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In Legal Terms
- Volume 53, Number 3 - 2009
Keeping up with Alabama's counties.
Although ACCA’s staff tries to stay on top of all the breaking events in Alabama’s 67 counties, without the assistance of our affiliate groups, many issues would fall through the cracks.
The new county commissioners elected in November 2008 are not that new anymore. Not only are they settling in to their duties as local government officials, most of them have completed their mandated training and will receive certificates honoring their hard work at the ACCA Annual Convention in August. In a few short months, these officials have been bombarded with information on the different aspects of the position they sought to hold – and some of them are probably scratching their head asking why they put themselves through the election process to take on this new role.
Despite the amount of information they have been given, I constantly worry about what new commissioners have not been told and what they may not yet understand. Actually, I worry about this for all county commissioners and for the county commission staff. Serving in county government is just so all-encompassing, it is impossible to know everything you are supposed to know.
The ACCA staff tries to fill in the gaps by answering questions as they come into the office through phone calls and e-mails. I enjoy this part of my job immensely because I get an opportunity for one-on-one with commissioners and county staff, but I frequently hang up from these calls thinking I should communicate information from the call to everyone.
More disturbing than the concern that we have not adequately communicated with the counties on a particular issue is the realization sometimes that we didn’t know about an issue brewing. After almost thirteen years with the Association, I am constantly amazed at the number of first time questions I still get – and sometimes on an issue on which I am not familiar.
The ACCA staff tries hard to monitor and keep up with what is happening in Alabama that may have some impact on county government. It is a daunting task and we don’t always do as good a job as we should. That said, we would not be able to keep up with what we do manage without the tireless assistance and involvement of the ACCA affiliate groups. The dedicated personnel who work for the county commission make it their job to stay informed and more often than I like to admit, it is a phone call or e-mail from a member of the county’s staff that first puts us on notice that there is a new problem which needs to be addressed or new information that should be disseminated to all counties. The recent examples of this are too many to name – suffice it to say, without the diligent efforts of those involved in the ACCA affiliate associations, we at the Association could not do our job and would not be successful at keeping counties informed and being able to address issues of concern as they arise.
I could brag on any of the affiliates to illustrate how important these groups are. However, because of some recent dealings I have had with the leaders of our smallest affiliate, the County Revenue Officers Association of Alabama (CROAA), I thought I would share this experience as an excellent example of my point.
About a year ago, the leaders in CROAA approached staff at the Alabama Department of Revenue (ADOR) about the possibility of holding quarterly meetings to discuss issues of concern to either group. The idea was that representatives from ADOR and CROAA would sit around in an informal round table session to learn from each other, iron out problems, and identify areas where the two entities could work together legislatively or otherwise to improve tax collection and enforcement in Alabama. Led by CROAA President Kevin Caputo, who took charge to organize and facilitate these meetings, these committee members volunteer their time for this project by developing meeting agendas, researching issues to be presented, following up on meeting action items, and keeping track of items for the future. Committee members travel to Montgomery or Birmingham for the meetings, taking time away from their busy office schedule - and in some instances incurring personal costs to participate.
These meetings have done a lot to improve county relationships with ADOR and allow for collaboration to improve state and local tax collection and enforcement. This has never been as important as it is now when tax revenues are down and county budgets are painfully tight. It is a lot of work, but it is paying off.
At the same time this committee is working, representatives from CROAA are participating in the Education Evaluation Committee working to revamp the affiliate training programs, keeping up with streamline sales tax issues, preparing for issues that may arise in upcoming sessions of the Alabama Legislature, and regularly interacting with each other and ACCA staff to stay abreast of “best practices” for the collection and enforcement of local taxes. The individuals involved in CROAA (as is the case with all ACCA affiliates) take their responsibilities to their counties very seriously, but also understand the benefit of collaboration with other county revenue officers to learn, improve, and educate themselves, their county officials, and staff and members of the ACCA.
The Association has made great strides in the area of local tax collection and enforcement in recent years, both legislatively and administratively. Our successes are in large part the result of efforts on the part of CROAA members who carefully monitor any tax-related legislation and travel to Montgomery on a moment’s notice to protect all counties in this state. This affiliate group has become an invaluable part of the county family, and we thank them for their dedication and determination – all of our affiliates play an important role in making this Association a great success.
In closing, if you have not done so lately, please thank your staff for their hard work – both at home and for all counties. Please also encourage and support their participation in our affiliate organizations and training programs. Every county benefits from their efforts.
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