Save the Dates For:
County Board Workshop
Holiday Inn
Kearney, NE
June 10-12, 2015
Agenda
Register Here
Clerks, Register of Deeds and Election Commissioners Workshop
Sandhills Convention Center, Quality Inn & Suites
North Platte, NE
June 10-12, 2015
Agenda
Register Here
Highway Superintendents, Surveyors and Engineers Workshop
North Platte, NE
June 16-18, 2015
Agenda
Registration Information
Treasurers Workshop
Holiday Inn Express Beatrice, NE
June 16-18, 2015
Agenda
Registration Information
Clerks of the District Court Workshop
Kearney, NE
June 17-18, 2015
Agenda
Registration Information
To view all upcoming events, click here.
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WHO SUPPORTS NACO AND THEIR MISSION?
Associate and Sustaining Members
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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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Registration Deadline Next Friday For Two Important Workshops
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Two registration deadlines are fast approaching. Please register early to avoid additional charges for the delayed registration.
The two workshops requiring pre-registration are the County Board Workshop being held at the Kearney Holiday Inn and Conference Center on June 10th-12th and the Clerks, Register of Deeds and Election Commissioners Workshop being held at the Sandhills Convention Center, Quality Inn and Suites in North Platte also on June 10th-12th.
The final registration date for both workshops is June 5th, 2015!
Please find further information in the left side bar of this edition of the E-line.
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2015 NACO Scholarship Winners |
NACO Scholarships Awarded to Twelve Graduates
   
Photos and profiles of award recipients are featured here.
Twelve children of county officials and employees have been selected to receive $1,000 NACO scholarships to assist with college expenses for the 2015-16 school year. In order to be eligible, students must graduate this spring from a Nebraska high school and attend a post-high school educational institution within the state of Nebraska.
NACO scholarship award recipients for 2015 are: Braxton Bellamy, Kearney County; Collin Freeman, Pierce County; Alexius Hartman, Nuckolls County; Josiah Johnson, Lancaster County; Hayley Kaiser, Keith County; Emma Lindemeier, Lincoln County; Alex Lupher, Scotts Bluff County; John Radil, Valley County; Logan Riege, Otoe County; Andrew Rutt, Adams County; Hannah Schievelbein, Deuel County; Sydni Stevens, Keith County.
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Annual Conference Hotel Reservations
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The 2015 NACO Annual Conference will be held in Kearney at the Younes Convention Center. The conference dates are December 9th through the 11th. Rooms have been contracted at the Wingate inn, the Hampton Inn, the Holiday Inn, the Holiday Inn Express, the Comfort Inn and the Fairfield Inn for $99.95 per night for single and double rooms and suites are contracted for $149.95 per night.
Rooms will be available for booking on and after June 4th, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. CST.
All rooms booked earlier than the above listed date will not be guaranteed at the contracted rates.
Reservations for the 2015 NACO Annual Conference may be made beginning June 4, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. You must phone the hotel of choice to make reservations stating that you are attending the conference to receive the group discounted room rate. Only guaranteed reservations will be accepted. Reservations must be guaranteed with either a credit card or by direct billing back to your county. PLEASE NOTE: Reservations may be made initially under the county name but must all have individual names of who will occupy each room no later than November 10, 2015. Any reservation being held under the county name after this date will be cancelled. HEADQUARTER HOTELS LOCATED ON THE YOUNES CONFERENCE CENTER CAMPUS(See map): Wingate Inn: (308) 237-4400 Hampton Inn: (308) 234-3400 Fairfield Inn: (308) 236-4200 Comfort Inn: (308) 236-3400 Holiday Inn: (308) 237-5971 ADDITIONAL LODGING OPTIONS IN CLOSE PROXIMITY: Holiday Inn Express: (308) 234-8100 Best Western Mid Nebraska Inn & Suites: (308) 234-2541 AmericInn: (308) 234-7800 Country Inn & Suites: (308) 236-7500
Ramada Inn: (308) 237-3141
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Open Meetings Law Workshops |
REGISTER NOW FOR THE 2015 NASB
Open Meetings Law Workshops
6:30 to 8:00 PM
June 16 | Lincoln
Cornhusker Marriott | 333 South 13th Street
June 17 | Norfolk
Lifelong Learning Center | 801 Benjamin Avenue
Registration Deadline | June 11, 2015
The Nebraska Association of School Boards is hosting a series of meetings across the state to address the intricacies of the Open Meetings Law. This will also be an opportunity to ask questions of NASB's Legal Counsel, Jennifer Jorgensen, who will conduct the workshops.
The workshops will provide information regarding agenda, notice, minutes, closed session, special meetings, emergency meetings and public comment in addition to answering questions from attendees. The target audiences for the workshops are school board members and secretaries, school superintendents, city council members and clerks, county attorneys and county boards, and community and civic boards. CLE credits are available for attorneys. To register for the workshop, please click here or contact NASB at 1-800-422-4572. The registration fee for a non-NASB member is $35 with a $10 cancellation fee prior to the registration deadline listed above.
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County Board Workshop to be Held in June this Year
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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 June 5th, 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.
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Grant Writing Class to be Held in Omaha
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Grants Training in Omaha, NE - June 25-26, 2015
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United Way 2-1-1 and Grant Writing USA will present a two-day grants workshop in Omaha, June 25-26, 2015. This training is for grant seekers across all disciplines. Attend this class and you'll learn how to find grants and write winning grant proposals.
Click here for full event details.
Beginning and experienced grant writers from city, county and state agencies as well as nonprofits, K-12, colleges and universities are encouraged to attend.
Multi-enrollment discounts and discounts for Grant Writing USA returning alumni are available. Tuition payment is not required at the time of enrollment.
Tuition is $455 and includes all materials: workbook and accompanying 420MB resource CD that's packed full of tools and more than 200 sample grant proposals. Seating is limited, online reservations are necessary.
Complete event details including learning objectives, class location, graduate testimonials and online registration are available here.
Contacts:
Taylor Grissom at Grant Writing USA 888.435.7281 toll free
Lena Thompson United Way 2-1-1 402-997-7002
More than 10,000 agencies across North America have turned to Grant Writing USA for grant writing and grant management training.
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Legal Line |
Editor's Note: Legal Line is a feature that will periodically appear in NACO E-Line. This edition has been prepared by Beth Ferrell of the NACO legal staff. Legal Line is not intended to serve as legal advice. Rather, it is published to alert readers to court decisions and legal or advisory matters important to county government. For a specific opinion on how the information contained in this article or that which will be discussed in future issues relates to your county, consult your county attorney or personal counsel.
Nebraska Courts Decide Tax Sales Cases
The Nebraska Supreme Court and Court of Appeals each decided a tax sales case last week.
In Neun v. Ewing, 290 Neb. 963, -- N.W.2d -- (2015), property owners attempted to redeem their property after the tax sales certificate holder filed an action for foreclosure. The Nebraska Supreme Court upheld the district court's determination that once a foreclosure action was filed, the property owners could not redeem by tendering the balance due on the tax certificate to the county treasurer pursuant to Neb.Rev.Stat. §77-1824 because that section addresses redemption when an application for a tax deed has been filed. Instead, the owners were required to use the process for a judicial foreclosure action in §77-1917. The Court found that the two statutory procedures to convert a tax sales certificate to a deed are not interchangeable. After the certificate holder has elected to proceed under the judicial foreclosure method under chapter 77, article 19, both the holder and the property owner are bound by that election. The Court expressly disapproved a previous holding by the Court of Appeals that permitted redemption while a foreclosure action was pending.The full text of the case is available here: https://supremecourt.nebraska.gov/sites/supremecourt.ne.gov/files/sc/opinions/scMay22S-14-623.pdf
In Echo Financial v. Peachtree Properties, 22 Neb. App. 898, -- N.W.2d -- (2014), Echo filed for foreclosure on a tax sales certificate issued for 2008 taxes. It alleged that in addition to delinquent property taxes, the county was owed for unpaid weed control assessments and there were special assessments due to a sanitary and improvement district (SID). The district court filed an order for summary judgment finding that Echo Financial held a valid first lien on the property and Sarpy County's weed control liens held a second priority. Later an order of foreclosure held that Echo had a first lien and the Sarpy County weed lien was junior to the interests of Echo and the SID. In addition, the property was to be sold at a sheriff's sale subject to unpaid real property taxes for the second half of 2011 and 2012. Sarpy County appealed the district court decision in three areas: 1) granting Echo Financial's motion for summary judgment, 2) ordering that the weed liens were junior to the interests of Echo and the SID, and 3) failing to find that Sarpy County had outstanding general tax liens and ordering the property to be sold subject to the liens rather than ordering the liens to be paid from the proceeds of the sheriff's sale. The Court of Appeals found that the district court properly granted summary judgment because Echo showed that it owned the tax sales certificate and was presumptively entitled to be paid for redemption from the tax sale. Summary judgment is proper if the pleadings and admissible evidence offered at the hearing shows that there is no genuine issue of any material facts or as to the ultimate inferences that may be drawn from those facts and that the moving party is entitled to as a matter of law. The second assignment of error focused on the junior status of the weed lien. Weed liens are a type of special assessment. Section 77-209 provides that special assessments take priority over all other encumbrances and liens except the first lien of general taxes. The Supreme Court upheld the district court's ruling that Sarpy County's weed liens were junior to Echo's general lien represented by the tax sales certificate. In addition, the weed liens are junior to the interests of the SID. Legislation enacted in 1996 specifically excludes special assessments levied by SIDs from the effects of judicial foreclosure. (LB277 (2015), which will take effect this fall, will apply the same exemptions when a tax deed is pursued for real estate on which special assessments levied by an SID have not previously been offered for sale by the county treasurer.) Finally the Court examined whether the property could be sold subject to the general tax liens for the second half of 2011 and 2012. The title conveyed under a tax deed is not derivative, but the purchaser takes a new title free from any encumbrances, claims or equities connected with the prior title. Echo argued that the county should apply for a tax sale certificate in order to collect any liens remaining unpaid after the sheriff's sale. The Court relied on a 2006 case (citation omitted) holding that tax liens arising subsequent to the sale of a tax sales certificate but prior to the commencement of foreclosure proceedings are included within the foreclosure decree and satisfied by the proceeds of the sheriff's sale. In addition, taxes levied subsequent to the date of the certificate constitute a lien that is superior to the lien on the certificate. The Court held that Sarpy County's general tax liens for the second half of 2011 and 2012 were to be paid from the proceeds of the foreclosure sale and that Sarpy County's liens also took priority over Echo Financial's liens. The full text of the case is available here: https://supremecourt.nebraska.gov/sites/supremecourt.ne.gov/files/coa/opinions/caMay19A-14-261.pdf |
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 larrydix@nacone.org. The CD order form is available here .
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2015 County Official Directory Order Form
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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.
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2014 County Board Handbook and Revisions
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The 2014 County Board Handbook and related revisions are now available. The cost for a current handbook, including legislative information from the 2014 session, is $80.00/book plus $18.00 shipping and handling per book. The 2014 Supplement to the County Board Handbook is available for $25.00 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
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House bill to restart 'waters of the U.S.
A bill that would require EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw the proposed "waters of the U.S" rule within 30 days and restart the rule-making process passed the House by a vote of 261-155.The Regulatory Integrity Protection Act of 2015 (H.R. 1732) would require the agencies to consult and collaborate with state and local governments on the "waters of the U.S." rule development process. The agencies would also be required to document the interactions, including those areas where consensus was reached and not reached, and submit a final report to Congress.
At the end of April, a similar bill was introduced in the Senate. The Federal Water Quality Protection Act (S. 1140) would also stop and restart the rule-making process and require the agencies to work more closely with state and local governments in a rule rewrite. The measure contains a list of principles the agencies should consider when rewriting the rule including types of water features that can be regulated or exempt under the proposal. The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works is scheduled to hold a hearing on the bill May 18. On the appropriations front: The House's FY16 Energy and Water Appropriations bill targets the "waters of the U.S." rule by prohibiting any Corps funding to be used for developing, implementing and administering the proposed rule. The House's FY16 Interior appropriations bill is likewise expected to contain similar restrictions on EPA funding. Meanwhile, the White House has issued a veto threat for H.R. 1732. In its Statement of Administration Policy (SAP), the Administration says it "strongly oppose[s]" and would veto the bill if it were to be passed by Congress, arguing that it would decrease the Administration's ability to protect water sources and create uncertainty for stakeholders. The proposed rule, jointly released by EPA and the Corps in April 2014, would amend the definition of "waters of the U.S." within the Clean Water Act and dramatically expand the range of public safety infrastructure that falls under federal permitting authority, according to NACo. Since its publication in April 2014, NACo has expressed concerns about the scope of the proposed rule and called for it to be withdrawn until further analysis and more in-depth consultation with state and local officials could be completed. The rule has been sent to the White House's Office of Management and Budget for a final interagency review. It is likely to be finalized within the next month. |
NACO Web-based Education
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U.S. Supreme Court Decision: Health Insurance Marketplace Tax Credit Subsidies Webinar
Thu, Jun 25, 2015 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM CDT
A critical provision of the Affordable Care Act is to provide tax credit subsidies to qualifying individuals and families purchasing health insurance coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace. The Supreme Court case King v. Burwell challenges whether the subsidies can be provided to those who obtain coverage via the federal marketplace. The Supreme Court's ruling may have a profound impact on counties as the local safety net and as employers. Join us to learn the implications.
To register for the webinar, click here.
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