FLORIDA

• BROWARD COUNTY is expanding its program that offers free disposal of electronics for residents. The program will now provide weekly drop-off’s every Saturday at three different locations. The program, which started as a pilot project with just one drop-off site, collected more than 1,000 unwanted electronics from nearly 400 residents over a 10-week period from July to mid-September.
  The electronics residents drop off are “de-manufactured” so the metals and plastics can be recycled or refurbished. Remaining components are disposed of in an environmentally safe manner. The county’s Office of Integrated Waste Management is coordinating the program.
  
  

GEORGIA

• In an effort to prepare for the future by learning from the past, DEKALB COUNTY Chief Executive Officer Vernon Jones is initiating an historic gathering of the county’s past CEOs for a roundtable discussion of the county’s past and future.
  Four past CEOs will join Jones on Nov. 14 to discuss the issues they faced while in office, the vision they had for the county and their accomplishments. The roundtable will also include a discussion on DeKalb’s present climate and a direction for the future.
  
  

IOWA

• The POLK COUNTY Conservation Board was recently awarded the 2001 Wildlife Habitat Improvement Award from the Iowa Association of County Conservation Boards. This award was sponsored by the Iowa Division of Izaak Walton League of America and acknowledges the county’s outstanding efforts in establishing habitat for wildlife. During FY2000, the county planted more than 12,900 pounds of prairie seed on 1,444 acres of public land. The planting in Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt was one of the largest plantings completed in Iowa.
  
  

KANSAS

• There’s a lot of hot air blowing around GRAY COUNTY and that’s a good thing. After years of exploring and compiling studies of the potential for wind farms, it is finally becoming a reality in southwestern Kansas with the development of the Gray County Wind Farm. Soon, 170 wind generators will be strung east to west across seven acres of county land.
  The new wind farm is bringing money to the county in the form of new jobs and financial benefits to residents.
  “It’s incredible when you realize how the early stages of construction of the wind farm boosted the economy of Gray County,” Donna Johnson of Pinnacle Technology, Inc. told The Garden City Telegram. “First there were about 150 construction jobs, plus the trucks and cranes that had to be rented and the yards and yards of cement. It was an economic boost, with tax dollars cycling within the county.”
  Some residents are already seeing the benefits of the project. Property owners have signed easements for the turbines to be built on their property, which will bring in between $1,000 and $2,000 in leasing income.
  
  

MARYLAND

• In what could be the first of many legal battles over a proposed water treatment plant, a group of CARROLL COUNTY residents filed a complaint in circuit court questioning the legality of using water fees to pay for the $14 million project.
  To date, the county has authorized about $1 million on the project for plant design and an access road.
  The residents have hired attorneys who will ask for a constitutional review to determine the legality of the county’s new water maintenance fee that they must pay to use the public water system. The fee, which is based on a property’s road frontage, is in addition to quarterly water and sewer bills and property taxes.
  County commissioners recently enacted the fee, which they say will pay for maintenance of the public water system in South Carroll, the county’s most populous area and one that suffers from seasonal water shortages.
  “If these fees are illegal or unconstitutional, we will do something else,” Commissioner Donald I. Dell told The Baltimore Sun. “If the court says we are wrong, we won’t challenge it.”
  State law permits maintenance fees on utilities, as long as they go toward upkeep of the existing system. Residents claim their tax dollars will pay for the new plant, and many are concerned the new plant will spur more development in an area coping with crowded schools and roads and inadequate services.
  Dell, who remains committed to the new project, approved the fees on the advice of the county legal staff and its comptroller.
  
  
• As the economic fallout from events of Sept. 11 continues to mount, PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY Executive Wayne K. Curry submitted requests for funding to Maryland Gov. Parris N. Glendening and Rep. Albert Wynn (D-Md.).
  The list submitted by Curry includes nearly $3 million for hazardous material cleanup equipment and vehicles, $2.8 million for additional disease control specialists, environmental sanitarians, community health nurses, as well as antibiotics and other medical supplies, and $4 million for a decontamination center.
  In addition to the biohazard-related monies, Curry also requested additional support for the county’s public safety infrastructure, noting that the county police department needs to be on the same radio frequency as all the various municipal police departments.
  
  

MINNESOTA

• By early 2002, they’ll be asking “Paper or plastic?” when the time comes to accept payment for many services in DAKOTA COUNTY. The Board of Commissioners recently approved a policy that allows county government departments to accept payment by credit card from citizens.
  “The new policy is driven by our customers. We know that credit and debit cards are more convenient for customers, and they’d like the same options available from governmental bodies that private businesses offer to consumers,” Commissioner Patrice Bataglia said.
  The new system will increase the certainty and speed of payment to the county and reduces check processing and cashiering costs. While the county has long accepted credit card payments for property taxes, court fees and parks facilities reservations, the new policy will create a standard set of procedures across county government.
  
  
• On Oct. 30, the HENNEPIN COUNTY Board of Commissioners approved a package of security measures designed to provide a higher level of safety and security for county facilities. The board also created the Hennepin County Readiness Assessment Committee, to better coordinate security and readiness activities with first responders and other federal, state and local jurisdictions.
  The proposed security measures follow briefings by county officials with the FBI, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s office and security consultants. The new security measures include approximately $875,000 in immediate costs and an increase in the proposed 2002 capital budget of $2.7 million.
  
  

MISSOURI

• Members of the JACKSON COUNTY legislature, the county executive and sheriff and county prosecutor all recently met with Missouri Gov. Bob Holden’s new Homeland Security Advisor, Col. Tim Daniels. During the meeting, Daniels briefed the group on his job responsibilities and advised how Missouri should proceed in this time of heightened awareness. Daniels also informed those in attendance of what the county governments can do to increase security measures during this time.
  County Executive Katheryn Shields invited Daniels to the county shortly after his appointment in order to make sure the safety needs of county residents are met. Sheilds called for the creation of a group composed of representatives from all area local governments, to focus on a coordinated security effort for the entire region. The group would perform a security assessment and help with coordinated crisis management efforts in the unlikely event of an attack in the Kansas City area.
  
  

NEW YORK

• SUFFOLK COUNTY recently became the first county in the nation to approve a living wage.
  By a vote of 16-2, the county legislature overturned the county executive’s veto that would have prevented the county from requiring companies doing business with the county to pay their workers a living wage of at least $9 an hour.
  The passing of the bill means companies with county contracts must pay their employees $9 an hour with health insurance or $10.25 without insurance, adjusted for inflation. It provides exemptions for nonprofit agencies. The law is scheduled to go into effect in July 2002.
  
  

NORTH CAROLINA

• In order to better define and manage its active surveillance of public health, the MECKLENBURG COUNTY Health Department is beefing-up its communicable disease control staff and working more closely with area schools and daycare facilities.
  The department has reallocated a nursing position to its communicable disease control staff. The move is just the most recent development in an ongoing effort to monitor public health for patterns in illness and absenteeism that would indicate a need for active surveillance or intervention.
  Part of the new position will be to monitor public health data for clusters or trends that may indicate a need for a greater level of surveillance or treatment. Health Dept. epidemiologists and information services staff is working with area schools to identify similar trends.
  
  

OREGON

• With terrorist attacks on the United States no longer a “what if,” officials in LANE COUNTY are determined to be ready to respond to terrorism if it comes to the county.
  Sheriff Jan Clements and Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey are organizing a Lane County “security preparedness summit” for all local mayors, city managers, police chiefs and fire chiefs.
  The meeting is planned for sometime before Thanksgiving. The meeting will cover everything from where to get suspicious substances tested for anthrax, to how soon to expect the arrival of federal help after an attack to how to pay for any health and/or security fortifications that summit participants decide are prudent or necessary.
  According to an article published in The Register-Guard, the city of Eugene and the county have yet to write a specific terrorism response plan to add to emergency operations manuals.
  “We haven’t had the resources or commitment to do good solid emergency preparedness work,” Clements told the paper. “We’ve got the responsibility without the tools needed to do the job.”
  
  

VIRGINIA

• As the fundraising events to help those victimized by the events of Sept. 11 continue, even organizations that are often the recipients of charitable donations are getting in on the giving act. Proceeds from several used book sales at FAIRFAX COUNTY Public Library branches will be donated to various Sept. 11 charities.
  At press time, $7,500 from various sales had been donated to several charities including the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (founded by the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Dept.), the American Red Cross and the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund. Several sales are still ongoing and some are scheduled for the weeks to come so the $7,500 is anticipated to increase.
  
  

WASHINGTON

• As the belt tightening increases across the country, counties are looking for different ways to increase their revenues without increasing taxes. In SNOHOMISH COUNTY, the county is aggressively going after the monies they are legally entitled.
  For 2001, efforts in areas of sales tax auditing and corrections federal reimbursements will generate over $1.3 million that they otherwise would not have received.
  The county found it was not requesting reimbursement from the Department of Justice for housing aliens, nor were they collecting dollars from Social Security for incentive reporting. The county anticipates receiving $283,200 from the Dept. of Justice this year and $25,000 from the Social Security Administration annually.
  In addition to going after the federal funds, the county also plans to audit retail sales to make sure it is receiving all the money it should. The county is also going over taxes for the Department of Licensing and construction sales tax to make sure they are receiving every dollar owed.

(News from the Nation’s Counties is compiled by M. Mindy Moretti, senior staff writer. If you have news, please call (202) 942-4223 or e-mail mmoretti@naco.org.)