Agenda Package - 01-18-11 - Laserfiche WebLink

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(AS • Intergovernmental Relations Legislative Proposals Priority Goals as Determined by NCACC Board of Directors 1. 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. • Explanation: Counties cannot afford to assume costs for maintaining secondary roads and /or funding expansion projects. The state Department of Transportation spent more than $500 million in 2008 -09 on resurfacing and expansion projects for secondary roads. Some of the more rural counties would have to increase property taxes by as much as 30 cents to generate the amount of revenue needed to maintain the same service. 2. 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 a proposed involuntary annexation in an area where public services — water and sewer and solid waste — are already in place; — 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; — Prohibiting 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. • Explanation: The state statutes governing annexation have not been modified in more than half a century. Several areas for improvement exist, including those listed above that impact counties or offer greater protection for citizens. 3. 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. • Explanation: Salaries and benefits for public sector employees remain strong in North Carolina because different jurisdictions are competing over the same highly skilled and specialized employees, such as police, firefighters, emergency medical personnel and public school teachers. Lifting the state's ban on collective bargaining would require every county in the state to negotiate for salaries and benefits with groups representing local teachers, firefighters, sheriff's deputies, EMS employees and others that are unionized. Collective bargaining for public employees would neither improve county government efficiency nor result in improved services to citizens. The likelihood is that collective bargaining would increase operational costs for county governments, would create an adversarial relationship between management and employees, and would create two classes of employees — those in unions and those not in unions. •