County News - News From the Nation's Counties

National Association of Counties * Washington, D.C. Vol. 31, No. 16 * August 23, 1999

CALIFORNIA

KERN COUNTY officials are keeping their eyes on a bill about a proposed bond issue that would raise $1.5 billion for water, sewage and flood control projects in the state. Officials believe the matter will be decided in the closing moments of the current legislative session.
About $300 million of the bond would go to improvements to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which supplies vital water to Kern County’s farmers.
Whether the issue comes before voters in the spring might hinge on whether proponents of more storage reservoirs for the state will be happy with $10 million to study the issue, or if they will insist on more.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY has banned the sale of guns at the Great Western Gun Show, which has been held four times a year at the county-owned Pomona fairgrounds for 30 years.
In the wake of a shooting rampage at a Jewish community center, the Board of Supervisors voted to stop the sale of guns at the show. The guns can still be exhibited there.
Gun show organizers say the ban of sales will end the show and have threatened legal action over the Board’s action, The Los Angeles Times reports.

FLORIDA

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY Mayor Alex Penelas pitched in when a community AIDS program stuffed 500 backpacks with school supplies for local children who either have HIV/AIDS or are affected by the disease.
The county has the second highest pediatric AIDS rate in the nation. The program is designed to help not only the children and their families financially, but also to give the children a boost of confidence and self-esteem.
The backpacks should send the kids back to school ready for anything. They included calculators, paper, compasses, organizers, paint sets, pencils, glue, scissors and erasers.

GEORGIA

From the “If You Want It Done Right” Department… When LOWNDES COUNTY looked at upgrades needed to be Y2K compliant, officials realized the job called for a fiber optic cable to link the E-911 equipment to the sheriff’s department.
Who did they turn to? County employees. The county engineer surveyed the best route; public works personnel dug the trench and laid the pipe; facility maintenance ran the cable; and finally, ITS personnel tested the circuits.
This do-it-yourself approach saved taxpayers $10,000 and the county has a state-of-the-art, Y2K-compliant system that can accommodate significant growth.

IOWA

POLK COUNTY officials have a smile of satisfaction on their faces. Their Y2K efforts, which began in October 1998, are beginning to bear fruit.
The treasurer’s office just completed tax certification, a process that sets property taxes for the upcoming year. The office’s computers handled 2000 without a hitch.
“The resources that have gone towards working on the Y2K issue have been well-placed,” said County Manager Teree Caldwell-Johnson. “The completion of the tax certification process shows that the public’s tax moneys will be in good hands when January 1 arrives and will not be threatened by computer problems.”

MARYLAND

MONTGOMERY and PRINCE GEORGE’S counties were among dozens of government and business organizations in the Washington, D.C. region to conduct on Sept. 1 an enormous coordinated Y2K readiness test.
The exercises were designed to simulate the transition from 9 p.m. Dec. 31, 1999 to 3 a.m. Jan. 1, 2000. The tests came off without a hitch.
Although Montgomery County did a rollover test of an advanced transportation system, the main goal was to test contingency plans and communication and cooperation among the cities, counties and utilities in the region that will be responding to both Y2K and non-Y2K emergencies.

MISSOURI

The MISSOURI ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES is happy about HB 516, which gives state residents a $200 million tax break, but more importantly tells state officials that county money is “non-state” funds.
This will help keep counties’ share of vehicle sales tax and licenses and fees out of the state treasury. Last June the Department of Revenue withheld some county money and MAC filed a lawsuit.
MAC lost the first round of the court battle but has appealed to the state Supreme Court. In the meantime, MAC went to the state Capitol to solve the problem. HB 516 is the result.

OREGON

CLACKAMAS COUNTY voters will give a thumbs up or thumbs down on a new tax in December that would raise $35 million over four years to help pay for law enforcement.
Commissioners recently approved the ballot proposal, submitted by the sheriff, district attorney, Juvenile Department director and Community Corrections director.
The proposed tax rate is $0.41 per thousand dollar values. The county now collects property taxes for law enforcement at two rates, lower for cities ($2.4042 per thousand dollar values) providing law enforcement and higher in areas relying on county sheriff’s patrol ($2.9766 per thousand dollar values).
Passage of the law enforcement levy requires a “double majority” — more than 50 percent of registered voters must vote and at least 50 percent must vote to pass the levy.

SOUTH DAKOTA

Are you ready for your close-up? The LINCOLN COUNTY Commission voted to buy video equipment so county suspects housed in the MINNEHAHA COUNTY Jail can be arraigned without the expense of a 60-mile roundtrip, USA Today recently reported. A camera and TV monitor in the Lincoln County courtroom will be linked to a system in the jail in Minnehaha County. Lincoln County has no jail.

WASHINGTON

KING COUNTY is mulling over whether to add the likeness of Martin Luther King Jr. to its official symbol.
County Councilman Larry Gossett has introduced a measure that would incorporate the civil rights leader’s image in the official logo, which currently features a crown.
The county was originally named for William Rufus DeVane King, a slave owner who was elected vice president in 1852. In 1986, the county was renamed after the civil rights leader.
Past attempts to change the county logo were scuttled by money concerns, since the image would have to be changed on everything from stationery to sheriff’s cars.

WISCONSIN

• According to the 1997 Wisconsin Family Health Survey, an estimated 26,000 county residents had no health insurance for all or part of a 12-month period during 1995–97.
DANE COUNTY Executive Kathleen Falk hopes to do something about those numbers. She recently hosted the county’s first health care summit to address the needs of the uninsured and underinsured.
“I called this summit to begin a dialogue to take the first steps toward developing a community plan that meets the needs of the uninsured and underinsured in Dane County,” Falk said.
The summit included participation by leaders from non-profits, business, news media and government.

(News From the Nation's Counties is compiled by Mary Ann Barton and Kevin Wilcox, senior staff writers. Got some news? Send it to mbarton@naco.org or kwilcox@naco.org. Or fax 202/393-2630.)