2011-12 Legislative Goals

As adopted by membership during the Jan. 20-21 Legislative Goals Conference. Click here for a conference recap.

Jump to: Agriculture | Environment | Health and Human Services
Intergovernmental Relations | Justice and Public Safety | Public Education
Tax and Finance | Youth Issues

Priority Goals

1. Oppose shift of state transportation responsibilities to counties
2. Reinstate ADM and Lottery Funds for school construction
3. Ensure adequate mental health funding
4. Preserve the existing local revenue base
5. Authorize local revenue options

Agriculture

Support conservation of working lands and farmland preservation – Support legislation to promote and preserve working farmlands by including these lands in the state tourism plan, by retaining the current authority for the present use value system, by maintaining funding for the Ag Development and Farmland Preservation Trust, and by authorizing counties to implement transfer of development rights.

Fund agricultural research and extension services – Support legislation to increase ag research and extension services and maintain existing research stations at current levels.

Support Sustainable Local Food Advisory Council recommendations – Support legislation to implement the Sustainable Local Food Advisory Council's recommendations including a prohibition against municipal involuntary annexation or regulation of farm or forestry activities within a voluntary agricultural district or conservation district and support state funding to maintain and enhance the North Carolina Transition Network.

Maximize availability of adoptable animals – Seek legislation to increase adoption opportunities for county animal control facilities by clarifying ownership proof and increasing shelter director discretion.

Environment

Enhance river basin monitoring and streamline rule-making – Enhance monitoring for all river basins in North Carolina and review the rule-making process to enhance regional cooperation.

Streamline water supply reservoir permitting – Seek legislation to streamline local water supply reservoir permitting without sacrificing the scientific rigor of Environmental Impact Assessment and ensure adequate opportunities for public and local official comment.

Authorize county oversight of bio-solids disposal – Support legislation to authorize counties to regulate, but not prohibit, bio-solids application activities, including the acceptable "classes" of bio-solids for application and the prohibition of bio-solids application in certain environmentally sensitive areas.

Clarify yard waste facility runoff statutes – Seek legislation to clarify that runoff from yard waste staging areas at county landfills does not require wastewater treatment.

Create study commission on horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing and uranium mining – Seek legislation to create a Study Commission on horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing for shale gas deposits and uranium mining.

Health and Human Services

Ensure adequate mental health funding

• Seek legislation to ensure adequate capacity of state-funded acute psychiatric beds.
• Oppose legislation to close state-funded beds until there is adequate capacity statewide.
• Seek legislation to maintain the existing levels of state funding for community mental health services.

Retain state aid to counties – Seek legislation to retain the State Aid to Counties to maintain federal matching funds.

Allow county flexibility to organize local human services.

• Seek legislation to allow counties to organize human services based on community need, including the removal of the population threshold in 153A-77.
• Oppose legislation that would mandate consolidation of social services functions.

Maintain childcare subsidy funds and allocate to counties.

• Seek legislation to allocate all childcare subsidy funding directly to counties.
• Oppose legislation that would reduce childcare subsidy funding.

Maintain TANF funds to counties – Seek legislation to maintain existing levels of county TANF funding to support and fund county DSS programs.

Maintain childcare subsidy administration – Seek legislation to maintain the Child Care Subsidy Administration funding at 5 percent.

Increase state/county special assistance residency requirements – Seek legislation to increase the number of days to establish residency for Special Assistance from 90 to 180 days, except for persons who have entered the state to be supported by a close relative.

Require back-up generators for adult-care homes – Seek legislation to require all new adult-care homes to have back-up generators prior to receiving certificates of occupancy and require all existing adult-care homes to be equipped with back-up generators within three years.

Expedite NCFAST automation and policy simplification – Seek legislation to expedite the implementation of NC FAST and ensure automation builds on program and policy simplification and includes interface protocols.

Retain "electing" counties' financial incentives – Seek legislation to retain financial incentives for counties to be "electing" counties.

Intergovernmental Relations

Oppose shift of state transportation responsibilities to counties – Oppose legislation to shift the state's responsibility for funding transportation construction and maintenance projects to counties.

Modernize annexation laws – Seek legislation modernizing the annexation laws as follows:

• Requiring the development of joint utility service plans for urbanizing areas;
• Requiring cities to reimburse counties for the loss of sales tax due to an annexation;
• Increasing the degree of urbanization required to annex property;
• Allowing the Board of Commissioners to request a referendum on any proposed involuntary annexation;
• Requiring the direct provision of municipal water and sewer services to customers within three years of an annexation;
• Providing that counties have the option of continuing to provide utilities to annexed areas;
• Setting the effective date for involuntary annexations to be June 30 following the date of adoption or final resolution of an appeal;
• Prohibit municipalities from annexing across county boundaries without prior consent of the Board of Commissioners of the affected county. In an instance where a municipality has already annexed across county lines, further annexation cannot occur without consent of the affected county.

Oppose collective bargaining for public employees – Oppose legislation to authorize local governments to enter into collective bargaining agreements with public employees, or to mandate dues check-off programs.

Implement combined motor vehicle registration and property tax collection system – Seek legislation to ensure that the combined motor vehicle registration and property tax collection system is implemented within the statutory deadline.

Protect local control of ABC system – Seek legislation to protect local control of the local ABC system including all local revenue streams generated through local ABC store operations.

Authorize counties to offer broadband through partnership or direct service – Seek legislation to authorize counties to provide high-speed internet through direct county service or public-private partnerships.

Eliminate second primary and run-off elections – Seek legislation to eliminate second primary and run-off elections.

Authorize electronic notice of public hearings and other legal notices – Seek legislation to provide counties with options for notice of public hearings, notice of delinquent taxpayers, and other legal notices, through electronic means.

Repeal public employee personnel record changes – Repeal HB 961. Seek legislation that will better clarify issues regarding privacy of public employee personnel records and release of other public records.

Protect privacy of citizen email notification and distribution lists – Seek legislation to protect the privacy of email notification and distribution lists of citizens who have requested electronic communication with their local governments.

Modernize public records retention – Seek legislation to modernize public records retention to permit records storage in digital format.

Support Rural Transportation Planning Organizations (RPOs) – Support legislation to maintain the funding for rural transportation planning organizations (RPOs).

Reform workers' compensation – Support legislation to reform North Carolina's workers' compensation system to reduce disability findings and open-ended streams of payment, to address the trend in favor of long-term disability findings, to diminish control over these findings on the part of claimants and their legal representatives, and to curtail adoption of rules that limit return-to-work efforts.

Oppose contributory negligence tort reform – Oppose tort reform legislation that would overburden county budgetary constraints, unfairly shift fault to counties, or increase demand for court facilities.

Promote utilization of 911 centers by protecting confidentiality – Seek legislation to promote the reporting of criminal activity by protecting the confidentiality of callers by using either transcripts or voice-altered recordings to prevent recognition and to make appropriate amendments to public records laws.

Justice and Public Safety

Protect county jail system

• Seek legislation to protect the fiscal viability of the county jail system by reinstating the reimbursement rate for state inmates housed in county jails and increasing the reimbursement rate for state inmates awaiting post-trial prison transfer.
• Oppose legislation to increase time counties are mandated to house state misdemeanants.

Improve inmate medical care cost containment – Seek legislation that would authorize medical care providers to charge the state and counties no more than the rates set in the Medicaid or Medicare schedule of charges for inmate medical care.

Maintain funding for gang prevention and adolescent substance abuse prevention, intervention and treatment programs.

Allow court facility fee flexibility – Seek legislation to allow counties to collect additional fees to support specialty courts and help fund capital, operational and other needs associated with increasing demands on our judicial system.

Authorize inmate electronic monitoring cost reimbursement – Seek legislation to authorize counties to seek reimbursement from defendants for electronic monitoring, based on ability to pay.

Public Education

Reinstate ADM and lottery funds for school construction – Seek legislation to fully reinstate the Average Daily Membership funds and Lottery proceeds to the Public School Building Capital Fund.

Authorize county use of lottery funds for technology – Seek legislation to authorize counties to use lottery funds to address school technology needs.

Increase high school graduation rates – Support legislation that encourages students to complete their high school education by recognizing alternative graduation methods and by excluding from the definition of dropouts those youth enrolled in high school equivalency programs at community colleges.

Tax and Finance

Preserve the existing local revenue base.

Authorize local revenue options – Seek legislation to allow all counties to enact by resolution or, at the option of the Board of Commissioners, by voter referendum any or all revenue options from among those that have been authorized for any other county.

Recover costs through in rem foreclosure fee – Seek legislation to increase the reimbursement rate for in rem foreclosure collection efforts to recover actual costs, including legal expenses.

Set property tax relief application deadline at June 1 – Seek legislation to establish June 1 as the statutory deadline for exemption, deferment and other property tax relief applications.

Clarify centralized listing and assessing of cellular and cable companies – Seek legislation to implement the central listing and assessment of cellular and cable companies.

Clarify definition of charity eligible for property tax relief – Seek legislation to clarify the definition of charity and set a cap amount for hospitals, facilities financed through Medical Care Commission bonds, and continuing care facilities, and require that any property valuation exclusion formula provide for a higher test of charity.

Allow hospital authority access to setoff debt collection – Seek legislation to authorize hospital authorities to participate in the setoff debt collection program.

Require sales tax reported at zip+4 – Seek legislation to require that large vendors report sales tax by the 9-digit zip code.

Simplify register of deeds fees – Support legislation to require that all real estate recording fees charged by the Register of Deeds be set at appropriate flat rates, with a single rate paid to a single state agency, provided that implementation of this legislation not reduce any revenues to any county.

Standardize local vehicle fees – Seek legislation to require that all local vehicle fees be adopted at the time the tax rate is adopted and impose the fees on all registered and unregistered vehicles.

Allow solid waste authority access to setoff debt collection – Seek legislation to authorize solid waste authorities to participate in the setoff debt collection program.

Manufactured home taxes paid before transfer – Seek legislation to require that all taxes levied on manufactured homes be paid before the home may be moved, repossessed or sold on site.

Youth Issues

1. Teen pregnancy
Prevention, sex education and related health issues. It starts a chain reaction and teenagers face tough decisions.

2. Substance abuse
This includes illegal drugs, alcohol, tobacco and prescription drugs. Younger children are trying tobacco.

3. Dropouts
North Carolina's drop-out rate is at one-third; more dropout prevention programs are needed.

4. Violence
This includes bullying, gangs, crime and physical harm. Education is needed on safety issues, recognizing that "unsafe" actions impact others, such as friends and family.

5. Recreation
This includes community activities, intramural sports, funding for youth centers and other facilities and safe places, and unstructured activities. Re-evaluate current parks and recreation programs. Paying for sports can be expensive.

6. Socio-economics
Adults and teens need jobs; unemployment is getting worse. Poverty and hunger are problems, especially in small counties with low economic ratings; family income is below average. Other issues are identity theft, and family money management; many grandparents with low incomes are raising grandchildren.

7. Education issues/school funding
Schools need money to provide more classes and extracurricular activities. Young people need to prepare for and find money to help pay for college. Youths want to think their needs are recognized, and they want more opportunities at school.

8. Lack of youth voice in community
Youths need to have their voices included in political decisions; youths should take the initiative with governmental officials to have opportunities to express their opinions.

9. Health issues
Obesity, healthy lifestyles education, healthy food in school cafeterias, and chronic disease reduction are important to young people.

10. Lack of things to do
There should be more safe and effective activities for youth to participate in. There should be a partnership between youth development programs, with constructive and positive activities.