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Oregon Trails
An Occasional Newsletter
from
The Association of Oregon Counties
Month, Year - Vol 1, Issue 1 |
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Endless Summer
No derth of activities
September 19, 2012 |
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It has been a wonderful summer in Oregon, unless you live and work near a wild fire. It has been a very busy end of summer for AOC. District meetings started in late August and will continue through mid October. The Legislature came back to Salem for three days last week, keeping our policy staff busy attending hearings and working the halls. The AOC Legislative Committee and Board of Directors are back in action and there is every indication it is going to be a busy fall, the election notwithstanding.
Senator Frank Morse, R-Albany, shocked the interim session of the State Senate by announcing his resignation. Senator Morse will be sorely missed. A legislator of his ability and stature will be extremely hard to replace. We wish him all the best in his retirement years.
A big milestone for an AOC staffer this past month. AOC County Road Program Manager Jon Oshel completed driving 100,000 miles on AOC business. That's right, a hundred grand. If he'd been paid by the mile, he'd be on a beach in the Caribbean but instead, he's dedicatedly still working with road officials across Oregon. By the way, that 100-thousand mile mark doesn't include the many, many roads he took with county road officials driving around the beautiful state we all call home. Congratulations Jon, keep on truckin'.
Another AOC staff member who had been very active over the summer, has been recently sidelined with a severe sports injury. AOC Policy Manager and Environmental Coordinator Emily Ackland ended up with compound fractures of her tibia and fibula from a softball mishap. Surgeons will put the bones back in place, but not until the swelling subsides, which means Emily is now using her living room couch as an office. She has a cell phone and an iPad, so she's in touch. She won't be running any marathons in the near future. Hang in there Em.
Please enjoy our September report. If you have any questions, please call the AOC office and we will make every effort to find the answers.
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Register now for AOC Annual Conference, November 13-15! | |
The conference is full of timely topics and allows plenty of networking opportunities with your county colleagues. We've listened closely to our members and planned informative sessions that you have recommended.
Learn how to become a convener and motivate employees during tough times. Hear plans for the 2013 session from Oregon legislators, discuss civility in politics and discover how fracking works. A post-election update on national health care and how it may interact with Oregon's health insurance exchange and Medicaid expansion is sure to be of interest to you. We have invited Governor Kitzhaber to address the future of counties and hope his schedule allows his attendance.
AOC steering committees will also be meeting during the conference. AOC policy staff liaisons will be distributing committee agendas closer to the conference.
Again this year AOC will have on-line registration for the conference. You'll be able to register for the conference from your computer - and you can use your Visa or MasterCard to pay for your registration fee. Registration fees are the same as last year.
The conference is at the Hilton Eugene in Lane County. We encourage you to make your hotel room reservations early; the AOC block of rooms expires on October 13 at the Hilton and October 26 at Valley River Inn. The special negotiated room rates include parking and high-speed Internet!!
Visit the AOC Website and follow the links for conference registration, and hotel room reservations, or REGISTER NOW!
We look forward to seeing you November 13-15!
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| Assessors Discuss "Game Changers" | |
A work group of county assessors have begun to offer and discuss concepts that would provide major change to the infrastructure of property tax administration. After an initial meeting on Wednesday, the work group will examine summaries of concepts to consider what to move forward for approval by the Oregon State Association of County Assessors, then ultimately by AOC.
The purpose of the exercise is to be able to bring a concept or concepts to the next discussion, when it occurs, with organizations that are stakeholders in property tax administration. County administration is struggling with an inadequate state assessment and taxation assistance program. Local taxing districts with direct stakes in property tax assessment and revenue collection would benefit from a sharing of costs of administration to assure they are receiving the maximum appropriate revenue collections. The Governor's Office decided that now is not the time to convene a discussion among stakeholders about A&T funding. When that discussion does take place, counties want to offer taxing districts, through efficiencies and potential restructuring, incentives to consider more appropriate funding of A&T.
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Individual 2013-15 PERS Employer Rates To Be Released This Month | |
At the August 28th PERS Board meeting, the Board heard a presentation from their actuary describing the systemwide rate increase facing public employers for the coming 2013-15 biennium. For the State and Local Government Rate Pool (SLGRP), the overall employer rate will go from 15 percent to over 21 percent, measured as a percentage of payroll going to satisfy PERS obligations. School districts will be facing an even greater hit, going from 19 percent to 27 percent. Individual employer rates will vary greatly, dependent in large part on if and when an employer issued "Pension-Obligation Bonds" at some point over the last decade. Individual employer rates will be sent to counties during the month of September and adopted by the Board at the September 28th meeting. Meanwhile, legislators and a coalition of public employer associations, including AOC, continue to explore potential legislative changes for the 2013 session.
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Urban Growth Advisory Committee Continues Work On UGB Concepts | |
A committee of nearly fifty stakeholders, including local government planning professionals and elected officials, has begun looking at and refining concepts developed by a Governor's office-appointed "Design Team" charged with streamlining the UGB process. A main theme being explored includes giving cities a simplified "standard" path in planning for growth, while still allowing the current path for more unique situations. The numerous ideas generated have been divided into three main topic areas: 1) Residential and other land needs; 2) Employment land concepts; 3) Requirements for considering public facility costs and "Governance" in making UGB decisions. A fourth concept, concerning the population forecasting process, is also part of the overall package of concepts and has been discussed several times in this newsletter and is currently being considered by both the AOC Community Development and Governance Committees. The Urban Growth Advisory Committee is to consider, refine and hopefully reach consensus on the concepts by October, at which time they will be sent to legislative counsel for drafting.
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| Treasure MAP-21 | |
Transportation for America cordially invites you to:
Treasure MAP-21: Finding Buried Funding in the New Transportation Law
Transportation is key to economic development, opportunity, safety, health and quality of life. How can your community fund transportation priorities to meet its goals? Transportation For America is offering a half-day forum on the new federal transportation law, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), and Oregon's changing "STIP" rules for transportation funding. Experts from ODOT and USDOT will join other transportation leaders to help you understand MAP-21, Oregon's new Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) process, and the new challenges and opportunities these changes present. Nick Donohue, Transportation For America's policy director and former Assistant Secretary of the Virginia Department of Transportation, will provide the keynote address.
What: Half-day forum on the new transportation-funding environment in Oregon
When: Wed., Sept. 26, 2-6pm
Where: Salem Public Library, Anderson Room
585 Liberty Street SE, Salem, OR
How: FREE event! Space is limited and Registration is required. Register here.
Contact Chris Rall, 971-230-4745 with any questions.
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| CCO Update | |
Bruce Goldberg and Jeremy Vandehey from the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) joined more than 15 commissioners and judges at the September 14th AOC/DHS/OHA Governance Forum. Commissioners and judges were able to voice their concerns regarding the development of CCOs in their counties. It is clear that while most regions are moving forward smoothly, there are a couple of rough spots in the state.
As CCO development progresses, counties need to be aware of contracting for services with the public health and mental health programs, the governance of CCOs, and the development of the community advisory committees. Please see this document for more information on CCOs.
If you are interested in the development of CCO Metrics, Andy Smith with AOCMHP has put together this information piece.
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| Early Learning Council | |
At the Governance Forum on Friday, September 14th Duke Shepard discussed the Early Learning Council. His first topic was the introduction of the Early Learning director Jada Rupley. She brings more than 25 years experience to the position. Rupley recently retired from the education service district in Vancouver, WA where she was associate superintendent. She also worked for Head Start, was co-chairwoman of Washington's Early Learning Advisory Council from 2007 to 2010, a school psychologist in special education and an elementary-school teacher.
Shepard discussed the progress of several of the workgroups that are striving to meet the various deadlines imposed by the 2012 Legislature. One group is working on an inventory of current workers who may fit the needs of the role of "family support managers" described in statute. Shepard explained that key characteristics of 25 current job descriptions from a variety of state positions have been identified, and a survey based on these key characteristics has been sent out to workers around the state. As of last Friday over 1800 responses had been received from current state workers who believe they may fit the qualifications of a family support manager.
Another update was given on the Accountability Hub workgroup. The ELC has hired Christa Rude, the former CCF director from Wasco County, to work as a liaison between the Hub workgroup and the counties. The workgroup is working on an RFP for those who want to become an Accountability Hub. The criteria for the RFP isn't due until February, but the workgroup intends to have the work done by the end of December. This RFP will then enter into the legislative process. Shepard reminded us that the workgroup is strictly working on the RFP and not on service design or other elements of the Hub.
There was a brief discussion about the gap in funding between June 30, 2013 when funding for local Commissions is terminated and January 1, 2014 where their responsibilities are statutorily removed. This gap was created intentionally in order to encourage regions to quickly form local Hubs.
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| Residential Energy Tax Credit Rulemaking | |
The Oregon Department of Energy will be holding three more public meetings on residential energy tax credit rulemaking. They are:
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Redmond
Sept. 26, 2012 - 1 p.m.
Senior & People with Disabilities
Oregon Dept of Human Services
1135 SW Highland Avenue
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Boardman
Sept. 27, 2012 - 9 a.m.
Port of Morrow
Riverfront Conference Center
2 Marine Drive
Boardman, OR 97818
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Salem
October 4, 2012 - 9 a.m.
Oregon Department of Energy
625 Marion Street NE |
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| Building Codes News | |
The most recent edition of the Building Codes Division's newsletter might be of interest to those of you in the energy efficiency and green building community.
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| Westside Economic Alliance | |
The Westside Economic Alliance is looking for a new executive director since their's has recently been hired by Washington County to work on government affairs. Interested individuals can get information on the position from the WEA Website. The position closes on September 28.
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Upcoming Trainings, Workshops, Conferences | |
Oregon Business Development Department/Fair Housing Council of Oregon has just one fair housing workshop left in 2012.
Portland, Oregon - October 2, 2012 (8:30am-5pm)
For more information or questions please contact Gloria Zacharias by email or phone (503) 986-0132
Oregon Economic Development Association Annual Conference
October 14-16, 2012
Wildhorse Resort & Casino
Pendleton
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The messengers for this newsletter as always, Laura Cleland and Eric Schmidt. Feel free to contact them if you have an item of interest for Oregon Trails.
Have a great weekend!
Laura Cleland & Eric Schmidt
Association of Oregon Counties
503-585-8351
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