two years with a review of the program occurring after the fi rst year.

(Research News was written by Kath-ryn Murphy, research associate.)

ranking. The journal rates libraries on four per capita measures: visits, circulation, program attendance and public Internet computer use, The Oregonian reported.

Multnomah County Library was ranked number one in circulation per capita compared with other large urban library systems in the United States.

“We know that in these tough economic times, people need libraries more than ever,” said Molly Raphael, director of libraries for Multnomah County. “While being recognized as one of America’s star libraries is wonderful, it’s really only a refl ec-tion of how frequently people in our community turn to their library for the information and resources they need.”

PENNSYLVANIAThe ALLEGHENY COUNTY

Jail has replaced more than 805 light fi xtures with high-effi ciency, light emitting diode (LED) lights.

The new “green” lights are ex-pected to consume 83 percent less energy, the equivalent of reducing the county’s energy consumption by 184 kilowatts. In their fi rst year of use, the lights are expected to

save the county $178,000, county offi cials said.

LED fi xtures were installed in the pod areas of the jail where lights are required to remain on 24 hours a day. The LED lights are expected to last 20 to 25 years.

Warden Ramon Rustin said, “The life expectancy of the LEDs means we no longer have to purchase and store extra bulbs, and we’ll cut down on the time spent changing bulbs as well.” The project’s up-front cost was $954,000.

VIRGINIACHESTERFIELD COUNTY’s

Youth Planning and Development Department has joined a regional campaign to educate young people about violence. The campaign, called Solutions, enables youths to write their own public service an-nouncements that encourage peers to practice healthy behaviors and avoid violence.

The messages have been recorded and are being aired on local radio stations and during morning an-nouncements at the county’s middle and high schools.

The initiative is being coordinated by local human-service organiza-tions, coalitions and youth organi-zations. All are part of the Greater

During these tough economic times, revenue from the variety of sources available to counties is dra-matically declining. Construction permit fees, formally a lucrative source of revenue for counties, have been especially hard hit.

As an example, Howard County, Md. reported issuing the fewest number of permits since data col-lection began 30 years ago. Overall, building permits were down 39 percent, from 1,899 issued two years ago to 1,157 issued last year. The county is also experiencing a decline in commercial development.

The number of commercial proj-ects under review by the county for a permit declined 47 percent, while the total square footage of space ap-proved for building permits last year declined from 2.2 million two years ago to 1.4 million last year.

Clark County, Nev. is also experiencing one of the largest declines in building permits in the country. The County Development

Richmond Area Coalition for the Prevention of Youth Violence.

WASHINGTONTulalip tribal and SHONOMISH

COUNTY leaders are working on an agreement to settle a dispute over the issuance of building permits on tribal land.

Currently, non-Indians who live on private land within the Tulalip reservation can obtain building permits from the tribal government, The Everett Herald reported. County offi cials say the county should be issuing the permits.

“We govern all land within the reservation boundaries,” said Leon-ard Dixon, manager of the Tulalip Tribes Community Development Department. “We’re very aggressive in our assertion of tribal jurisdiction, and that is our position.”

The county disagrees, contending that the Tulalips have jurisdiction over only land owned by the tribe and tribal members, but not land owned by non-Indians within the reservation.

(News From the Nation’s Counties is compiled by Charles Taylor and Elizabeth Perry, staff writers. If you have an item for News From, please e-mail [email protected] or [email protected].)

For more information, please contact James Davenport at [email protected]

or 202.661.8807.

Rural Road Rural RoadSafety ProjectSafety Project

NACoNACo

Building county solutions to reduce the

number of highway fatalities on ruraland isolated roads.


Knowing Where You Now Stand

You can’t get to a new and better place without knowing where you are now and how you got there. This is a basic map reading, and way-fi nding strategy. Do you know how many vehicles are being taken home every night? Do you know how many credit cards bear the agency’s name, where they all are, and who is authorized to use them?

Do you know what the provi-sions of the pension programs and the health insurance programs are in the organization? Have you surveyed the fi xed assets, such as computers, to understand how many there are, where they are, and their relative conditions? What is the history of employee relations in the organization? How much unscheduled single-day sick leave occurrence is taking place? Are they connected often to holidays or weekends? Do supervisors really pay any attention at all to perfor-mance evaluations and take active steps to interrupt sexual harassment, race discrimination or bullying? Are there even up-to-date policies in these areas?

After taking your own pulse, just as doctors do when you fi rst visit their offi ce with baseline tests and medical histories, it’s time to look at specifi c opportunities for cost reduction.

Review Benefit Management Cost Controls

This includes pension reform to limit the spiraling cost of pensions — especially in the public safety area. Seek out innovations such as establishing a two-tier system so that the benefi ts of current employ-ees are not affected — or perhaps enhanced — but the future em-ployee pension benefi ts are locked in at a lower and much more cost-effective point. Explore incentives for early exit from the organization as long as the resulting vacancies are not fi lled. Do the same with phased-in retirements, allowing some employees to move to part-time work prior to retiring. Create a long-term attrition planning goal for the gradual realignment of work and reduction of positions.

Health insurance reform re-quires help from extraordinary broker-consultants who serve as safari guides through the jungle of alternatives and options.

Perhaps consider merging sepa-rate categories of pay for time not

The H.R. Doctor Is In

You can’t get to a new and better place without

knowing where you are now and how you got there.

The great MASH character Dr. Hawkeye Pierce was once asked to name his favorite book. He said it was his dictionary because it had all the other books inside of it. That is exactly the situation with Human Resources. No manager or professional in any fi eld — certainly not public administration — can be successful without also being an HR manager.

As I look back at 35 years of public service with many more to come, the greatest moments of joy have come by having some role in developing the next generation of public administrators, in creating internship programs, and helping to substitute innovation for inertia in creating version 2.0 of Civil Service Rules, benefit innovations, and much more. The saddest and most diffi cult times have come on the rare occasions when layoff letters had to be written.

For at least the next decade, Florida’s local governments will be under the same kind of attacks that California agencies suffered in the wake of the passage of Proposition 13 three decades ago. Economic pressures, horror stories of gov-ernment waste, the perception of excessive compensation to public employees, and the seeming lack of long-term vision have come together in a perfect storm of tax revolt. The easiest target is local government. The principal perpetrators are found in state legislatures. These are the bodies that infl ict unfunded and often caseload-driven mandates on local governments. They are quick to attack the property tax which is the local government’s lifeblood of general revenues.

Nonetheless, it is the lot of local government administrators, includ-ing elected offi cials, to look to the future with optimism, and to live in a world of balanced budgets — even if the population at large and the federal government, in particular, seem fas-cinated with the short-term massive expenditures, credit card borrowing and subprime mortgages.

How do you go about balancing budgets without engaging in wanton mass destruction? The answer is not at all easy. I am pleased to share a few insights derived from service as a city and county HR director in California, and, for more than 20 years in Florida, as well as serving as a county chief administrative offi cer in the wake of Proposition 13.

These insights also come from many years of consulting with other government agencies and

Cutting Budgets without Slashing and BurningCutting Budgets without Slashing and Burning

when they don’t look at strategic issues and when they don’t view a situation such as chronic revenue shortfalls with a “view from 40,000 feet.”

To those of my colleagues who have a tactical focus on getting past the next commission or board meet-ing, the options to deal with acute revenue problems are very, very limited. They are limited to what can be done in a period of three months to six months. That usually means organizational and service reductions, reorganizing, freezing and eliminating vacancies, writing layoff letters and postponing capital and fi xed-asset purchases, as well as perhaps closing facilities.

It also generally means slashing what little training and development budgets are present in organizations in the fi rst place. To balance budgets coming up in a matter of weeks or months, such as July 1, the tacti-cal administrator has few options other than budgetary extreme cage-fi ghting.

The trauma can be minimized and indeed met with optimism and innovation by acting now so that years from now things will be differ-ent and much better than they would have otherwise been. All of these approaches require the skills of a strong communicator, an innovator, and someone who deliberately sets out to overcome an inherent fact of life in many bureaucracies—inertia. The possible strategic approaches center on several fronts:

worked such as sick leave, vacation, personal holidays and many other categories into a single paid time off category with controls, so that the cost of that one hour of vacation earned 20 years ago as a fi refi ghter does not multiply many times over by the time a battalion chief retires later.

Reviewing organizational struc-tures might reveal opportunities for long- term streamlining. Eight sworn ranks in the Fire Department below the rank of department head or fi re-rescue chief might have piled up over time and are not really necessary. Each layer adds cost and escalates further the cost of the next hire rank. Are sworn law enforcement and fi re-rescue employees really needed to do administrative work, such as budget preparation, HR, procurement,

fl eet maintenance and other func-tions? Perhaps these areas can be “civilianized” at a considerable savings. Perhaps separate street maintenance and park maintenance crews can be consolidated.

Process Improvement Start inside the HR system

by taking a look at whether the organization has a model that is es-sentially a 19th century civil service model, which is neither fl exible nor effective. Often such models torture the applicants, and make the directors in the agency as well as the current employees unhappy and frustrated. The same may be true of the procurement system, of how vehicles are maintained, and computer systems managed,

See H.R. DOC page 15

participate in the same social circle. They fi nd they are not alone, and are able to build bonds of friendship and trust.”

Boyd said the camaraderie and compassion, as well as the common thread of raising grandchildren drew her to the program.

“It’s not a role any of us chose, but were assigned,” she said. “It’s open and loving here.”

Boyd said the center gives Devin the resources and opportunities they would otherwise be unable to afford on a fi xed income, such as piano lessons, fi eld trips and school uniforms.

Burda said the center paid for uniforms for 94 children for this school year because the shirts, pants, skirts and shoes required by Clayton County Public Schools are costly for grandparents on fi xed incomes. The center gives out items not purchas-able with food stamps, including toiletries such as soap, shampoo and toothpaste.

“A lot of the money they should be spending on medications and toiletries, they are spending on the kids,” Burda said. “If they have to choose between buying laundry soap and shoes for the children, they are going to choose shoes.”

The center also offers services such as counseling for adults and children, support groups, educational tutoring,

fi nancial management, social groups and a food pantry. Other direct services offered include referrals to agencies that can help grandparents with legal issues involving custody and guardianship, housing, wills, emergency fi nancial help, employ-ment, Medicaid and childcare.

It also advocates for state laws affecting grandparents raising grandchildren. They recently scored a victory lobbying for the passage of the Care of Grandchild Act, which allows grandparents in certain hardship situations involving the parents to get power of attorney in lieu of custody or guardianship. Hardship situations include death, homelessness, incarceration, mental impairment and serious illness.

Burda advises county offi cials interested in starting their own resource centers for grandparents caring for grandchildren to offer a one-stop shop. She said they need programs and referrals in a central location, offering the Three R’s: resources, respite and recreation.

For more information about the Kinship Care Resource Center, con-tact Angela Burda at 770/477-3417 or email [email protected]

(Model Programs from the Nation’s Counties highlights Achievement Award-winning programs. For more information on this and other NACo Achievement Award winners, visit NACo’s Web site, www.naco.org.)

Program provides resources to grandparents raising childrenKINSHIP from page 11

service as an intelligence offi cer. Two fundamental points about how to deal with any liabilities at work and at home are essential. The two philosophies are simple but profound:

Take action now to put off • the day when something bad hap-pens.

Don’t walk by something • wrong.

Managers commit malpractice


Job Market / Classifi edsCONTRACT ADMINISTRATOR –

GARFIELD COUNTY , COLO.Salary: $44,580 – $55,728;

DOQ.The Purchasing Department is

seeking applicants for this full time, exempt position to maintain and implement policies, procedures, for-mats and systems for purchasing and contract administration in Glenwood Springs. Starting salary: mid $40k to

upper $50k DOQ with excellent benefi ts. Applicants must possess a Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Engineering or closely related fi eld and Five (5) years’ experience in contract negotiation or equivalent combination of education and related experience that provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities in the areas of contract administration and contract negotiation.) ADA/EOE. Principals only.

Financial Services News

With markets in flux, the economy weakening and health care costs skyrocketing, 2008 was a diffi cult year for everyone. NACo recognized that getting public employees to face the real-ity that their fi nancial security in retirement was in peril was the real challenge.

NACo, along with Nation-wide Retirement Solutions, its partner of nearly 30 years and the administrator of the NACo deferred compensation program, encouraged counties to leverage National Save for Retirement Week to sponsor countywide events aimed at promoting the importance and benefi ts of saving for retirement.

Across the country this past October, counties held events ranging from one-on-one meet-ings between employees and their retirement representatives to daylong expos with hundreds of employees in attendance. The overall goal of the week was to raise employee aware-ness through county-sanctioned events including informational workshops and meetings — and to highlight county defi ned contri-bution retirement plans as a valu-able part of an employee’s total compensation package. Today, counties around the country are calling National Save for Retire-

National ‘Save for Retirement Week’ a Bright Spot for Counties

ment Week a bright spot in a dark year for retirement planning.

Shelby County Chases Away Pre-retirement Blues

In Shelby County, Tenn., more than 500 individuals converged on the Cook Convention Center, in downtown Memphis, to participate in the fi rst-ever retirement expo for employees of Shelby County and the city of Memphis. The event was a joint county and city effort, and employees from both mingled and learned about saving for retirement together. A variety of workshops covering topics such as asset alloca-tion, Social Security, current market conditions and how to enroll in the plan were well attended. A team of Nationwide representatives was on-site to support the event along with county and city offi cials.

Dallas County Expo Attracts High Numbers

The retirement expo in Dal-las County, Texas was an all-day event giving county employees the chance to work the expo into their schedules. Nearly 600 employees attended, fi ve times what Dallas County expected. At times there were more than 200 people in workshops covering topics such as how to enroll in NACo’s deferred compensation plan, asset alloca-

tion, the Texas County Deferred Retirement System pension plan and Social Security.

Teaming with Dallas County Treasurer Joe Wells, 10 Nation-wide representatives were on hand to assist employees individually. Throughout the expo, employees could enroll in the NACo deferred compensation plan, review their ac-counts and make changes if needed, increase their deferral amount, and even choose Nationwide’s available professional account management option for their investments.

Snohomish County ExpoThe Snohomish County Re-

tirement Savings Expo fi lled the Comcast Everett Convention Center in Snohomish County, Wash., which recently elected to provide county employees with the benefi ts of the NACo plan for at least the next fi ve years. The expo was attended by more than 560 county employees as well as by Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon. A number of educational workshops were of-fered and more than 360 county employees enrolled in the county’s deferred compensation plan.

Retirement Awareness Initiative Continues

The 2008 Save for Retirement Week events showed overwhelming support from counties and their employees. Please share your ideas and best practices with NACo and encourage saving for retirement all year long. The need to raise awareness for retirement savings is ongoing.

Although the third week in Oc-tober of 2009 will again be National Save for Retirement Week, the most important thing to remember is that saving for retirement is more than just a one week a year issue. NACo and Nationwide would like to commend all those who helped make the 2008 event a success and encourage even more counties to participate in 2009.

For additional information about the NACo Deferred Compensation Program, or how to enhance Save for Retirement Week 2009, please contact Lisa Cole at 202/942-4270 or by e-mail at [email protected].

(Financial Service News was written by Bob Beasley, communication consultant, Nationwide Retirement Solutions.)

and payroll changes made, and much more.

Process improvement can best begin by engaging an outside facili-tator to help lead the creation of a self-examination of these processes. That should result in a strategic plan for improvement and a specifi c “How many— By when?” business plan for change.

Does the organization hold employees accountable to receive the training associated with liability reduction? Are there up-to-date poli-cies banning sexual harassment or workplace violence for example? Is there proof in each person’s person-nel fi le that they have attended the trainings? If not, a liability set of double-doors has just opened wide to a plaintiff ’s attorney.

Rather than whacking the training budget, this is the time to enhance accountability training, especially for supervisors and man-agers. Is there careful stewardship of the Worker’s Compensation programs to ensure that the right benefi ts are paid to employees who are injured or become ill because of the job, but that those who are using or stretching the system are crashing into organizational walls of protec-tion? Internally, is the organization getting the most bang for its risk insurance buck? Comparisons with other organizations and dynamic insurance marketing of the organi-zation can be very valuable.

Review and Improve Employee Selection Screening Methods

Some specific tips include reviewing the driving history of all current employees who may operate a vehicle regularly, such as every six months, just to be sure that people driving large vehicles with the government agency logos on them have not had their licenses suspended or revoked. Require that every employee immediately inform the organization if they are convicted, plead guilty, or plead no contest to any felony or misdemeanor, including DUI. Be-fore hiring law enforcement or fi re personnel, it is a good idea to have a forensic psychological evaluation included in the post-offer, pre-employment consideration. Setting in place protocols in advance for drug testing and threat assessments when behavior is particularly bad represent excellent strategies to prevent future costs.

These and other proactive meth-ods are especially important when

hiring persons whose work includes particularly high consequences of error for the organization. These include management personnel, safety personnel, childcare per-sonnel, and others who may be involved in working with children and frail or infi rm senior citizens.

Major Interagency Initiatives

Often the most diffi cult for rea-sons of inertia, combined perhaps with ego, are major interagency initiatives. How many separate agencies need to exist in the same region performing the same func-tions? How many communication dispatch centers does it take? Does every city and county really need a separate HR department? How many fi re departments must there be? What about an interagency training consortium since many of the training initiatives described in this article are common needs in multiple agencies. What about producing cooperative arrange-ments so that jurisdictions share recreation facilities?

Some of this might be perceived as giving up some operation, or particular location such as a fi re station; however, stepping away from the tactical, and looking at a multi-jurisdictional approach with joint powers of authorities or cooperative agreements, may save the taxpayers considerable money, and even enhance service. These are brave and bold steps that will, no doubt, produce opposition from vested interests and from champions of inertia.

If the city or county manager, the executive staff members, and very importantly, the elected of-fi cials joined together in looking long-range, in cooperating and communicating with employees and citizens openly, honestly and with no surprises, it is possible to put programs and concepts in place which put off the day when a layoff letter ever has to be written. It is possible to install effi ciencies and mitigate costs. HR is at the center of this process of optimism and innovation. Tactical HR, focusing on paperwork management, is not going to get the agency where it needs to be. However, when HR is a strong partner in strategic decision-making sitting next to the county manager or the mayor, serious opportunities for positive change can be seized.

Phil RosenbergThe HR Doctor • www.hrdr.net

Balancing budget is not easy but neither is it painfulH.R.DOC from page 14


May 3–9, 2009The theme for the 2009 celebration of National County Government Week is “Greening Our Future.” All counties are encouraged to participate, especially those that are pursuing green government initiatives. They should tell their residents about what they are doing to conserve energy, protect the environment and save taxpayersʼ dollars. A comprehensive booklet of ideas on ways to celebrate NCGW, including draft proclamations and news releases, is available. Promotional kits will also be made available for download.

Visit NACoʼs Web site at www.naco.org for more information or contact Tom Goodman at 202/942-4222 or [email protected].

more than 2,000 county ofﬁ cials to restore the · 2019. 12. 21. · clingan at 202/942-4246 or...

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