August 26, 2016                                                                                       www.nacone.org   NACO E-Line Archive  

Upcoming Events

Save the Dates For: 

2016 Fall NACO District Meetings

Southeast District
  September 8th
  Mahoney State Park
  Agenda

Central District
   September 15th
   Aurora Leadership Center
   Agenda

Northeast District
    September 16th
    St. Benedictine Center,
    Schuyler
   Agenda

Panhandle District
    September 21st
    Gering Civic Center

West Central District
     September 22nd
     Holiday Inn Express, North
     Platte

NACO 11 th Annual Legislative Conference
    
October 13th
     Holthus Convention Center,
     York

ALL UPCOMING EVENTS

 

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For details contact:
LeRoy.Janssen@nacone.org
WHO SUPPORTS NACO AND THEIR MISSION?

 

AssocMembersAssociate 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.

TopIn This Issue
LeginterimLegislature Schedules Interim Study Hearings
Although the 2017 legislative session won't begin until January, senators and staff are working on new legislation during the interim.  Resolutions proposing interim studies are offered during the session to examine new ideas for legislation and to dig deeper into issues raised by previously-introduced bills. Public hearings are held on some of the priority issues selected by each legislative committee, including the topics that are of interest to counties.  County officials are encouraged to attend the hearings and provide testimony. Unlike hearings during the legislative session, testifiers do not need to take a position in support or opposition to the issue, but are simply asked to provide input.

August 29
Executive Board
State Capitol, Room 1524, 10:30 a.m.
Special hearing regarding the violation by Senator Bill Kintner of Section 49-14,101.01(2) of the Nebraska Political Accountability and Disclosure Act. Invited testimony followed by public testimony.

August 31
Department of Correctional Services Special Investigative Committee (LR34)
State Capitol, Room 1113, 10:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Special hearing to examine staffing issues at the Department of Corrections

September 16
State Capitol, Room 1524, 1:30 p.m.
Special hearing on the experience study to the Retirement Committee as required by Neb.Rev.Stat. 84-1503(4)(a)

October 14
Agriculture Committee
State Capitol, Room 1524, 10:30 a.m.
LR498 (Johnson) Interim study to examine the Nebraska Right to Farm Act
1:30 p.m.
LR612 (Agriculture Committee) Interim study to examine issues under the jurisdiction of the Agriculture Committee. Note:  Review Auditor Report for the Nebraska Brand Committee (Open to the public, invited testimony only)
October 21
Business and Labor Committee
State Capitol, Room 2102, 1:30 p.m.
LR533 (Bolz) Interim study to examine promoting career education and training that can lead to job readiness for middle-skill jobs
LR512 (Business and Labor Committee) Interim study to examine the Commission of Industrial Relations
Transportation and Telecommunications Committee
State Capitol, Room 1113, 10:00 a.m.
LR539 (Smith) Interim study to examine whether the One-Call Notification System Act should be updated
November 4
Appropriations and Revenue Committees
State Capitol, Room 1113, 1:30 p.m.
Tax Expenditure Report from the Department of Revenue

December 2  Urban Affairs Committee
State Capitol, Room 1510, 1:30 p.m.
LR490 (Crawford) Interim study to examine the enforcement of state and local building codes
Interim Study Details

NACO makes every effort possible to keep abreast of changing legislation as it may have an effect on county government.  The NACO E-line will also make every effort to report any interim study hearing notices that become available in future publications.
legconfNACO Legislative Conference is Open for Registration
The 11th Annual NACO Legislative Conference is open for registration.  The morning and afternoon speakers have been confirmed to be in attendance and the event is scheduled to be held at the Holthus Conference Center in York, Nebraska on October 13th from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Two State Senators are slated to speak to the group during the day.  Senator Curt Friesen from York will review the 2016 legislative session and preview the 2017 session in the morning and Senator Mark Kolterman from Wahoo will deliver his perspective on health care cost and retirement issues.  Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Heavican and State Court Adlministrator Corey Steel will finish the morning discussing the relationship of Nebraska's court system and how it impacts county government.  NACo Program Manager, Katy Rowings will also be in attendance to speak on using county dollars wisely in corrections and pretrial services in re-entry initiatives.

The agenda can be viewed on the NACO webpage or by clicking here.

For those traveling to the event and are in need of an overnight stay, the Hampton Inn in York has guaranteed a single room rate of $80.00 per night.  At least two weeks prior to the conference is needed to process direct billing to the counties if interested.

Assessorsworkshop2016 Assessor's Workshop A Success
The 2016 Assessor's Workshop held in Kearney, Nebraska at the Holiday Inn and Convention Center closed out this week as a success. 185 Assessors, their staff, Department of Revenue representatives and participating vendors rounded out the registration list that topped the attendance for the last several years.  The workshop was held starting Monday of this week and adjourned at noon yesterday.

The agenda included a seven and one-half hour training on the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practices (USPAP) taught by the Moore Group from Lincoln. Ruth Sorensen, Property Tax Administrator of the Department of Revenue approved 17 1/2 hours of continuing education for those attending the entire workshop.  The workshop also included an afternoon tour of Wardcraft Homes manufacturing plant in Minden, Nebraska so assessors and appraisers could view first hand the process and materials used in the preparation, building and delivery of a manufactured home from that facility.  

Workshop photos can be viewed here.  
MIPSBytesMIPS Bytes
VPNs

Ever hear someone mention a home or business VPN and wonder what they are talking about? A virtual private network (VPN) is a secure connection joining two or more networks through the Internet. The connection is often encrypted to prevent unauthorized access to the data being transmitted. Once a connection is made between the endpoints, devices can communicate as if they were on the same physical network. Below are a few of the many VPN uses.

A VPN can be used to access local resources while out of the office. Forget to email yourself a document from your work computer while you are traveling? Just sign into the VPN, and access the file directly as if you were still at your desk. The VPN is not limited to file access. While connected, printers, applications, files, phone systems, time clocks, computers, and servers are accessible without compromising either network.

When using the Internet at a public location, that site or someone on their network may see your network traffic. Connecting to the Internet through a VPN will hide the traffic from others. They may see you are using the Internet, but they will not see how you are using the Internet. Keep in mind the device you are connecting to may still log your traffic, but the people in between will not be able to.

Before the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC's) Net neutrality regulation, many Internet service providers throttled video streaming services and larger downloads by limiting connection speeds. With throttled connections, a VPN was a way to get better download speeds thus increasing the video quality. With a VPN the Internet service provider cannot distinguish the difference between video streaming and other Internet traffic and therefore cannot throttle the traffic.

As you can see, a VPN has many benefits for both home and business users. A VPN connection can be setup with hardware and/or software. Many operating systems such as Windows and smartphones have built in VPN client capabilities. With technology at your fingertips, a VPN can provide access to files anywhere while protecting your privacy.
Countygovernementdaycd County Government Day PowerPoint
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.

Back to Top
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.

As of  January 2016, NACO will no longer print the hard copy of the directory and send one to each county.  The directory has been made a part of the NACO website through a clickable and searchable icon and will be updated as corrections are submitted. The directory on the website is downloadable for a printed copy and it can also be transferred electronically to office computers and devices with memory storage such as smartphones and ipads.

For a copy of the latest 2015 directory, click here for the order form.

Back to Top
County_Board_Handbook_2012 2015 County Board  Handbook and Revisions
The 2015 County Board Handbook and related revisions are now available! The cost for a current handbook, including legislative information from the 2015 session, is $80.00/book plus $18.00 shipping and handling per book. The 2015 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. For questions, contact Elaine Menzel by email or call her at (402) 434-5660 ext. 225.

News From NACo

NACO County News
Article By Jacob Terrell  
Aug. 18, 2016  

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is extending the public comment period on its proposed website accessibility regulation for state and local governments to Oct. 7. 

Click here for the entire article.

nacowebNACo Webinars
Leadership Development Series:
Understanding Integrity and Civility

August 24 - 3:00 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. CDT
Leadership Development Series: What is Integrity and Civility?
Register 
 
September 28 - 3:00 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. CDT
Leadership Development Series: Integrity and Civility as a Practice 
Register

October 19 - 3:00 p.m. - 4:15 CDT
Leadership Development Series: The Pitfalls of Decision Making

Register
 


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