FOOD FOR THOUGHT

It’s not often there’s anything approaching unanimous agreement on substantive legislation, given the sharp ideological differences lawmakers often bring with them to Raleigh. So it’s worth noting that all but one of the 120 members of the N.C. House has signed on to a bill granting significant Medicaid cost relief to all 100 counties – and extra help to low-wealth counties. The non-signer is the House speaker, who normally doesn’t sponsor bills. It’s an overdue approach to help counties pay the fast-increasing cost of healthcare for those who can’t afford it. – The Charlotte Observer editorial, April 17

DON'T REST ON YOUR LAURELS – WE HAVE THE BILL, NOW WE NEED THE MONEY!

The House is working feverishly to complete its budget proposal by May 4. What this means to counties is that we must have a $100 million appropriation to implement H1424, the permanent cap on county Medicaid costs with targeted relief to those counties hardest hit by Medicaid. Every House member save the Speaker signed on to this legislation last week when it was introduced. The Speaker does not typically sign bills.

In anticipation of a full court press on County Assembly Day, which will be held May 2 in Raleigh, county commissioners are urged to call and talk with their House delegation to gain their personal commitment that these monies will be made available in the budget. House members deserve our hearty thanks for their support of H1424. Now we need their support of a budget appropriation to implement county Medicaid relief. We’re glad that this request is occurring in a favorable economic climate – the state anticipates more than $800 million in revenue over-collections for this fiscal year to be available in next year’s budget.

BILL FILED TO GIVE SCHOOL BOARDS TAXING AUTHORITY, IF WE AGREE

Counties would have the option of granting taxing authority to local school boards under a bill filed this week. H1740, School Board Fiscal Accountability Act, would enable school boards that are elected rather than appointed to levy taxes for the support of public schools provided that the school board and the board of county commissioners each pass resolutions authorizing the school board to levy taxes. If a county school board were to be given this authority, it would become a unit of local government under G.S.159-7(b)(15). The act would take effect for the fiscal year 2008-09.

A local board of education that has been given this authority would “have the same authority as a board of county commissioners has for purposes of public education to levy and collect taxes on property having situs within the local school administrative unit.” The bill, filed by Rep. Rick Glazier (Cumberland), would abolish any supplemental taxes for public schools in school units that are granted the authorization to collect and levy taxes. The bill would also require counties to share a portion of their sales taxes with the school boards based on the ad valorem method in G.S. 105-472(b)(2). The municipal share of local sales taxes would not be affected. In other words, the county would still divide the total sales taxes with the cities, and then would divide the remainder with the school board based on the ad valorem method.