Macon News: Macon County Officials go to Washington
News Article
By Brittney Raby
Just a few weeks after setting state priorities, county officials from across North Carolina headed to Washington D.C. to attend the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference to discuss legislative goals with congressional representatives.
Macon County was represented by Commission Chair Kevin Corbin and Vice-Chair Jim Tate along with County Manager Derek Roland who joined more than 150 officials from across the state for the conference. While Commissioner Ronnie Beale also attended the conference, he was pulling double duty. While also representing Macon County, Beale represented the entire state as the President of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC).
"North Carolina was represented by over 150 county commissioners at the NACo Conference," said Beale. "They were there to speak to their congressmen and senators on everything from water quality issues to possible military base closures. We presented the congressional delegation with our 11 federal goals which were well received.
Corbin, who sits on the NCACC Legislative Committee was very much involved in the process of developing Federal Legislative Goals to present last week in Congress.
"As a member of the Legislative Goals Committee I was in the 'front seat' and, in some ways, the drivers seat to influence goals sent to Washington and Raleigh," said Corbin. "I pushed hard for language asking for federal and state lawmakers to not send unfunded mandates to local governments. We were successful on both levels. Meeting with them personally, we were able to explain the process of getting ideas and goals from all 100 N.C. counties. Our collective voice is quite influential, much more so than a single county speaking to an issue. We had 11 issues that we in N.C. pushed this year and were successful in getting support from our lawmakers on all 11." (See page 5)
The event culminated with the NCACC's annual Congressional Breakfast on Tuesday, which was attended by 11 of the 15 members of the state's Congressional Delegation, including Congressman Mark Meadows, who represents Macon County.
"Having officials from our district in Washington is so beneficial for the legislative process," said Meadows. "When I go back to my colleagues in the legislature, I can tell them that I spoke directly with my county officials face-to-face to address concerns on the local level and I think that carries more weight. Fostering relationships with local officials is the best way to service our constituency."
Time spent with both Congressman Mark Meadows and Senator Thom Tillis, according to Roland, was the most beneficial portion of the trip.
"Having the opportunity to personally sit down with our congressman and senator to discuss the real issues affecting Macon County," said Roland.
Commissioner Tate also spoke to the importance of having one-on-one interaction with Macon County's congressional representatives. "Creating face to face relationships with our congressmen and senators," said Tate. "It is one thing to call or email them, but it is completely different to look them in their eyes, shake their hands and communicate the importance of issues to Macon County. "
One significant focus of conversation for North Carolina leaders, especially those from Western North Carolina, centered around federal PILT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) funding.
PILT funds are federal payments to local governments to help offset losses in property taxes due to non-taxable federal lands within county boundaries. The law was first enacted in 1976 and has provided crucial funding to counties for vital services such as firefighting and police protection, construction of public schools and road maintenance. Macon County, which is nearly 50 percent federal forest lands, depends on more than $300,000 a year in PILT funds. In the past few years, the program has been in limbo, only authorized on a year to year basis, leaving counties to deal with the uncertainty of the funds.
"I think that the primary one that we focused on relaying to our representatives was the PILT money," said Tate. "If the federal government doesn't continue to provide these funds, then we as commissioners will basically be forced to raise taxes in order to continue to provide the level of services that we are now. When the federal government owns almost half of Macon County, I believe that it is imperative that they continue to financially assist us."
Roland explained that for Macon County, the PILT funding is crucial to annual operations. "As a public service organization, our number one priority is to serve the citizens of Macon County," said Roland.
Accounting for $337,000 of revenue in the current budget, Roland said PILT funding plays a key role in allowing the county to provide these much needed services. To put it into perspective, this amount would:
annually fund county Legal, Human Resources, and Economic Development Departments
pay the annual salary of 10 Sheriff's deputies
pay the annual salary of 10 EMT paramedics
annually fund the county garage.
"As you can see from these examples, $337,000 goes a long way in Macon County. In the absence of these funds our only options would be to reduce services or (B) raise the current tax rate by approximately $.03 (3/10 of 1 cent)," said Roland.
Congressman Meadows, who has been a champion for the PILT funding since he was elected to office, noted that it is important to not only keep the funds available, but to also find a more long-term plan.
"Right now the PILT funds are reauthorized yearly, but that causes trouble for county's who are trying to develop their budgets," explained Meadows. "They need to know if they can count on those funds. I think we need to see something more longterm. Right now, the plan we are looking at will reauthorize those funds for a five-year period. It is important for Congress to understand that the decisions we make ultimately affect everyone. Without those PILT funds, local governments may be forced to raise property taxes to make up for the decrease in funding. We need to do everything we can to keep those taxes as low as possible." PILT funding is one of the many issues which have benefited from local and federal conversations.
"Two years ago, we [Macon County Commissioners] were instrumental in getting to Mark Meadows about the PILT money being potentially cut," said Commissioner Corbin. "He put together a meeting with Speaker of the House John Boehner and Mark almost single handedly stopped the cutting of PILT. He put together a group of congressmen (many from western states) that would have been adversely affected. That cut would have cost Western North Carolina millions of dollars and Macon County over $300,000. For now, our PILT money is still intact. Face to face meetings with our senators and congressmen like this are so beneficial.
"One example, the cabin across the road from Dry Falls was put there by federal funds many months ago, but the work to make it a destination spot was not completed and it is not open. We discussed this with Mark and he made a call regarding this issue on the spot. We discussed the fact that large counties get 'mass transit' money from the federal government. We don't have a rail system or even a bus system but there are federal dollars available for road improvements if your congressman asks for it. We asked Mark and he asked us to identify needs locally and get back to him. These were only a few of the issues we discussed with Mark over a two-hour lunch meeting with him in the Capitol."
Roland noted that even more so than meeting with federal representatives, the conference helps build a network of officials that can help with future endeavors.
"When making administrative or policy decisions at the local level, being able to contact county managers, or board members, not only from across the state but across the nation, is a tremendous asset as well. Odds are that someone, somewhere, has dealt with a similar situation, making their experience and advice invaluable," said Roland. "The more we network at conferences such as this one, the more we are connected. The more connected we become, the more opportunities we have for collaboration and discussion. I feel this collaboration and discussion is key to efficient and effective government."
Source