FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2015 AACo Bulletin Advancing Arizona's Counties since 1968

In This Issue

Legislative Update

AACo Goes to D.C.

Financial Snapshot: Excise & Sales Tax

County Connections: Pima Planning & Zoning

Weekly Legislative Webinar

	Legislation Impacting Counties

	Committee agendas were lighter this week because of the bill deadline last week. However, floor sessions were longer due to the big push of bills from the deadline. Moving forward, while the bill pacing will likely even out, now is the time when small group budget meetings start in earnest as both chambers work towards a 100-day sine die. 2015 County Government Platform bills enjoyed another busy and successful week at the Capitol. HB2108 Class Nine Convention Activites passed the first chamber with a vote of 58-1. HB2485 Tax Lien Subdividers passed the Committee of the Whole with a due pass recommendation and will be third read at some point next week. HB2253 Single-year Property Tax Schedule also received a due pass recommendation from the Committee of the Whole following the addition of two AACo requested amendments. This bill will be third read alongside HB2485 next week. Over in the Senate, SB1158 Election Revisions was heard in the Senate Committee of the Whole, receiving approval from the chamber for its third read next week. The remaining AACo bills that are moving have all been single assigned in the second chamber and some are scheduled for hearing next week. Get Involved! Each week AACo will update a list of legislation impacting every elected county office. Find your office and learn what proposals may impact the way counties deliver valuable services to the public. AACo encourages members to get involved. Contact committee members and/or login to the Legislature's Request to Speak (RTS) system to register your opinion on legislation. Please contact staff for help finding committee members or using the RTS system.

	AACo Goes to D.C.

	This week nearly fifty Arizona county officials joined more than 1,500 of their colleagues from across the country at the 2015 National Association of Counties' Legislative Conference. The conference featured a number of timely presentations from federal policy leaders including the need for infrastructure, a properly trained workforce and the value of local leadership from Vice President Joe Biden. Attendees also heard from U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez; U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman; and Jerry Abramson, director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs among several others. NACo hosted two congressional briefings on Capitol Hill as part of the conference - "The Road Ahead for County Infrastructure; County Priorities for Transportation and Infrastructure Funding and Financing" and "All Health is Local: Medicaid and the Role of Counties in Local Health Systems." In addition, the conference featured more than two dozen educational workshops featuring county officials and other leaders in the public, private and non-profit sectors. Workshops were offered on a variety of topics including workforce and economic development; transportation and infrastructure; public health and safety; mental health and jails; and cybersecurity and technology. AACo's leadership additionally kept busy with a number of additional events arranged buy the Association throughout the week including: Participating in a Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider at Arlington National Cemetery Hosting a breakfast with Senators McCain and Flake Meeting with nearly all of Arizona's congressional delegation View AACo's photo album from the 2015 NACo Legislative Conference or get more informationabout the conference on NACo's website.

	Financial Snapshot: Excise & Sales Tax

	A.R.S. 42-6103 permits counties with populations under 1.5 million to levy a general excise tax "on each person engaging or continuing in the county in a business". The state treasurer than distributes these net revenues to counties that levy such a tax at the end of each month. These monies can be distributed a number of times each month. In addition, counties set a rate for their Transaction Privilege Tax (or TPT) which is collected by the state and distributed to counties. Counties may establish such rates on activities such as amusement, transient lodging, utilities, job printing, and many others. During the month of December 2014, $43,303,400 in excise sales and TPT tax revenues were distributed to counties. This amount is $2.0 million more than was distributed in December 2013. Year to date, total county distributions are $265.2 million, which is % more than this time last year. Table 1 below displays excise sales and TPT tax distributions for December 2014 on a county level, the distribution year to date, and the difference over FY 2015 year to date through December. For more information about trends in the in county excise sales tax or TPT, or to suggest a future featured fund, please contact Andrew Hartsig.

	MacArthur Foundation Announces $75 Million for Jail Reform

	The MacArthur Foundation has announced an exciting opportunity to undertake local jail reform through its new Safety and Justice Challenge, a five-year $75 million investment that seeks to reduce over-incarceration in jails. Twenty sites will initially be selected to receive a grant of $150,000 to support an intensive six-month planning process,m during which they will rigorously examine how their jails are being used and what strategies will reduce the inappropriate use of jail without compromising public safety. The program has a short turn-around time as applications are due March 31. More information about the Challenge can be found here and the RFP is available here. For further guidance, the MacArthur Foundation will host three live webinars to walk applicants through how the competition will work and answer and questions about the application process. The webinars will take place on the dates below; registration is necessary to participate. To register, send an email to [email protected]. Tuesday, March 3 from 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. EST

	County Connections: Pima Planning & Zoning - Celia Turner

	Throughout the year we will highlight county elected officers and employees via a County Connections segment to hopefully provide a more well-rounded view of the services counties provide. This week we spoke with the Pima County Planning & Zoning Commission Coordinator, Celia Turner. Celia Turner is Pima County's Planning and Zoning Commission Coordinator. Turner was born in Brawley, CA and raised in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. She graduated from Imperial Valley College in 1993 as a General Office Tech. She is married with one daughter. Turner has been working for Pima County since 2000 and for the County's Development Services Department in the Planning Division since 2003. Here, she advanced within the department form Office Support Level III to Administrative Support Specialist. Briefly, please describe the role and function of your position. I coordinate all hearings of the Boards of Adjustment (Pima County has five - one for each Supervisoral District) and the Planning and Zoning Commission. I perform all administrative services necessary to support the planning staff and these six volunteer Boards. For example, I put agendas together based on what the case planners provide me. I ensure that all legal ads for hearings are in on time. I remind our members about our meetings and make sure we have a quorum in order to hold a meeting. I also help customers who are Spanish-only speakers to get the quality service they need. What would you like your county residents to know about you're the role and function of the Planning and Zoning Commission? I make sure the public has full access on line to our meeting material, such as agendas, staff reports and other material so our residents are informed about details of a case scheduled to be heard and the meeting recordings of all the cases, should a member of the public wish such information. Also if they need to contact our Members, I am the point of contact. The Planning and Zoning Commission is appointed by the Board of Supervisors, two members for each Supervisor. They are volunteers, receiving only a modest per diem for each meeting they attend. The Commission normally meets monthly, although they typically do not meet in December as their regular meeting falls between Christmas and New Year's Day. There occasionally are special meetings, for example the Commission has recently held study sessions and will hold two public hearings on our proposed Comprehensive Plan Update, named Pima Prospers.

	Weekly Legislative Update Webinars - Members Only

	Each week AACo will present members with the opportunity to attend a virtual legislative review webinar. For members only, the webinars will take place every Friday at 2:00 p.m. and last between 15-30 minutes. Attendees will receive updates on the policy discussion occurring at the State Capitol as well as information on specific bills impacting counties. All webinars will be archived for later viewing in case you cannot attend live on Fridays. To access the archive you must be a member of AACo with a profile on our website. To create your profile click the "Sign In" button in the upper right corner of the AACo homepage. Click HERE to register for next week (March 6th).

	NACo Achievement Awards

	The National Association of Counties (NACo) is excited to announce that it is currently accepting applications for the 2015 Achievement Awards. For forty-five years, NACo has recognized innovative programs in county government through the Achievement Awards Program. The awards provide an excellent opportunity for winners to promote their successes to a larger audience and share best practices with their partners and peers. As a non-competitive awards program, each application is judged on its own merits and not against other applications received. Awards are given in 21 different categories culminating with an awards celebration at the 2015 NACo Annual Conference and Exposition in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. For information about the application process, deadlines and program criteria, please see the promotional materials by clicking here. For more information, please contact, [email protected].

	Featured Program: Nationwide/NACo Scholarship Program