Dear  

The following resolutions were adopted following the CCAP 2014 Annual Conference. Under the Association's bylaws procedure, they were considered at the Conference business meeting on August 5, 2014, and then were submitted to the full CCAP membership by electronic ballot. Balloting opened on August 11, 2014, and closed on August 21, 2014. The resolutions amend the Pennsylvania County Platform, the Association's cumulative policy statement. The Platform is available on the CCAP website, www.pacounties.org. The list will be continued in subsequent editions of the Bulletin, and is also available on the CCAP website.

RESOLUTION NO. 1 (Submitted by Potter County) -

      The resolution consolidates two previously     

      existing planks.

 
The Association has been actively involved in legislative efforts to rewrite and consolidate the Real Estate Tax Sale Law for clarity and efficiency. The resolution reflects discussions between the Assessment and Taxation Committee and the Tax Claim Bureaus Association on those issues to be addressed by this effort.

The Deputy Sheriffs Education and Training Fund was created to cover the costs for training and certification of county sheriffs and deputy sheriffs. The fund is derived from fees collected as a surcharge on all papers served by sheriff staff. The fund is a restricted receipts account held by PCCD, with disbursements made to counties to cover 100 percent of training costs, including tuition and living/travel expenses. The Act currently authorizes the budget secretary to transfer unused funds for Commonwealth General Fund purposes. The resolution seeks to remove that authorization, believing that such authorization could at some point result in the fund being raided for unrelated purposes.

The delay in the court's decision and certification of the gubernatorial ballot for the 2014 May primary resulted in counties incurring significant workload and cost to correct the ballot, or absent ability to correct, to rely on ballots not meeting the court's order. The Election Reform Committee and the Resolutions Committee first reviewed a proposal to set the deadline for court action at least 30 days in advance of the election, but it was noted that case law was clearly established that the courts are not and would not be bound by such a statutory limitation. The resolution adds subsection b which instead proposes a concerted effort to require the courts to include practical outcomes as a part of deliberations, a hold harmless for counties not able to make a late ballot change with the necessary confidence, and commonwealth reimbursement for costs of ballot changes occurring within four weeks of the election. Note: This plank contains additional subsections, but only those amended by this resolution are shown here.

RESOLUTION NO. 6 (Submitted by the CCAP Election Reform Committee) - The Association supports establishment of special elections for vacancies in legislative or Congressional seats to coincide with a primary or general election whenever practical.

RESOLUTION NO. 10 (Submitted by the CCAP Energy, Environment and Land Use Committee) - The Association opposes flood hazard mitigation assistance policies that prohibit the buyout of a flood damaged property subject to an oil or gas lease. 

FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Program provides funding for property acquisition and buyouts of flood damaged properties. In early May, FEMA issued a mitigation policy indicating the agency generally will not approve property acquisition with HMA funds involving properties with underground oil, gas or other mineral encumbrances that may allow hydraulic fracturing and horizontal directional drilling to occur. However, buyouts are the main method, and most permanent, for flood plain mitigation, and given the large area of the state in the shale gas region, this policy will severely hamper those efforts if continued.

RESOLUTION NO. 11 (Submitted by the CCAP Energy, Environment and Land Use Committee) - The Association supports review of current and proposed state and federal laws, regulations and programs impacting waterways and water quality to resolve conflicting goals, improve coordination, provide uniform application, streamline programs and identify more cost-effective best management practices and technologically feasible tools to achieve necessary environmental protections while offering flexibility in land use and community development.

Counties intending to undertake important water-related infrastructure or management projects often run into conflicting state and federal standards or priorities regarding maintenance and protection of a particular waterway. CCAP's priority on waterway infrastructure and maintenance seeks a greater cooperation and interaction among all levels of government to reduce unnecessary costs and red tape that may delay needed projects.