Central District Meeting September 18, 2014 Grand Island, Quality Inn & Suites Northeast District Meeting September 19, 2014 Schuyler, St. Benedict Center Southeast District Meeting September 25, 2014 Camp Carol Joy Holling, Ashland NACO Legislative Conference October 16, 2014 Holiday Inn Conference Center, Kearney To view all upcoming events, click here. |
Associate and Sustaining Members |
NACO Associate and Sustaining Members enable NACO to enhance its continuing education programs for county officials across the state. Visit NACO's complete associate and sustaining membership list here.
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Legislative Conference Set for October 16th
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NACO's 9th Annual Legislative Conference will be held in Kearney on October 16, 2014. If you haven't already done so, be sure to mark this date on your calendar because you won't want to miss this educational opportunity.
To view the tentative agenda for this conference, click here.
The registration fee for this conference is only $45.00. The registration fee includes two breaks, a luncheon and all handout materials.
A block of rooms has been reserved at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Convention Center in Kearney. Rates for lodging are $85.95 single/double. You may contact the Holiday Inn at (308)237-5971 for lodging. Be sure to mention that you are with the NACO Legislative Conference to receive the contracted rate.
At this conference you will have input into establishing NACO's platform and legislative priorities. Take a look at the tentative agenda and you will see that this conference is a very important part of each elected and appointed county official's continuing education, not to mention your opportunity to have input into legislation that affects county government as a whole.
To register for the Legislative Conference, click here.
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Annual Conference Matters
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Lodging
Lodging for NACO's 120th Annual Conference became available in June, 2014. The conference will be held in Omaha December 10-12 and this year you will be able to make lodging reservations electronically by visiting the Omaha Convention & Visitors Bureau website and clicking on NACO's microsite. The link to the microsite is available here and is also posted on NACO's website .
Once you click on NACO's microsite, you will be able to choose the contracted hotel of your choice along with the dates you will require for lodging. Initially, a valid credit card will be required for securing your lodging. Once you have secured your lodging via credit card, you will be able to access a credit application for direct billing and will be required to complete and submit a tax exempt form (all forms will be available on the microsite).
Planning
NACO has sent, via e-mail, planning grids and cut off dates to each affiliate group leader requesting that each group plan their sessions for the upcoming Annual Conference in December.
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State/County Jail Initiative Discussion at District Meetings
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Larry Wayne, Deputy Director of Programs and Community Services and Layne Gissler, Corrections Program Administrator of the Nebraska Department of Corrections will attend the NACO district meetings to discuss the State/County Jail Initiative that has begun in Nebraska. They will share with attendees their vision of how the program will work if a county is interested. Layne Gissler has provided NACO E-Line with a summary of that vision.
To review that article and to prepare for the district meeting discussions, click here
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Free Financial Professional Training
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Lancaster County Treasurer Andy Stebbing is offering government employees financial professional training on Wednesday, October 29, 2014 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. at the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications (NET) building at 1800 North 33rd Street in Lincoln, Nebraska. This training is sponsored by the Lancaster County Treasurer's Office, Allen, Gibbs and Houlik, L.C. and the Lincoln Chapter Association of Government Accountants.
For more details of the training and registration requirements,click here. Financial Professional Training hotel information may be found by clicking here.
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Grants Workshop in Grand Island
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The Nebraska State Patrol Criminal Identification Division and Grant Writing USA will present a two-day grants workshop in Gr and Island, October 20-21, 2014. This training is applicable to grant seekers across all disciplines. Attend this class and you'll learn how to find grants and write winning grant proposals. Details can be obtained by clicking here.
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Advanced Institute of Excellence to be Held in Kearney
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Today's leaders rely on stakeholders to help them make the hard decisions.
They also use after-action reviews to evaluate outcomes of their decisions.
These concepts and more will be introduced at the NACO Advanced Institute of Excellence, Wednesday, October 15th in Kearney at the Holiday Inn Convention Center. The Advanced Institute is open to ALL. The NACO Institute of Excellence will be conveniently held the day before the 9th Annual NACO Legislative Conference. The program starts at 10:00 a.m. and runs to 5:00 p.m. The cost is only $45 for the entire day; lunch is included. For more information about this fall's Advanced Institute and future Institutes of Excellence download a .pdf version of the 2014 - 2015 Program Offerings brochure by clicking here.
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Interim Studies Keep Legislators Busy
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Although the next legislative session won't officially begin until January, senators and staff are working on new legislation during the interim. Some of that legislation is the result of interim study resolutions that were introduced during the legislative session to authorize a committee to study an issue following the adjournment of the regular session. Public hearings are held on some of the priority issues selected by each legislative committee, including topics that are of interest to counties. To read more about the hearings and their schedules click here.
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Unfunded Mandates Interim Study Scheduled for Hearings
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County officials have an opportunity to share information and concerns about unfunded and underfunded mandates at two interim study hearings of the Legislature's Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committees. On October 24, the committee will meet in Lincoln and will meet again on October 29 in South Sioux City.
To read more details about the hearings click here.
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MIPS Bytes
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Connecting to your work computer remotely
Nearly any device with internet access has the ability to connect to a Windows computer remotely, by using the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). An RDP session can be initiated from another Windows computer, an Android device, or an Apple device. RDP is built in to most Windows operating systems, and RDP apps can be found on iTunes or on Google Play.
With the correct network setup, employees can use Remote Desktop from home to access their computer in the courthouse. This will give access to all their files as if they were sitting at their desk. Even Word documents and Excel spreadsheets can be opened and edited from any device.
Furthermore, if a cellular hotspot is available, any employee in the field can be connected to their office computer to enter property information while in the field. Because the data is actually being entered on the employee's office computer, the information is available to the rest of the staff in the office immediately.
Remote Desktop can be a powerful tool for any office environment. The ability to connect to a computer in the office remotely opens up the capability for employees to work from anywhere there is an internet connection.
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Order NACO's 2014 Directory of County Officials Now
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NACO's 2014 Directory of County Officials is a valuable resource that not only gives you names, addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers and e-mail addresses of every county official in the state, but includes a listing of county board meeting days, NACO districts, county seats, NACO officers and directors, affiliate officers and NACO staff. County clerks for each county received one complimentary copy of the directory intended for use by all offices in their courthouse. For additional copies, click here for the order form.
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County Government Day PowerPoint
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The PowerPoint presentation is available electronically at no charge (sent via e-mail) for use by counties during their annual County Government Day. The PowerPoint provides a comprehensive look at county government functions in the State of Nebraska and can be customized by each county. CD's are also available for $10.00 each to cover processing, shipping and handling. To request the County Government Day PowerPoint electronically, please e-mail your request to [email protected]. The CD order form is available here .
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2013 County Board Handbook and Revisions
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The 2013 County Board Handbook and related revisions are available. The cost for a current handbook, including legislative information from the 2013 session, is $80.00/book plus $17.00 shipping and handling per book. The 2013 Supplement to the County Board Handbook is available for $20.00 plus $5.00 shipping and handling. The order form is available on the NACO website here. For questions, contact Ashley Vandeloo by clicking here or call her at (402) 434-5660 ext. 223.
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News From NACo
| Congress Passes Short-Term Patch for Transportation Funding
This week, Congress reached agreement over a short-term patch to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent and extend the current surface transportation law - Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) - through May of next year.
The Highway and Transportation Funding Act, H.R. 5021, was accepted by both chambers after much debate over the length of the patch.
The House initially passed H.R. 5021 on July 15. The House-passed version provided $11 billion to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent and extend MAP-21 through May of next year. To read more, click here.
Senate Introduces Bill that Combines the Marketplace Fairness Act and the Internet Tax Freedom Act
On July 15, Sens. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) introduced the Marketplace and Internet Tax Fairness Act (MITFA). The bill (S. 2609) would combine two key issues important to counties:
- The Marketplace Fairness Act (MFA) as passed by the Senate in 2013, with a few minor technical corrections. MFA, which passed with the support of NACo, allows state and local governments to enforce existing sales taxes on remote sellers.
- A ten-year extension of the Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA). ITFA prohibits counties from collecting a tax on Internet access (typically a subscription service) until November 1, 2014. While a 10-year extension is not ideal for counties, NACo favors a temporary extension of ITFA in lieu of permanent measures like the Permanent ITFA (H.R. 3086) that passed in the House on July 14, 2014.
To read more, click here.
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NACo Web-Based Education
| Using Juvenile Justice Receiving Centers to Improve Safety & Outcomes
Thursday, September 25, 2014 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM Eastern Time
"Receiving Centers" for juveniles who are arrested or picked up by law enforcement officers for status or misdemeanor offenses offer a number of benefits to counties. These centers allow officers to drop off youth and quickly return to their duties in the community, provide a secure environment for juveniles and can identify underlying causes of delinquent or problem behavior.
To register for this webinar, Click here.
Mental Health Parity: What it Means for Counties as Providers
Thursday, October 2, 2014, 2:00 - 3:15 p.m. Eastern Time
The regulations for the Mental Health Parity Law are now final. Health insurance plans must provide equal coverage for physical and behavioral health services. What does this mean for your county? How do these regulations interact with the Affordable Care Act? What are the challenges and/or opportunities for implementing mental health parity? Join county leaders and United Health Care to discuss the implications of mental health parity for your county.
To register for this webinar, Click here.
To view NACo's entire web-based education listing, click here.
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News Across the State
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