National Association of Counties * Washington, D.C.            Vol. 31, No. 5 * March 15, 1999

---

Previous story | Table of Contents | Next story

HUDSON COUNTY (N.J.) Executive Robert Janiszewski (l) is congratulated by Joseph Maraziti, Jr., state Planning Commission chairman. The commission recently held its meeting in the county Freeholders Chambers, approving the county’s Strategic Revitalization Plan and establishing the county as the state’s first Urban Complex. The commission’s endorsement entitles the county to greater priority to receive state funding, permit approvals and technical assistance. Copies of the plan may be obtained by calling 201/795-6060 or e-mailing smarks@hudsoncountynj.org.

ARIZONA

• Supervisors in MARICOPA COUNTY had a setback in court early this month when a judge rejected their claim for a portion of the state’s tobacco settlement. The judge ruled that counties made their claim too late, and that the issue could delay the settlement and perhaps unravel it. The county might appeal the decision.
  
  Counties in the state estimate they’ve picked up about 32 percent of the tab for treating tobacco-related illnesses and want to be reimbursed for those costs from the settlement.
  
  The Arizona Republic reports that state lawmakers are getting a little irked by the county’s suit.
  
  

ARKANSAS

• PULASKI COUNTY has lost a bid to get almost $900,000 from the Little Rock School District. The county had to pay that much to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in reimbursement for a summer meals program that didn’t quite live up to expectations.
  
  The county subcontracted the program to a nonprofit group, who in turn subcontracted it to the school district. Miscommunication somewhere in that chain resulted in a series of false reimbursement claims.
  
  The county has already settled up with the USDA.
  
  

CALIFORNIA

• A new city has sprung up in ORANGE COUNTY. It has 18,000 citizens who all live behind walls. Right out of the box the city will be confronting problems from an aging population. Laguna Woods used to be a retirement community and now it’s the only age-restricted city in the country.
  
  The community became a city by a slim margin in a vote in early March. The citizens of the community rallied together on the issues of keeping tax dollars in the city and keeping a proposed airport out of the county’s old El Toro military base.
  
  Ironically, the first stop for those who fought hard to make the community a city is the county’s Board of Supervisors. The new city’s leaders want the county to provide some interim revenue and law enforcement.
  
  
• Meanwhile, ORANGE COUNTY’s Board of Supervisors has awarded $400,000 to California State University at Fullerton to care for a large collection of prehistoric tools, beads and the fossilized bones of sloths and whales.
  
  Researchers are eager to get their hands on the fossils, some of which have lying in a county warehouse for 20 years. They’re hoping to discover a new animal species, the Orange County Register reports.
  
  After university researchers get a handle on everything in the warehouse, they’ll get some of the fossils ready for display around the area.
  
  

FLORIDA

• BROWARD COUNTY has approved a Joint Powers Agreement between the county and the Town of Davie. The agreement states the two governments will cooperate in the delivery of fire and rescue services. The move will save money by allowing the closest units to respond to an emergency.
  
  This is the first time the county has entered into such an agreement, but officials like the idea and are planning expanding this program to other communities.
  
  
• Scientific evidence is mounting that the Circle, a site MIAMI-DADE COUNTY is going to court to protect from developers, is about 2,000 years old. Researchers have tested two pieces of charcoal found at the site. More charcoal, bones and shells are next for testing. The theory is that the site was a temple from the Tequesta tribe.
  
  The county is in court trying to block development of the site and buy the land under eminent domain procedures.
  
  

NEW MEXICO

• The state Supreme Court was expected to rule soon on whether RIO ARRIBA COUNTY can keep the $150,000 it collects each year from traffic violations instead of sending it to the state. "We need the money," said Commissioner Moises Morales, Jr. "We have an 8,500-mile wide county. Our sheriff’s department needs new cars and equipment."
  
  The decision would affect the state’s 32 other counties. Kelly Orrick, executive director of the New Mexico Association of Counties, says the state’s laws allow cities to keep fines it collects, but not counties.
  
  

NEW YORK

• When you think of WESTCHESTER COUNTY, what comes to mind? If you conjured up images of palm trees and men in white linen suits puffing on cigars…well, you’re right. A mansion there is doubling as a Cuban presidential palace in a new Woody Allen flick called "Company Man."
  
  Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano says movies filmed in the area contribute about $3 million to the local economy each year.
  
  

UTAH

• SALT LAKE COUNTY officials and Gov. Mike Leavitt recently inked a deal to create a $50 million east-west light rail track that would run from the airport to the University of Utah. Two years of construction are expected.
  
  

VIRGINIA

• The state general assembly recently rejected a tactic that economic development officials in LOUDOUN and WARREN counties were using to help companies avoid payment on sales tax on construction materials, The Washington Post reported.
  
  The legislation outlaws arrangements in which local officials have agreed to act as tax-exempt buyers for companies that are constructing or expanding buildings.
  
  "I thought it was a pretty good economic development tool," Susan D. Rutherford, chairman of the Loudoun Development Authority, told the paper. "I feel real sad that our legislators would do something that would hurt the rest of the counties in Virginia. I think it definitely puts the economic development department at a disadvantage because Maryland is wooing businesses as fast as they can."
  
  

WASHINGTON

• KING COUNTY Sheriff Dave Reichert had to drop his idea to destroy confiscated guns. It was a solution he devised after he found out the county sells the firearms to gun dealers. He was forced to withdraw the proposal after finding out the state doesn’t allow counties to destroy weapons.
  
  
• USA Today recently devoted about half a page to a skirmish taking place in SKAMANIA COUNTY, where a couple has built a $300,000 home on a scenic site overlooking the Columbia River Gorge. The county gave its approval for the house, but a regional commission now says it wants the approval invalidated and the house moved, saying the house is "not visually subordinate to its landscape setting."
  
  The 4,000-square foot house overlooks 620-foot Multnomah Falls, Oregon’s highest waterfall and is down river from one of the country’s premier windsurfing spots. It’s about 30 miles east of Portland, in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.
  
  In a petition filed last month to set aside the regional commission’s order, the county defended its initial development order. It said the commission had a chance to object or appeal last year, before construction began, but didn’t. A ruling is expected in Superior Court this spring.
  
  "We’ve tried to mediate this with the [regional] commission and the [homeowners], but the commission seems more interested in making Skamania County look like fools," Brad Andersen, the county’s prosecuting attorney, told the paper.
  

(News From the Nation's Counties is compiled by Mary Ann Barton and Kevin Wilcox, senior staff writers.)