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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda 6-a - Orange County’s Recommendations Regarding Goals for Inclusion in the NCACC 2019-2020 Legislative Goals Package 1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: September 20, 2018 Action Agenda Item No. 6-a SUBJECT: Orange County's Recommendations Regarding Goals for Inclusion in the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners' (NCACC) 2019-2020 Legislative Goals Package DEPARTMENT: County Commissioners County Manager ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Commissioner Mark Dorosin, 245-2130 1) Draft Resolution — Recommendations Commissioner Penny Rich, 245-2130 Regarding Goals for Inclusion in the Bonnie Hammersley, County Manager, North Carolina Association of County 245-2300 Commissioners' (NCACC) 2019-2020 John Roberts, County Attorney, 245- Legislative Goals Package 2318 Greg Wilder, Manager's Office, 245- UNDER SEPARATE COVER 2314 2) North Carolina Association of County Commissioners' (NCACC) 2017-18 Legislative Goals (Only available electronically at: http://www.ncacc.org/620/2017-18- Legislative-Goals PURPOSE: To consider and approve a Resolution Detailing Orange County's Recommendations Regarding Goals for Inclusion in the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners' (NCACC) 2019-2020 Legislative Goals Package. BACKGROUND: Every two years, the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) organizes a process to develop a legislative goals package. The purpose of the package is to develop a consensus of broad support on legislative goals and issues for matters affecting North Carolina counties that may be addressed by the North Carolina General Assembly during the next two calendar years. The goals and issues included in the package, with their broad support, guide and strengthen NCACC representatives and staff as they converse with individual legislators and committees on legislative matters. NCACC began the process to develop its 2019-2020 Legislative Goals Package in July 2018. North Carolina counties have been asked to submit proposed legislative goals for consideration for inclusion in the package by a September 21, 2018 submittal deadline. The County's Legislative Issues Work Group (LIWG), including Commissioners Mark Dorosin and Penny Rich, County Attorney John Roberts, and County Manager's Office staff, has recently met. The LIWG developed a draft resolution for Board consideration that outlines 2 several proposed legislative goals for inclusion in NCACC's 2019-2020 package. The LIWG's draft resolution is provided at Attachment 1. The content of the draft resolution substantially duplicates Orange County's 2018 Resolution Regarding Legislative Matters (Statewide Matters). That Resolution was approved by the Board on June 5, 2018 and presented to Orange County's Legislative Delegation for the 2018 General Assembly Session. The Board will likely want to discuss the draft resolution and possibly add to, delete from, and/or revise the language of the proposed goals included in the draft. A copy of NCACC's 2017-18 Legislative Goals document (Attachment 2) is noted for reference purposes and is only available electronically at http://www.ncacc.org/620/2017-18-Legislative- Goals. These goals for the previous biennium may provide some insight on potential goals to propose to NCACC for 2019-2020. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with consideration and approval of a Resolution Detailing Orange County's Recommendations Regarding Goals for Inclusion in the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners' (NCACC) 2019-2020 Legislative Goals Package. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends the Board: 1) Discuss potential goals for the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners' (NCACC) 2019-2020 Legislative Goals Package; 2) Discuss and consider the LIWG's draft Resolution Detailing Orange County's Recommendations Regarding Goals for Inclusion in the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners' (NCACC) 2019-2020 Legislative Goals Package (Attachment 1); 3) Add to, delete from, and/or revise the language of the proposed goals included in the draft resolution; 4) Approve and authorize the Chair to sign the resolution as presented or amended; and 5) Direct the Clerk to the Board to forward the approved resolution and any other related materials to NCACC by the September 21, 2018 deadline. 3 RES-2018-059 DRAFT Attachment 1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Resolution Detailing Orange County's Recommendations Regarding Goals for Inclusion in the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners' (NCACC) 2019-2020 Legislative Goals Package WHEREAS, the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) organizes a process every two years to adopt a legislative goals package representing the collective interests of North Carolina counties; and WHEREAS, the purpose of the process is to develop broad support for matters affecting counties that may be addressed by the North Carolina General Assembly during the upcoming legislative biennium; and WHEREAS, the goals and issues included in the NCACC package guide and strengthen NCACC representatives and staff as they converse with individual legislators and committees on legislative matters; and WHEREAS, NCACC has begun the process to develop its 2019-2020 Legislative Goals Package and requested Orange County and all other North Carolina counties to submit proposed legislative goals by September 21, 2018 for consideration for inclusion in the 2019-2020 Legislative Goals Package; and WHEREAS, Orange County believes there are many issues of importance to all North Carolina counties that should be included as goals in NCACC's 2019-2020 Legislative Goals Package; NOW THEREFORE we, the Orange County Board of Commissioners, do hereby recommend that NCACC include the following goals in the NCACC 2019-2020 Legislative Goals Package: 1) Smart Start and NC Pre-K — Support legislation to increase and ensure secure and stable funding, enhanced quality early care and education, and family access and benefits in settings public and private; 2) Child Care - Seek legislation to reverse changes made to the childcare subsidy program available to working families, including establishing eligibility for all children at 200% of the federal poverty level, to help many working parents who are trying to become more financial self-sufficient, and to prorate fees for children attending based on the hours attended; 4 3) Expansion of Medicaid Program — Support legislation to increase access to the Medicaid program to make health insurance available to approximately 500,000 more North Carolina residents and as additional support for rural hospitals; 4) Mental Health — Seek legislation to ensure that adequate State- funded mental health, developmental disability, and substance abuse services and facilities are available at the local level, accessible and affordable to all residents and that sufficient state resources fund service provision costs inclusive of sufficient crisis intervention and treatment, and to structure appropriate county participation in governance; 5) People with Mental Health Issues in County Jails — Support legislation to develop and fund a plan to reduce the number of people with mental health issues in county jails (See EXHIBIT A Regarding the National Association of Counties (NACo) Stepping Up Initiative); 6) County Jail System/Housing State Inmates Reimbursement — Support legislation to protect the fiscal viability of the county jail system by reinstating reimbursement for state inmates housed in county jails sentenced to 90 days or less; 7) Minimum Wage Increase — Support legislation to raise the minimum wage for all, not just employees of the State of North Carolina, to enhance people's economic security, improve access to safe and secure housing, boost the economy with increased spending, decrease dependence on government assistance programs, and improve the lives of families; 8) Machinery Act — Support local governments' need for more flexibility to remedy measurement and/or condition property appraisal errors related to local property tax functions. North Carolina property tax law substantially limits the ability of local governments to address property tax discrepancies, such as prohibiting the refund of prior years' taxes paid after a measurement and/or condition property appraisal error is discovered. Just as local governments can recoup prior years' property taxes from owners for "discoveries", local governments should likewise be authorized to refund prior years' taxes paid when situations such as measurement and/or condition property appraisal errors are discovered; 9) Homestead Exemption — Support revisions to the Homestead Exemption provisions of the Machinery Act to: a) provide greater opportunities for low-income seniors to remain in their homes and not be displaced due to property 5 tax burdens by approving a one-time ten percent (10%) increase in the base income qualification standard; and maintaining the current provisions which increase the income qualification standard each year based on any cost- of-living adjustment made to the benefits under Titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act for the preceding calendar year; and b) diminish the discriminatory features of the current exemption provisions relating to married couples by establishing graduated income qualification standards for single individuals versus married couples; 10)Sales Tax Distribution Formula — Support legislation directing that all sales tax be distributed on a per capita basis as it is fair and more equitable for counties with less economic development as compared to the point of delivery basis. The UNC School of Government has indicated that a per capita basis tax "would indeed be a more even distribution of LOST revenue across the state"; 11)Maintain Local Government Authority over Solid Waste Management — Oppose any shift of solid waste management and recycling services away from local governments; 12)Electronics Recycling — Support legislation to provide additional funding to local governments for electronics recycling to cover significant increased costs for recycling these materials and to oppose the lifting of restrictions on disposal of electronics in landfills; 13)Re-instatement of Earned Income Tax Credit — Support legislation to re-instate the State Earned Income Tax Credit which greatly benefitted low wage earners until its elimination after the 2013 tax year; 14)Voter Registration and Voting — Support legislation to restore straight party ticket voting and provide public financing of judicial elections and eliminate any requirements for photograph identification; 15)Abolish State Death Penalty — Support legislation to abolish the State of North Carolina's death penalty; 16)Priority School Issues — Support legislation to address the following issues related to schools: a) Provide local school systems with calendar flexibility; b) Provide full funding for State allotments including Average Daily Membership (ADM) growth, and support legislation to 6 provide for an overall increase in funding based on average daily memberships outside of the current formula system; c) Impose class size reductions commensurate with State funding for staffing; and d) Maintain full funding for Driver Education; 17)Fulfillment of Constitutional Duties — Oppose any legislation, that seeks to exempt any government employee or agent from fulfilling his/her constitutional duties, including but not limited to guaranteeing the right to marry for same-sex residents of North Carolina; 18)Oppose any shift of state transportation responsibilities to counties — Oppose legislation to shift the state's responsibility for funding transportation construction and maintenance projects to counties. Counties cannot afford to assume costs for maintaining secondary roads and/or funding expansion projects; 19)Broadband/Digital Infrastructure — Support legislation, funding, and other efforts that provide counties with flexibility and opportunities to support options for increasing access to high- speed internet connectivity and expanding digital infrastructure/broadband capability to the un-served and under- served areas of the state. Access to high speed internet connections will reduce disparities, enhance quality of life for all the State's residents, and broaden opportunities in areas such as education, jobs creation, small business development, health care, civic participation, and growth in farm enterprises; 20)Expansion of Protected Classes — Seek statewide legislative action to provide all North Carolina local governments with the authority to include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes in order to protect these classes from discrimination and discriminatory practices; and authorize complaints for discrimination to be brought in North Carolina Courts by any Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recognized protected class; 21)Eminent Domain — Oppose adding language to a constitutional amendment on eminent domain that extends any further preemption of county authority to regulate the placement of telecommunication towers; 22)Fees-In-Lieu — NCDOT as Additional Recipient — Support legislation amending North Carolina General Statute 153A-331 to add a provision allowing counties to transfer fees collected as part of subdivision development, and in lieu of required street construction, to be transferred to and held by the North Carolina 7 Department of Transportation (NCDOT) for the future construction of roads intended to be added to the State Maintained system. Presently there is no mechanism where a county can collect fees in lieu of transportation improvement construction based on conditions agreed to by both parties during a conditional zoning process. These fees may be for a developer fair share of a future comprehensive intersection improvement but would not be built by NCDOT until other funding could be assigned to do a complete improvement; 23)Bona Fide Farm Use — Support legislation clarifying that the farm use and agriculture exemption of 153A-340 that restricts local zoning authority applies only to property on which the production of crops or livestock is the primary use. Clarify that marketing and agri-tourism activities must be secondary uses of the property and do not qualify for the exemption in the absence of the production of crops or livestock; 24)Revenue Options for Local Government — Support efforts to preserve and expand the existing local revenue base of counties and authorize local option revenue sources already given to any other jurisdiction to all counties. Oppose efforts to divert to the state fees or taxes currently allocated to the counties or to erode existing county revenue streams; 25)E-911 Funds — Support protection and broader applications of the NC 9-1-1 Fund to be used primarily for assuring that 9-1-1 systems are able to upgrade existing performance levels in order to pay for 9-1-1 operations or 9-1-1 related upgrades such as the infrastructure needed to migrate to next-generation (NG911) technology. Orange County has appreciated past efforts and supports future initiatives to assure our citizens are provided continued access to emergency services from all sources; 26)Solar Energy — Support renewable energy initiatives available to residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural activities to create a market for energy credits. This support will provide incentives to produce renewable energy, which will become increasingly important to preserving and strengthening the economy and infrastructure, and in the case of agriculture help maintain rural heritage and culture; 27)Land, Water and Agricultural Preservation Funding — Support Park, Agricultural Preservation, Clean Water Management and other existing trust funds established for the protection of the State's land, water, biological resources, agriculture, and special places before they are irreversibly lost, and request that these 8 funds receive additional funding, preferably through dedicated funding sources; 28)Agriculture — Support Conservation of Working Lands and Farmland Preservation — Support a revision to the revenue and acreage requirements of the Use Value Program to reduce acreage requirements, balanced by increasing the income threshold; 29)Aguatic Vegetation Control — Support legislation to provide for and fund a comprehensive statewide approach to noxious aquatic vegetation control in public water reservoirs; 30)Concealed Weapons in Parks —Seek legislation re-authorizing counties to fully regulate the carrying of concealed weapons on county-owned playgrounds and in county-owned parklands and authorize counties to prohibit the carrying of concealed weapons on county and county funded college/university campuses, in addition to playgrounds; 31)Opioid Epidemic Efforts — Support adequate funding for programs to provide and expand access for individuals with opioid use disorder to seek and complete treatment, and sustain recovery, as well as increased funding to collect data regarding opioid overdoses and to provide for additional law enforcement to investigate and enforce drug laws; 32)Agricultural Economic Development — Support state funding and staffing for agricultural research, Cooperative Extension services and other agriculture-related efforts to support the largest economic driver in North Carolina; 33)Transportation Funding — Support increased state funding for transportation construction and maintenance needs, and support legislation to ensure that the STI funding formula recognizes that one size does not fit all and that projects in both rural and urban areas are prioritized and funded, and eliminate the cap on light rail funding; 34)Behavioral Health Services — Support increased state funding for behavioral health services and facilities at the state and local level, including dedicated resources for community paramedicine projects. Support Medicaid reimbursement to EMS for behavioral health transport to crisis centers and structure appropriate county participation in behavioral health program governance; 35)Adult Protective Services — Support increased funding and legislation to strengthen adult protective services; 9 36)Court Funding — Support increased state funding for NC courts, including reinstating funding for drug treatment court; 37)Crime Intervention Services — Support legislation and state funding to provide early intervention services through the Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils, and support increased state funding for the prevention, intervention and treatment of adolescent substance abuse, gang involvement and domestic violence; 38)State/County Partnership for Education — Seek legislation to establish a new state-county partnership to address statewide public school capital challenges--including but not limited to maintenance, renovation, construction and debt--through a dedicated, stable funding stream that is consistent from county to county and sufficient to meet the school facility needs of all 100 counties; 39)Economic Development Efforts — Support legislation to grow North Carolina's statewide economy through sound state investments, including public infrastructure funding, competitive incentives, and coordinated efforts with county economic development services; and 40)Exemption to 180 Day Temporary Electricity Connection Limit for Recreational Vehicles in a Campground or Other Similar Park — Support legislation to provide an exemption to the current 180 day temporary utility connection limit as contained within the building code for individuals utilizing campers and/or recreational vehicles as temporary housing units while supporting/visiting family members undergoing treatment in local hospitals; 41)School Impact Fee Authority — Support legislation authorizing all North Carolina local government jurisdictions providing funding for public education to levy impact fees on new residential development to help pay for school construction. The North Carolina General Assembly approved legislation in the 1980's for some jurisdictions to levy these impact fees to support public school infrastructure. The authority to levy the fee to support school facility needs should be available to all local government jurisdictions providing funding for public education; 42)Support of 3DaysCountTM — Support legislation to develop and fund a plan to implement 3DaysCountTM to help reduce unnecessary arrests by expanding the use of citations or summons, replace money bail with non-financial, least restrictive conditions, restrict detention to the small number of people for whom no condition or combination of conditions can reasonably 10 assure appearance in court and public safety, and reduce disparity within the pretrial justice system (See EXHIBIT B — Resolution Supporting 3DaysCountTM); 43)Dangerous Dogs Determinations — Support legislation to change current law so that dogs from dog fighting investigations and seizures are not automatically deemed dangerous without further determination that the dogs alleged to have been owned or harbored for fighting demonstrate an increased potential for unprovoked attacks on persons or domestic animals, in order to alleviate the requirement to destroy these animals "sight unseen". Additionally, clarify at what point in the legal process a dog is "owned or harbored...for fighting," be it upon seizure, arrest, indictment, or conviction; 44)Legislative Leadership Term Limit — Support legislation that limits the length of time a North Carolina General Assembly member can serve in the same leadership position to eight consecutive years; 45)Non-Partisan Redistricting Process for Elections — Support legislation to establish a process for an independent, non-partisan redistricting process after each United States Census for the election of representatives from North Carolina to the United States House of Representatives, the North Carolina House, and the North Carolina Senate; 46)Bail Reform — Support legislation to reform the current bail system to allow a defendant's ability to pay to be considered by a judge when bail is set. Currently, indigent or poor people charged with crimes are often unable to get out of jail prior to trial because of their inability to pay; This the 20th day of September 2018. Mark Dorosin, Chair Orange County Board of Commissioners