The 2015 NACO Annual Conference will be held in Kearney at the Younes Convention Center.  The conference dates are December 9th through the 11th.

After last year's County Board Workshop in February, it was decided to move the workshop time from February to June.  A declining registration rate was determined to be the main factor in the decision.  Larry Dix, NACO Executive Director stated that, "while it is difficult to pick a time that will work for everyone, we will continue to offer the same quality of education for the workshop that has been enjoyed in the past."

This year's County Board Workshop will be held at the Holiday Inn and Convention Center in Kearney on June 10th through June 12th.  Registration for the event may be accomplished by clicking here.  The workshop agenda can be reviewed here.  Advance registration deadline for the Workshop is May 29, 2015.

 The Holiday Inn and Convention Center is the designated workshop hotel.  The room rate is guaranteed at $94.95 per night at that hotel only.  Other hotels in that area are not obliged to honor that rate.

The Nebraska Juvenile Justice Conference agenda, registration and conference site has been finalized for 2015.

To review the conference brochure for the agenda, click here.

To register for the conference, click here.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has potential implications to county jails as well.  An overview of these issues is highlighted in "County Jails and the Affordable Care Act at:

• http://www.naco.org/newsroom/pubs/Documents/Health,%20Human%20Services%20and%20Justice/WebVersion_PWFIssueBrief.pdf

A document of Questions and Answers prepared by NACo about the Affordable Care Act and jails is available at:   

Another related issue that has been discussed during consideration of some of the legislative bills is a provision of relevance pertaining to a 24-hour inpatient exception for inmates.   Generally, federal law does not allow federal Medicaid funds to be spent on medical care for inmates of public correctional institutions, even if they are Medicaid-eligible. However, a Medicaid provision of importance to counties and county jails that means a county can seek Medicaid reimbursement for care provided to inmates who are treated for at least 24 hours in a medical institution outside of the jail. 42 CFR 435.1009  https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/42/435.1009 . 42 CFR 435.1010 https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/42/435.1010 . The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services relies upon a 1997 letter by the Federal Center for Medicaid and State Operations for interpretation of provisions related to health care for inmates of a public institution. The letter states in part:

Section 1905(a)(A) [now codified as §1905(a)(29)(A)] of the Social Security Act specifically excludes Federal Financial Participation (FFP) for medical care provided to inmates of a public institution; except when the inmate is a patient in a medical institution. The first distinction that should be made is that the statute refers only to FFP not being available. It does not specify, nor imply, that Medicaid eligibility is precluded for those individuals who are inmates of a public institution. Accordingly, inmates of a public institution may be eligible for Medicaid if the appropriate eligibility criteria are met.

 

The next significant distinction is that under current Medicaid coverage policy for inmates there is no difference in the application of this policy to juveniles than the application to adults. For purposes of excluding FFP, for example, a juvenile awaiting trial in a detention center is no different than an adult in a maximum security prison. For application of the statute, both are considered inmates of a public institution.

 

Two criteria must be met to determine whether FFP is prohibited - (1) if the individual is an inmate; and (2) the facility where the individual is residing must be a public institution. An individual is an inmate when involuntarily serving time for a criminal offense or confined involuntarily in State or Federal prisons, jails, detention facilities or other penal facilities. A facility is considered a public institution when it is under the responsibility of a governmental unit, or over which a governmental unit exercises administrative control. Such control can exist when a facility an organizational part or a government unit or when a governmental unit exercises final administrative control, including ownership and control of the physical facilities and grounds used to house inmates.

 

As previously noted, an exception to the prohibition of FFP is permissible when an inmate becomes a patient to a medical institution. This can occur when an inmate is admitted as an inpatient in a hospital, nursing facility, juvenile psychiatric facility or intermediate care facility. Accordingly, FFP is available for any Medicaid covered services provided to an "inmate" while and inpatient at such facilities provided such services are included under a State's Medicaid plan and the "inmate" is Medicaid eligible.

 

In SID NO. 1 v. Adamy 913, 289 Neb. 913, ---N.W.2d --- (2015), the SID filed two class action lawsuits. Both suits alleged that county treasurers unlawfully deducted an incorrect percent­age of assessments collected on behalf of SID #1 as well as other similarly situated sanitary and improvement districts. The affected county treasurers in each suit filed motions to dis­miss for failure to state a claim. Those motions were granted, and the complaints were dismissed. SID #1 appealed. The Supreme Court con­solidated such appeals for oral argument and disposition and reversed and remanded the case with directions.

 

SID #1 filed its first class action complaint and alleged that the county treasurers collected assessments of municipal improvements on behalf of SID #1 and

 

collected, for their services rendered, a sum of money equal to two percent (2%) of the funds they received on such special assessments, rather than a sum equal to one and one half percent (1.5 %) of the special assessments collected, as is provided by Neb. Rev. Stat. §33-114[(4) (Reissue 2008)].

 

The second complaint alleged that county treasurers collected municipal taxes on behalf of SID #1 and "collected, for their services rendered, a sum of money equal to two per­cent (2%) of the funds they received on such taxes, rather than a sum equal to one percent (1%) of the taxes, as is provided by Neb. Rev. Stat. §33-114(3)."

 

The various defendant county treasurers filed motions to dismiss. Those motions were granted, with the district court similarly concluding in two separate orders that (1) the coun­ties had waived sovereign immunity and (2) SID #1 was not a municipal corporation and thus could not make assessments for municipal improvements or municipal taxes. The SID appealed and county treasurers cross-appealed.

 

The Supreme Court concluded "A sanitary and improvement district can levy municipal taxes and make municipal improvements. As such, we con­clude that SID #1 has stated a cause of action under § 31-114." Such holding resulted in a reversal, and remand with directions to grant prospective declaratory relief.

 

The February 2015 mandate by the District Court ordered that sanitary and improvement districts can levy municipal taxes and make municipal improvements. Based on the Supreme Court opinion and the subsequent District Court mandate, treasurers are prospectively required to charge a collection fee of one percent (1%) for collecting all property taxes as currently provided pursuant to § 33-114(3) and a collection fee of one and one-half percent (1.5 %) for collecting special assessments as currently provided pursuant to 33-114(4). 

NACO's 2015 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.  In January, county clerks for each county will receive one complimentary copy of the directory intended for use by all offices in their courthouse.  For additional copies, click here for the order form.