General Assembly Update

We receive updates from Tennessee County Services Association weekly in the form of the “TCSA – Capitol Update.”

It is an update on bills being considered in the General Assembly with an eye towards bills that affect county government.

Since education has been such a big part of the discussion here in Robertson County, this week’s “Capitol Update” caught my eye:

Charter schools: The Administration’s charter schools bill, SB1523/HB1989 (Norris, McCormick), has now been set for May 17 in Senate Finance and May 18 in House Finance Subcommittee after being tied up for weeks in those committees because of the bill’s fiscal impact on local governments. As amended, the bill removes the cap on the number of charter schools operating in the state and opens enrollment in those schools, among other reforms.

As students leave the general public school system and enroll in a charter school, their state/local funding goes to the new facility. The general public school system is then left with continuing overhead costs such as debt service, utilities, and staffing mandates. Having fewer students does not necessarily mean less mandated costs for the public school system.

County associations remain concerned about this potential fiscal impact on local governments that operate traditional public schools. You should contact your legislators and let them know that the fiscal impact should be addressed so local governments are not further handicapped in meeting their mandated funding  requirements for K-12 public education.

Capital outlay for schools:  SB1916/HB1132 (Woodson, H. Brooks) has been deferred until 2012 in Senate Education and House Finance Subcommittee. The bill would have allowed school boards to enter into capital leases and build-to-suit capital leases for the renovation of school buildings and facilities. The bill included provisions that require the county legislative body to approve such agreements.

County Government Day

I just wanted to pass along a note on ‘County Government Day’ in the General Assembly. Here is a little information for those interested (from the TCSA):

An estimated 500 delegates have already registered to attend this year’s COAT-TCSA County Government Day on April 19-20 at the Nashville Sheraton Downtown.

The annual meeting provides members of both the County Officials Association of Tennessee (COAT) and the Tennessee County Services Association (TCSA) and their affiliate organizations an opportunity to gather to hear from legislators and others about pending legislation affecting county governments statewide. With board and membership meetings for all the associations and their partner organizations, County Government Day will include a breakfast to honor members of the 107th General Assembly as well as a training opportunity on the pressing issue of business/industrial retention and expansion. Tuesday, April 19, is primarily a day for board and membership meetings. In the evening, no conference events are planned. However, delegates are urged to contact their senators and representatives to set up meetings. A tentative agenda is on Page 8 of this issue of Tennessee County News. Then on Wednesday, April 20, the day kicks off with an annual breakfast honoring members of the legislature. Keynote speakers, invited to the conference, include Gov. Bill Haslam, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and House Speaker Beth Harwell.

The University of Tennessee County Technical Assistance Service will deliver a two-hour workshop entitled “Business Retention and Expansion” from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. Attendees, who must be registered delegates to the COAT-TCSA conference, will receive two hours of credit through the County Officials Certificate Training Program. Those county officials wanting to attend the conference should register through the two-step process.

RC: Should WE Have a Debt Management Plan?

I came across a timely article in the Tennessee County Services Association publication COUNTY NEWS: “Debt Management Plan Available For Use By Tennessee Local Governments”

I find this article most interesting in our ongoing conversation as relates to tax increases, re-structuring our debt…and, well, it stops right there because there has not been a conversation (that I have formerly seen by the Budget Committee, or otherwise) about the budget. Now, I know that it is not the “time” to discuss the budget per our calendar. I just stand in awe at how government processes work where we are told that a tax increase is coming this year without taking a look at the management of what we spend.

And (for now), that will be all of my discussion of where we are in this discussion.

Here is where you can find the article. Here is what I find interesting:

Local governments in Tennessee now have a debt management policy model they can mirror as they borrow money in the future.

The next time any of you see your commissioner: ask them what your Robertson County policy is….

Here is a discussion of what that model policy stands for:

The model policy urges Tennessee governments to follow four guiding principles while developing their own policies:

1) Debt transactions should be clearly understood by the decision-makers

2) Citizens should be able to get clear explanations about transactions

3) Steps should be taken to avoid conflicts of interest among the parties involved in transactions

4) Costs and risks associated with transactions should be clearly disclosed

The model policy contains some minimum requirements for governments.

I have tried to share the word about the massive re-structuring of debt the RCC is considering at this time. Per example in Robertson County, let’s look at an example provided within the article:

For example, deferral of debt payments is only allowed if specific justification is provided – and no payments of principal or interest may be extended beyond the useful life of any asset financed through debt.

Can you answer those questions as applied to us?

Now, I ask you, should we have a Debt Management Plan?