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COMMISSIONER TESTIFIES ON RECORDING FEES
Chester County Commissioner Terence Farrell appeared before the House Urban Affairs Committee on July 28 to share counties' opposition to
HB 1101
, sponsored by Rep. Tom Caltagirone (D-Berks), which would
prohibit the county recorder of deeds from levying fees on each individual parcel for indexing information related to the amendment of a condominium association declaration.
Farrell, a former recorder of deeds, shared his experiences with the committee, noting that the office's responsibility
is to enable any property owner, and the public, to find the full set of filings that have occurred on a particular piece of property. Indexing minimizes confusion when property owners have questions regarding their deeds, and promotes a uniform understanding of what information can be found in which records no matter what county one is in.
He also explained that recording fees are set in statute, and
include levies for specially designated state and local funds that must be paid to the state Treasurer or to the county.
House Bill 1101 creates a disincentive for counties to index information to each individual parcel in a condominium association declaration by prohibiting the corresponding fees per parcel. Farrell pointed out that the indexing fee is the same fee per parcel that would be levied on anyone who needs to make a change to their parcel's record, and that the individual record of each property needs to be updated as well as the overall regulations of the community. He concluded that counties oppose any attempt to weaken the standards to which record and document maintenance are held and which enable property owners and the public to easily and accurately find all filings related to a property record, and that counties oppose any effort to reduce the fees counties are authorized to collect for this purpose.
Bucks County Recorder of Deeds Joe Szafran and Dauphin County Recorder of Deeds Jim Zugay also presented testimony at the hearing opposing HB 1101, while the Pennsylvania Community Associations Institute and Bucks County Community Board Members testified in support of the bill. Farrell's complete testimony can be found on CCAP's Legislative Action Center by clicking Legislative Testimony on the right side of the page.
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STATE BUDGET CUTS FUNDING FOR COURT REIMBURSEMENT
As part of the final FY 2016-2017 state budget that became law in July, the funding for county court costs, including the per judicial position funding, was decreased by $12 million, or about 34 percent. The funds were shifted late in the budget process to cover a shortfall in the initial appropriation for judicial salaries. Prior to this fiscal year, the reimbursement had been around $70,000, although more recently falling into the $60,000 range.
CCAP's Platform calls for an increase in the county court reimbursement to $150,000 per judicial position, coupled with indexing for future growth.
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NACO MEMBERS IDENTIFY TOP PRIORITIES
The National Association of Counties has released a new publication, Priorities in Americans Counties 2016 - A Survey of County Officials, which highlights the various issues and matters facing county governments. The publication is the result of a survey conducted earlier in 2016, where members of NACo's policy steering committees were asked to identify the priorities, challenges, and service needs in county government. The results reflect the various and diverse matters at the county level nationwide, and provide a unique perspective on potential areas of focus.
The survey identified seven key areas where counties face challenges, issues and priorities including the fiscal environment, economic development, infrastructure, health and human services, poverty, public safety and the impact of federal and state policymaking. Of note, more than one-third of county officials responding to the survey suffered a reduction in the capacity of a county program or service because of budget constraints in the past fiscal year, expressing a high level of concern of the effect of these budget constraints on the future of the safety net services they provide. Nearly half of the respondents identified affordable housing as the biggest challenge facing economic development, while 71 percent reported additional investment in roads and bridges would have the greatest positive economic development impact. Mental health and substance abuse issues also remain top public health priorities.
Throughout the publication, its focus areas highlight counties' actions and responses nationwide as they work to counter and address these challenges and priorities, while also describing the policy considerations necessary to achieve the goals of county governments.
CCAP's 2015-2016 County Platform and 2016 Priorities share many of the seven key areas identified in the report; the Association's Platform and Priorities comparably reflect its members' top issues each year.
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PUBLIC COMMENT OPEN ON ACCESS TO DRUG AND ALCOHOL TREATMENT
In mid-May, the House of Representatives approved Rep. Stephen Kinsey's (D-Philadelphia) HR 590, creating a task force on access to drug and alcohol treatment within the state's Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP). The task force will be examining existing laws and identifying procedures to assist consumers in accessing treatment. Michele Denk, executive director of CCAP affiliate the Pennsylvania Association of County Drug and Alcohol Administrators (PACDAA) and Marie Plumer, Single County Authority administrator for Venango County, are members of the task force.
DDAP has announced that as part of the project, the Department will be accepting public comment throughout the month of August, and anyone with a vested interest and personal experience in accessing drug and alcohol treatment in the commonwealth is invited to submit.
Included are individuals who have attempted to access treatment, their friends and family members, treatment providers, insurers and other organizations with an interest in and connection to addiction treatment.
Comments on behalf of an individual, including self, family or friends, can be submitted at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HR590P. Agencies and other stakeholders may submit comments at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HR590A. Public meetings are also expected to be held in late summer or early fall. The task force study is due to be completed sometime in 2017.
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OFFICE OF OPEN RECORDS SEEKING COMMENT ON FEE STRUCTURE
Under the state's Right to Know Law, the Office of Open Records (OOR) is required to establish a fee structure for commonwealth agencies and local agencies, and to review that fee structure every other year.
The OOR has produced a draft update to the official fee structure, which can be found at www.openrecords.pa.gov by scrolling down to the blog feed. Public comment on the draft is being accepted through Aug. 19. The Office will review all comments received and issue a final update to the fee structure no later than Aug. 31. Comments can be submitted by email to FeeReviewOOR@pa.gov or by mail to Office of Open Records, Commonwealth Keystone Building, 400 North Street, 4th Floor, Harrisburg PA 17120-0225.
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SUPREME COURT TO HEAR CHALLENGE ON JUDICIAL BALLOT QUESTION
The state Supreme Court has agreed to hear a recently filed lawsuit challenging the Secretary of the Commonwealth over delaying a ballot question on the mandatory judicial retirement age.
The suit arises from a dispute between the General Assembly and the Department of State over the wording of the required plain English statement that the Secretary of the Commonwealth prepared to accompany the ballot question, a change to the Pennsylvania constitution to increase the mandatory judicial retirement age from 70 to 75.
The dispute resulted in the legislature developing its own plain English statement, and approving a concurrent resolution (
HR 783) in mid-April to move the question from the Primary to the November ballot. The delay was approved by the Commonwealth Court.
The Commonwealth responded to the new lawsuit on August 3, and media reports indicate the Supreme Court will set an expedited briefing schedule.
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DEADLINE TO COMMENT ON DOJ WEB ACCESSIBILITY RULE EXTENDED
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has extended the deadline to comment on its proposed website accessibility regulations for state and local governments under the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) through Oct. 7.
Under the proposal, DOJ plans to revise ADA regulations to require all state and local government websites to adhere to enhanced accessibility requirements, like coding websites to allow for the use of screen readers or ensuring that captioning is provided for video content.
Specifically, the Department is seeking feedback to questions in its Supplemental Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on issues like website design and budgetary consideration. The Notice can be found at www.regulations.gov by searching for ID DOJ-CRT-2016-0009-0001. NACo has provided additional information and a sample letter on its website.
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GRASSROOTS LEGISLATIVE RESOURCES
CCAP members are reminded that the Association maintains on its website a list of
Acts Affecting County Government
, which has been updated to reflect the recent actions of the General Assembly up to the July recess.
Additionally, CCAP has posted a mid-year
status report
related to counties'
2016 priorities
. Recent legislative action on the state budget, CCAP's Comprehensive Behavioral Health Task Force and other priorities are included in the updated report along with links to relevant legislation.
These materials, as well as other information and resources on CCAP's legislative advocacy work, can be found on the Government Relations page of www.pacounties.org.
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