WHAT HAPPENED: The General Assembly gaveled into a legislative
session like no other and considered legislation requiring your attention.
Please
take action on the points discussed in the alert below in this Bulletin. As the
General Assembly met this week to consider immediate COVID-19 responses, both
the House and Senate proposals to distribute federal dollars to local
governments
provided no direct appropriation to cities and towns.
That being
the case, it is urgent that you contact your legislators now to let them know
that any federal CARES Act dollars allocated to local governments should be
equitably distributed among municipalities and counties. Decisions are being
made now, so acting immediately is crucial.WHAT IT MEANS: No surprise,
COVID-19 continues to be the focus from all corners and filled out the
attention of the state legislature, but changes are needed for funding to local
governments. In addition to the very important action alert here, we have
provided a breakdown on proposed COVID-related policy changes and how the
League has participated in cross-sector discussions about how to safely
“reopen” the state for business.
ON TAP: The House and Senate are expected Saturday to
cast
final votes on the relief measure.
THE SKINNY: Your voice is important and immediate attention to this is crucial.
Read on for the details.
As the General Assembly met this week to consider immediate COVID-19 responses, both the House and Senate proposals to distribute federal dollars to local governments provided no direct appropriation to cities and towns. That being the case, it is urgent that you contact your legislators now to let them know that any federal CARES Act dollars allocated to local governments should be equitably distributed among municipalities and counties. Decisions are being made now, so acting immediately is crucial. This is the money from Congress for reimbursement for direct COVID-19 expenses.
Legislators took two separate approaches in allocating the federal funding to local governments. The House would send $350 million to county governments and have them provide that money to municipalities if they saw fit. The Senate would provide $100 million to counties; would create a $50 million grant program with money awarded to all local governments – municipal and county -- on a competitive basis; and would reserve $150 million to go to local governments should Congress act to allow the CARES Act funding to flow for revenue shortfalls.
(
See letter the League sent to all members of the General Assembly.)
The federal CARES Act, as written, largely restricts distributions to state and local governments to only direct COVID-related expenses, and not the backfilling of revenue holes for already budgeted expenses. As of this writing, state House and Senate negotiators were still working on final language in their COVID-response legislation, and legislators had planned to return on Saturday to work on the legislation.
As you speak to legislators, let them know that:- The House and Senate proposals, as currently written, do not treat cities and towns equitably.
- Neither proposal guarantees that cities and towns will receive any money; the House proposal leaves the decision completely up to county government.
- NCLM supports the general approach of the Senate, with one important change: that the $150 million being distributed immediately is equally split between counties and cities
Also let legislators know that municipalities employ front-line first responders who are helping keep North Carolinians safe, as well as workers providing essential services that are allowing residents to continue working and subsisting through this crisis.
Contact your legislators now to make the case for cities and towns working to keep residents and employees safe during this time of crisis.
Along with their work to appropriate a portion of the state's allocation from the federal CARES Act, legislators pitched additional policy changes this week to accommodate complications caused by the COVID-19 crisis. In particular, the Senate released its policy proposals for the first time Tuesday. Those proposals included two items of top concern for cities that the House also addressed in its COVID-19 package last week. The first topic clarified the authority for local boards to conduct remote meetings, a provision sought by the League that can be found in Section 6.24 of the Senate bill. The second item delayed vehicle property tax payments for a period of six months (Section 6.2), a move that would likely mean more than $200 million in deferred property tax payments to cities. Because both chambers addressed these two items in very similar ways, these provisions are likely to be included in any final agreement.
Other proposals made for the first time this week may also find their way into a final agreement between the two chambers. These items add to the list of changes proposed by the House last week and outlined in this Bulletin report. Those of interest to cities and towns include:
- $300 million reserve for NCDOT, if this expenditure is determined to be eligible under the federal CARES Act (Senate bill, Section 2.3)
- $9 million increase to the state's broadband grant program that supports private internet service providers (Senate bill, Section 3.3, item 21)
- One-time COVID-19 financial health reports made by local governments to the Local Government Commission (Senate bill, Section 6.8)
- Removing the requirement for a local government's proposed budget to be available for public inspection in the clerk's office (House bill, Section 5.23.5)
- Allowing incorporation of updated flood maps into local ordinances (House bill, Section 5.26.1)
- Delaying a requirement for rideshare drivers to display identification signs by one year, to July 1, 2021 (House bill, Section 5.29.2)
- Extending the expiration date of certain development approvals by five months, if the approval was valid between March 10-April 28, 2020 (House bill, Section 5.30.2)
Paul Meyer, director of the League of Municipalities, is participating with a
task force work group examining the business-reopening of North Carolina and what conditions
would have to be met first. The task force, formed by the N.C. Department of Health
and Human Services (DHHS) with calls led by the NC Chamber, has held calls hearing
from business leaders on the challenges they’re facing and receiving updates
from state health officials on the measures they’re working with to ensure a
healthy and safe reopening.
Meyer discussed the role of municipal officials and the
budget impacts they’re looking at from the virus interruption. Cities and towns
are the “economic engines of the state,” Meyer said, and the sooner they can
get back to business – building public projects that help residents and
businesses and infrastructure that enables growth, among other things -- the
sooner the economy can experience the ripple effects. It’s crucial for industry.
But, he added, city leaders want to do it safely. The task force has also
included the voices of DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen, Agriculture Commissioner
Steve Troxler, Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry, Commerce Secretary Anthony
Copeland, N.C. Association of County Commissioners Executive Director Kevin
Leonard and others.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the League partnered
with the
N.C.
Local Government Budget Association last month to expand its traditional
COLA and merit pay adjustment survey to a range of additional budget planning
items. The results of that survey are now
available
here. Please note that there are four separate files encompassing data from
both municipalities and counties, and each of the files contains multiple tabs
of data that can be scrolled through using the arrows at the bottom of the
page. All of the files provide the opportunity for the user to break down
responses on the basis of population and geography. An introduction and
additional context is provided on the first sheet of
the
municipal budget implications file. NCLGBA and the League plan to run the
survey again beginning next week to capture additional information and gauge
how respondents’ plans have changed since the survey was initially conducted in
mid-April. Thank you to the N.C. Local Government Budget Association for its
partnership on this survey, and to all of you who took the time to respond and
provide information. If you have any questions about the survey please email
Chris Nida or
Christine Heubusch with the League.
