Voice for the future

Counties have a strong presence on Fiscal Modernization Study Commission

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There was some skepticism when the General Assembly, at the urging of NCACC Executive Director David F. Thompson and Director of Research and Public Technology Rebecca Troutman, authorized the State and Local Fiscal Modernization Study Commission as part of its study bill this past session. After all, the General Assembly authorizes many such studies every year, but only a few actually are undertaken due to fiscal and other restraints.

Due in large part to the Association’s continued urging this fall, beginning with a series of workshops at our 99th Annual Conference, the commission has been created, appointees have been named, and the first meeting date has been selected. The 30-member commission includes 10 appointees each from Speaker of the House Jim Black, Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight and Gov. Mike Easley.

As this issue of CountyLines went to press, all but the final two of Gov. Easley’s appointees had been named, and the commission featured a distinct county flavor. I was honored to be appointed to the commission by Speaker Black. Three other commissioners – NCACC Past President Kitty Barnes (Catawba County), Beth Ward (Pitt County) and Joe Carpenter (Gaston County) – as well as county managers Mike Ruffin (Durham County) and Linda T. Jones (Warren County), were appointed to the commission.

In addition, Rep. Becky Carney (Mecklenburg), a former member of the NCACC Board of Directors, and Rep. Jeff Barnhart (Cabarrus), a former Catawba County commissioner, were appointed House co-chairs. And Sen. Pete Brunstetter, a former Forsyth County commissioner, was one of the four senators appointed to the committee.

The commission is scheduled to hold its first meeting Nov. 28-29. We have been given seven charges, including one that will grab the attention of every county commissioner in the state: devising a solution to end the county Medicaid share.

Given the amount of attention that Medicaid relief continues to generate – it has been a major issue on the campaign trail this fall in numerous state House and Senate races – this commission will play a key role in devising a strategy to rid counties of this enormous burden. It will be nice to see so many familiar faces once we begin meeting later this month.

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Elected officials in North Carolina are blessed with a resource that many of our counterparts in other states do not enjoy – the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

This winter, the NCACC and the SOG will jointly develop what has become an incredibly important educational opportunity for county commissioners. “Leading and Governing: Essentials of County Government” is an intensive, three- or four-day course that provides an introduction to North Carolina county government for both experienced and newly elected commissioners.

This year’s edition will be held at four locations across the state beginning in December.

The program will provide an overview of county government fundamentals and the challenges that commissioners will face while in office. Presenters will lead discussions on: developing agendas to tackle challenges; transitioning from campaigning to governing; fulfilling the public responsibilities of a commissioner; and the key elements of county law, finance and administration.

If you’ve never attended one of these seminars, I strongly urge you to do so. And if you’ve already been, I strongly urge you to consider going again. Considering the complexities of governing a North Carolina county, you can’t get too much of a good thing.