Month, Year - Vol 1, Issue 1

AOC Summer Summit August 11-13 at Spirit Mountain Resort

Make plans now to attend the AOC Summer Summit to explore People, Places and Politics with county colleagues. AOC President Mary Stern has selected Spirit Mountain Resort in Grande Ronde, Polk County for this year's summer confab.  

 

You'll hear from experts, pundits and those on the ground. They will question if government should act more like a business, offer advice on getting a levy passed, discuss successful use of Regional Solutions and foresee the future of county courthouses. AOC has also invited members of the Oregon Legislature and Congress to give you updates on what happened at the 2013 legislative session and what is happening in Washington, DC.

 

Registration is now open on the AOC website. 

 

The fees are the same as last year:

participant: $175 (two dinners, lunch, receptions and meeting materials) and

guest: $125 (meals & receptions only)

 

For hotel reservations, call Spirit Mountain at 1-800-760-7977. Make sure you identify yourself as a participant of the AOC Summer Summit for special, reduced rates.  

• Deluxe room, single or double occupancy, $89 per night plus tax
• Standard room, single or double occupancy, $69 per night plus tax
• Continental breakfast is complementary for hotel guest.

The AOC room block closes on July 11, 2013 at 5 p.m. Reservations made after this date will be on a room-available basis and at the prevailing rate, so make your plans now to attend.

 

Questions? Contact Cara Fischer or 503.585.8351. 

 

 

 The following county fiscal distress bills are still in play at the Legislature: 

•  Senate Bill 173: Creates service delivery technical assistance program in the Governor's Office for counties in fiscal distress; received a do pass recommendation from the Senate Economic Development & Rural Communities Committee on 4-9-13 and was referred to Ways & Means.
• House Bill 2206B: Three parts - 1) Authorizes county to request declaration by Governor of emergency that the county is providing less than minimally adequate property tax assessment and collection services; directs Department of Revenue to provide those services until determination by Governor that emergency no longer exists or for two years, whichever is first; requires DOR to be reimbursed for its costs from the state assessment and taxation grant funds of the county, then non-dedicated state-shared revenues of the county, then by a request to the Emergency Board. 2) Authorizes a county to request from the Governor a declaration of emergency that the county is conducting elections at less than a minimally adequate level; directs the Secretary of State to provide elections services in the county until determination by Governor that emergency no longer exists or for two years, whichever is first; requires Secretary of State to seek reimbursement from the Emergency Board for additional funds and spending authority. 3) Requires funds retained by the Director of Veterans' Affairs out of distribution to a county without a county veterans' service officer to be spent to provide veterans' services in that county. Passed House 54-5; in Senate Rules Committee, recommended do pass with amendments on 7-1-13.
• House Bill 3404: Applies HB 4177 (2012 - permits counties, under certain conditions, to receive assistance payments from County Assessment Function Funding Assistance Account) to fiscal years 2013-14 and 2014-15; passed the House 57-0 on 6-13-13; passed Senate 28-0 on 6-27-13.
• House Bill 3453A: Provides that the Governor may proclaim a public safety fiscal emergency when conditions exist or are imminent in one or more counties that compromise the county ability to provide a minimally adequate level of public safety services; before proclaiming the emergency, the Governor shall consult with the President and Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate, the Speaker and Majority and Minority Leaders of the House and each Senator and Representative whose district is within the area of the proclamation; provides that the area of the proclamation may not be smaller than one county; after the proclamation and obtaining written authority by the majority of the governing body of each county subject to the proclamation, the Governor may enter into an intergovernmental agreement with any county, whether inside or outside the area covered by the proclamation, for performance of functions related to public safety; IGA to specify debts, liabilities, and obligations of the parties; the State shall bear 50 percent of the cost of services provided under the IGA; requires the counties to the IGA bear the other 50 percent of the cost, which may be funded through income and excise taxes (as surtax to the state income and excise taxes), a tax on telecommunications services with access to the 9-1-1 system, any assessment the county is lawfully capable of imposing, existing county revenues, or any combination of these sources; provides that the county ordinance imposing the tax may take effect without a vote of county electors, but may not declare an emergency; provides that the Governor's proclamation terminates after 18 months, unless extended for up to an additional 18 months, and the Governor shall terminate the proclamation when the emergency no longer exists; permits the legislature to terminate the proclamation at any time; after termination of the emergency, the income and excise taxes shall end on the next January 1st and other taxes or assessments shall end on the first day of the next calendar quarter; permits the counties to adopt an ordinance to ratify an intergovernmental entity created under the IGA. House Rules Committee 'do pass' as amended, to Ways & Means (6-27-13).

Several Elections bills of strong interest to counties have recently either made it to the finish line or are close but stalled. Several bills that will save counties money now or in the future have passed both chambers. House Bill 2739, which would no longer mandate counties to send Voter Notification Cards (VNC's) for boundary changes, has passed both chambers and been signed by the Governor. County Clerks have estimated the bill would save counties up to $300,000 per decade because it would eliminate the necessity to send VNC's after each redistricting. Senate Bill 150 has now passed both chambers and is on its way to the Governor for signing. This bill would, among other things, eliminate the requirement that counties use different color ballots for primary elections to distinguish between political parties. Eliminating this requirement will save counties an estimated $76,000 per primary. Neither of these bills are earth-shaking but certainly helpful at a time when every dollar counts.  

 

Two other bills of interest have now passed both chambers, House Bill 3344 and House Bill 2199. HB 3344 extends the time period for voters to clear up challenged ballots from 10 to 14 days. It also makes the name, address, and reason the ballot is being challenged a public record following the eighth day after of the election. HB 2199 clears up a conflict in statute around counties destroying unused ballots at 8p.m. on election night and instead requires additional safeguards around how counties secure unused ballots.

 

The most ambitious elections bill of the session, House Bill 3521, passed the House 32-28 last Tuesday but since then has remained stuck in the Senate. AOC remains firmly opposed to this bill as an expensive new unfunded mandate that has not been fully developed. Should the bill not pass this session, we look forward to further discussions with the Secretary of State on ways to improve the bill. If the bill becomes law, we look forward to working with the Secretary of State on opportunities to provide financial assistance to counties for carrying out the new policy. 

 

After approving the 19th version of amendments, the Ways & Means Natural Resources Subcommittee moved Senate Bill 839 as amended to the full Committee without objection. A product of months of discussions by a centrist work group, the bill will be a significant step forward for Oregon in funding development of its water resources through projects that provide environmental, economic, and social benefits. SB 839 follows closely the adoption last year of the Integrated Water Resources Strategy, strongly supported by AOC.

 

SB 839 creates a process for awarding both loans and grants for a host of different project types, including new or expanded above-ground storage, water conservation, infrastructure and efficiency improvements, reuse, stream flow protection, and more. The bill directs development of a scoring and ranking system based on the degree to which the projects provide public benefits in all three categories of economic, social, and environmental.

 

SB 839 also directs rulemaking to develop a methodology to set seasonally varying flows (SVF) for a stretch of waterway to allow storage of high flows that is compatible with the biological, ecological, and physical needs of rivers, fish, and wildlife. The Water Resources Department (WRD) may pay the costs of establishing SVFs out of the development account to relieve the applicants of this burden. SVFs would only apply to a funded project, but if it performs well, the use of SVFs may be expanded by future legislation.

 

SB 839 also includes provisions to allow WRD to fund two important existing projects: reallocation of existing Willamette Basin stored water and the comprehensive Deschutes Basin plan.

 

AOC has joined a group of stakeholders urging passage of SB 839 that includes Oregon Business Association, Association of Nurseries, League of Oregon Cities, Oregon Water Resources Congress, Special Districts Association, and the Freshwater Trust.

 

The school based health centers bill (House Bill 2445) was passed by the Senate Monday, July 1. Some of the bills highlights include:

• Defines school based health centers (SBHCs) and creates a state authorized program;
• Establishes rule making procedures and certification process for the program;
• Appropriates an additional $4 million to strengthen existing SBHCs and for the expansion of centers and services;
• Creates a funding pool for SBHCs to more fully participate in health care reform with CCOs;
• Outlines a work group to develop recommendations for SBHCs to address efficient care coordination and reimbursement; and
• Expands services to include vaccine administration.

The House passed the amended House Bill 3367 that included extensions and a number of changes to various tax credits:

• Increases the Earned Income credit from six to eight percent.
• Sets income limits of $200,000 for a joint return or $100,000 for single returns for claiming the political tax credit of $100 for a joint return or $50 for a single return.
• Extends the Cultural Tax Credit to the year 2020.
• Includes the requirement of at least 20 hours per week serving Medicare patients in order to claim the Rural Medical Provider credit.
• Increases the Rural Emergency Medical Services Volunteer credit from $250 to $500.
• Extends the manufactured housing credits to the year 2020.
• Increases the research and development cap to $2 million.
• Increases the film and video credit cap from $6 million to $15 million and increases allowable per film expenses from $750,000 to $1,000,000.
• Allows the transit credit to be taken in one year instead of five.
• Prohibits biomass tax credits for canola grown in the Willamette Valley.
• Sunsets the workers compensation credit.
• Creates a new manufacturing tax credit economic development incentive in place of the manufacturing business energy tax credit (BETC). This change allows the incentive for other manufacturers, not just renewable energy manufacturers.  Imposes a cap of $50 million for a biennium.

If you are interested in public transportation in your county, consider being part of the newly reconstituted Public Transportation Advisory Committee (PTAC). The PTAC is a standing committee of the Oregon Transportation Commission. 

 

The PTAC has been asked to help set a new vision for public transportation in Oregon.  PTAC will articulate the opportunities that transportation options and public transportation solutions present for a successful, connected intermodal system. The PTAC will need active, engaged members to complete this work within the next eighteen months. Here's a link to more information about PTAC.

 

Please contact Ann Hanus with any questions or if you are interested in serving. 

 

Please feel free to submit your story ideas, announcements, recipes, photos and job changes to your Oregon Trails staff for inclusion in the next riveting edition.

 

See you next week - your Oregon Trails staff,

 

Laura Cleland & Eric Schmidt

Association of Oregon Counties

503-585-8351