The County Line
- Volume 52, Number 5 - 2008
Under the leadership of Buddy Sharpless, the Association and its membership have enjoyed major elgislative success.
Editor’s note: Having worked with Buddy Sharpless for more than 20 years, we’ve seen many legislative successes together. And, while Buddy has chosen his favorite success stories, I’ve chosen mine here to salute his three decades of dedicated work in furthering local government.
Each April, just like clockwork, the checks arrive in every courthouse in Alabama. The checks come no matter which political party is in power or the condition of the economy. After all, the requirement that checks be mailed is in Alabama’s Constitution – twice actually.
The checks represent payments to Alabama counties from 10 percent of the annual interest from the state’s massive trust fund generated from revenue from oil leases and royalty payments. These payments to Alabama’s local governments are actually guaranteed by two Association-supported constitutional provisions that prevent legislative raids and ensure that county governments receive their share of this important revenue for construction and other capital projects.
The legislative accomplishments during the career of ACCA Executive Director Buddy Sharpless cover everything from health care, to the issuances of licenses, and the use of credit cards. But none is more visible – and dependable – than the annual payments counties receive each April.
The initial legislation providing for the payments was passed in 1986, but it was not until the mid 1990s that the interest on the Alabama Trust Fund was significant enough to trigger the payments. During that first year the payments were available, a group of state legislators tried to divert the county money to state purposes. That effort failed. A couple of years later, the payments were guaranteed by a constitutional amendment – initiated by ACCA and its executive director.
Although this constitutional provision was the crowing jewel in the career of one of the nation’s top association directors, it is just one of many legislative initiatives etched into Alabama law during Sharpless’ tenure. The accomplishments are so significant, in fact, that ranking the top 10 most important legislative efforts during his near-37-year career is an almost-impossible order.
In the past 30 years alone, the Association has initiated, and the Legislature has passed into law, more than 160 bills directly from the ACCA Legislative Program – an astonishing accomplishment.
The most significant legislative initiatives impact county commissions on a daily basis, changing the way county business is conducted and shaping the services provided to citizens on the local level.
Below is a look at the other issues making up a list of the top 10 legislative accomplishments that will continue to serve county government, well beyond Sharpless’ retirement:
2. Unfunded Mandates. Alabama is one of the few states, and among the first, to protect county operations with a constitutional amendment prohibiting the enactment of “unfunded mandates.” The constitutional amendment, ratified in 1998, was approved by voters statewide after a public relations campaign encouraging citizens to “STOP” unfunded mandates.
Today, the amendment serves as a constant reminder of the responsibility state government owes to those citizens who depend on county services at the local level. And, in the process, it allows county government to direct its funds and administrative efforts to those priorities set in the courthouse without fear of statewide overrides that would hamstring the counties’ financial health.
3. Omnibus Compensation Act. For years county officials – sheriffs, commissioners, tax officials and probate judges — wagged an almost-constant war over their salaries. Those outside the county commission chambers pushed to have the Legislature mandate an increase in their compensation to be paid from county revenues. County commissioners pushed just as hard to protect their limited revenues.
In 1999, the Legislature settled the issue by creating a statewide salary system linking the pay of elected officials to those employees in each county. The salaries of elected officials have, therefore, increased in each county as the commission has been able to give increases to its employees.
Though complicated and difficult to administer, the legislation (known as the Omnibus Compensation Act because it applied to all county officials) has reduced the in-fighting among of county officials and generated a better working relationship both in the courthouses and in Montgomery.
4. County Joint Bid Act. Today counties can make many of their purchasing decisions as easily as a family shopping on the Web site of their favorite retailer. The joint bid program, authorized by legislative act and now administered by ACCA, allows counties to purchase products without the administrative burden and cost of conducting local bids.
In the process, the program has driven down prices and generated a more stable purchasing environment for both large and small counties. Though this 2000 act only changed two words in the Alabama Code, it is perhaps the most significant single change in county purchasing to occur in decades. And, it keeps the ACCA staff busy!
5. County Modernization Act. Two years ago, the Alabama Legislature approved what is hoped to be the first of several acts designed to update the operation of county government and enhance the efficiency of the county commission.
The first bill made significant changes in the operation of counties, establishing for the first time a statutory reference to and job description of the chief administrative officer in each county, and providing important strength for the counties’ in their efforts to enforce their budgets.
The law also establishes meaningful residential requirements for county commissioners and shortens the term of those appointed to fill vacancies on county commissions. A second modernization act is anticipated in short order.
6. Revenue for Road and Bridge Projects. At least four different gasoline tax levies have been enacted during Sharpless’ tenure – the most recent in 1992. County road and bridge departments would be crippled with a lack of revenue if not for the distributions made from the statewide taxes paid by Alabama motorists. Because the distributions are provided in legislative acts and not subject to annual appropriation by the Legislature, county road and bridge departments are able to address the transportation needs on the local level in a more effective way.
In 2000, voters approved a $250 million bond issue for the replacement of decaying county bridges. The Association’s public relations effort to raise awareness of the bridge crisis and then its legislative leadership to ensure the passage of a necessary constitutional amendment produced Alabama’s largest investment in county infrastructure in more than 50 years.
7. Self Collection of Local Taxes. County governments in Alabama are among the few across the county that can collect their own taxes. This change has produced millions of additional tax dollars on the local level, benefiting schools, county commissions, volunteer fire departments and many other governmental activities.
By shifting the administration to the sidewalk level, counties have been in a much stronger position to collect from those who would otherwise not pay and to ensure that government services are sufficiently funded. The County Revenue Officers Association of Alabama, an important part of the ACCA’s county family, was established to help local tax collectors do their jobs as authorized in this 1996 act.
8. Abolishment of Supernumeraries. Though Alabama voters three times rejected efforts to abolish the supernumerary retirement programs, the Association remained diligent and today the supernumerary program has been extinguished in all but a handful of Alabama counties.
Through the passage and ratification of local constitutional amendments in almost sixty counties, voters have abolished the costly and almost-insulting supernumerary programs and have allowed local elected officials (including commissioners) to participate in the Alabama State Employees Retirement System.
In 1992, 1994 and 1996 voters rejected statewide amendments that were proposed by the ACCA. The local amendments that have followed mirror the failed statewide program, proving that persistence is another product of Sharpless’ long career.
9. ACCA Insurance Programs. First in 1981 and then in 1986, the Alabama Legislature approved the Association’s establishment of self-funded insurance programs for counties. For a short time, the ACCA administered a self-funded health insurance program, which gave way to county participation in a state-administrated program also authorized by ACCA-backed legislation.
Currently, two other funds provide valuable workers compensation coverage and liability protection and defense for county employees and officials. The funds have saved millions in taxpayer dollars and have provided counties with excellent coverage and response. The programs are administered by boards of trustees that include county officials and employees.
10. Financial and Administrative Enhancement of EMA and 9-1-1 programs. One of the remarkable traits of Sharpless’ administration has been the ability to stay one step ahead of the disasters that seem to besiege other levels of government. As recently as 2007, ACCA was successful in securing legislative enactment of two bills that will have dramatically-positive impact on arms of county government just starting their relations with the Association.
When an increase in the state’s 9-1-1 fee on wireless telephone users was seen as impossible, ACCA teamed with one of its newest affiliate groups in the passage of legislation that will allow Alabama to provide updated emergency communication service to every corner of the state by June 2009.
In the process, the legislation will also produce more than $6 million in additional annual revenue for the 9-1-1 programs and a long-range study of the state’s emergency communication needs that will guide legislative decisions in the future.
Also in 2007, the legislature established a certification program for local Emergency Management Directors that includes a state-paid salary subsidy to assist with county budget woes and ensures that counties receive at least 25 percent of the state’s annual increase in federal EMA funding. Another remarkable accomplishment.
Like any top-10 list, this one skips over dozens of other important items: the passage of several different bills over the years that raised needed general fund revenue for counties, the enactment of the state’s first rural subdivision regulations (which have been updated by additional legislative acts), the establishment of one of the nation’s only mandatory training programs for newly-elected county commissioners, and the passage of state’s first program to address the proper handling and disposal as well as the clean-up of existing scrap tire piles.
And there is the recently-enacted Limited Self-Governance Act, which allows counties to hold local referendums on granting of nuisance abatement powers to the county commission. The first counties to be empowered through this act are still early in their experience. But there is no question this legislative initiative will impact county government for many years to come.
Sharpless’ legislative crystal ball has been so effective over the years that counties were even successful in passing legislation that wasn’t even utilized.
Just before then turn of the new century, the Alabama Legislature enacted a special law providing county governments with liability protection should government services be interrupted because of the predicted computer crash at midnight on the evening of Dec. 31, 1999.
The crash never occurred. So, the liability protection proposed by the Association was never necessary. But, it was there, and today actually remains a testimony to the legislative insight, innovation and leadership of Buddy Sharpless.
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