Five members of the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners will attend the 2013 Legislative Goals Conference sponsored by the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) Thursday and Friday in Durham. Chairman Pat Cotham, Vice-Chair Kim Ratliff, Trevor Fuller, Vilma Leake and Karen Bentley will participate with 99 other North Carolina Counties to help decide the counties’ legislative priorities for the 2013-2014 biennium.
The Association’s Screening Committee will entertain new legislative proposals from member counties at the Thursday session. Mecklenburg County has already submitted the following items for consideration at the conference:
- Protect county revenues during consideration of comprehensive tax reform.
- Restructure the means for distributing 911 fees to insure local emergency responders have the resources necessary to protect the public.
- Allow electronic notification of public notices in lieu of compulsory advertising purchases.
- Support incentives and programs designed to attract jobs, such as the Job Development Investment Grants, One North Carolina Fund, film incentives.
Governor Pat McCrory will address county officials at the close of the conference on Friday.
The NCACC was founded in 1908 and is now one of the most successful and active statewide local government associations in the nation.
On a related note, The BOCC will hold its annual legislative breakfast with the Mecklenburg delegation on Monday, January 28. The 2013 long session of the General Assembly reconvenes on January 30. This breakfast is part of the County’s continual efforts to advocate its legislative agenda. The meeting will focus on sharing with delegation members the County’s legislative agenda, and asking for insight and guidance from the members on how state budget decisions may impact the County budget. The meeting is at 8 a.m. in room 267 of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center.
The BOCC is asking the local delegation to help marshal through the legislative process the following list of priorities adopted at its December 18 meeting:
- Remove the sunset on Domestic Violence Fatality Review team and adjust the composition of the team
- Make uniform the penalties for various locally collected taxes
- Broaden the permitted uses of storm water fees
- Support legislation to enact the policies of the Board related to revaluation
- Protect Mecklenburg County’s ability to implement the Mecklink MCO
- Remove members of MPO and RPO from the state ethics regime