May 16, 2014, Number 16

.pdf Version: TML Legislative Update Number 16

Secretary of State Issues Post-Election Advisory Memos

The Texas Secretary of State's Elections Division is an important resource for city officials with election-related questions. The division has recently released a number of new advisory memos relating to, among other things, post-election procedures and recount requests...

Retirement Benefits for Volunteer Fire Departments: Proposed Increase in Local Contributions

The Board of Trustees of the Texas Emergency Retirement System has proposed an amendment to the rules concerning local contributions that could result in city cost increases of up to 15 percent. The proposed amendment was published in the May 9, 2014, Texas Register, and is available here...

Trying to Figure Out Whether Your City is in Compliance with the Texas Local Government Records Act?

Check out this recent four-part post on the Texas State Library and Archives Commission's blog or this legal Q&A prepared by League staff...

Payday Lending Clearinghouse Updates

The League's "Payday Lending Clearinghouse" webpage, available at www.tml.org/payday-updates, includes information related to the regulation of payday and auto title lenders. It is updated from time-to-time to reflect recent developments...

TML Makes Budgeting Less Taxing

The Budget, Tax Rate and Audit Workshop is designed for city officials who have a role in developing and/or implementing the city budget. This one-day workshop will cover:

Legal requirements for the budget and audit
Your role in the budget and tax-rate setting process
Forecasting municipal revenue
Top ten issues discovered by the audit
Preparing and reading the financial statement

All workshop participants will receive a complimentary copy of the 2014 TML Revenue Manual for Texas Cities.

June 6, Conroe, 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Learn more and register.

Municipal Law 101: Stay on the Right Side of the Law
Thousands of statutes govern the operation of your city, and in some cases, criminal penalties apply to those who break them. Why do you need to know about municipal law? So you can spot the issues that need legal review, and stay on the right side of the law.

Learn about the key laws that affect Texas cities at the TML Municipal Law 101 Workshop in Austin on May 29-30. Our experts will provide an overview of the statutes and laws you need to know about - the Public Information Act, liability, election law, land use, annexation, and more.

Course details and registration.

Join YouthNet Listserv

When you register for YouthNet, you are connecting to a community of city officials who are engaging their city's most critical resource-youth. Join YouthNet today to collaborate on youth-focused city initiatives, projects, and issues. The listserv is a complimentary service open to all TML member city officials.

Join the YouthNet Listserv.

Let's Stay Connected
Does your city have a newly elected official, or do you need to update an email address? Now is the time to review the information we have listed for your city. Staying connected to you is our number one priority, and updating your information is simple-just visit www.tml.org/directoryupdate.

May 16 - 17	Region 12 South Padre Island
Jun 13	Region 4 Alpine
Jun 19	Region 3 Lubbock
Jun 19	Region 5 Lakeside City
Jul 17	Region 2 Amarillo
Aug 8	Region 13 Mesquite
Sep 3	Region 15 Longview
Sep 23	Region 3 Lubbock
Sep 30	Region 7 Houston

May 29-30	Municipal Law 101: What Every Elected Official Should Know Austin
Jun 6	Budget, Tax Rate, and Audit Workshop Conroe
Jun 18-20	Texas City Attorneys Association Summer Conference South Padre Island
Jun 18-20	Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers Annual Conference Richardson
Jun 19-20	TML Leadership Academy: Course 1 - Personal Leadership and Effectiveness Austin
Jun 26-27	Public Funds Investment Act Workshop Austin
Jun 26-29	Texas City Management Association Annual Conference Galveston
Jul 10	Best Practices for Working with the Media Webinar
Jul 11	TML Small Cities' Problem-Solving Clinic Laguna Vista
Jul 17-18	TML Leadership Academy: Course 2 - Citizen Engagement and Collaboration Austin
Jul 24-25	TML Newly Elected City Officials' Orientation Bastrop
Jul 31- Aug 1	Public Funds Investment Act Workshop Dallas
Aug 7-8	Ethics for Public Officials: Laws, Liability, and Learning to Govern Ethically Austin
Aug 15-16	TML Newly Elected City Officials' Orientation Las Colinas
Aug 21-22	TML Leadership Academy: Course 3 - Leading into the Future Austin
Aug 29	TML Small Cities' Problem-Solving Clinic Littlefield
Sep 30 - Oct 3	TML Annual Conference and Exhibition Houston

If you do not wish to receive the TML Exchange, please reply with the words NO TML EXCHANGE on the subject line, or email tmladmin@tml.org with NO TML EXCHANGE on the subject line.

Texas Municipal League
1821 Rutherford Lane, Suite 400
Austin, Texas 78754
Phone: 512-231-7400
Fax: 512-231-7495