Call to Order and Roll Call
The fifth meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Local Government was held on Wednesday, November 18, 2015, at 10:00 AM, in Room 171 of the Capitol Annex. Representative Steve Riggs, Chair, called the meeting to order, and the secretary called the roll.
Present were:
Members: Senator Joe Bowen, Co-Chair; Representative Steve Riggs, Co-Chair; Senators Ralph Alvarado, Denise Harper Angel, Stan Humphries, Christian McDaniel, Morgan McGarvey, Dorsey Ridley, Albert Robinson, and Dan "Malano" Seum; Representatives Linda Belcher, Ron Crimm, Mike Denham, Jim DuPlessis, Adam Koenig, Stan Lee, Brian Linder, Tom McKee, Michael Meredith, Russ A. Meyer, Phil Moffett, Jody Richards, Jonathan Shell, Arnold Simpson, Rita Smart, and James Tipton.
Guests: State Representative Wilson Stone; Simpson
County Judge/Executive Jim Henderson; Denny Nunnelley and Shellie Hampton,
Kentucky Association; Tim Vaughn and Patrick Jennings, Kentucky 811; Rodney
Kirtley, Sharon Woods, Gene Becker, and Amy Carroll, Barren River Area
Development District; Jack Coleman and Winnie Blythe, Department of Housing,
Buildings and Construction; Bob Weiss, Home Builders Association of Kentucky; J.D.
Chaney and Bert May, Kentucky League of Cities; Jack Couch, KIPDA Area
Development District; Darren Sammons and Tammy
Vernon, Department for Local Government; Ron Wolf, Associated General
Contractors of Kentucky; Prentice Harvey, State Farm Insurance; Ritchie
Sanders, Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce; and Karen Lentz, Commonwealth
Alliances.
LRC Staff: Mark Mitchell, John Ryan, Joe Pinczewski-Lee, David Thomas, Vaughn Murphy, and Cheryl Walters.
Approval of Minutes
Upon the motion of Representative Simpson, seconded by Representative Crimm, the minutes of the October 28, 2015 meeting were approved.
Kentucky Association of Counties’ Legislative Platform for 2016 Session of the General Assembly
Ms. Shellie Hampton, Director of Governmental Relations for the Kentucky Association of Counties (KACo), introduced KACo President-Elect and Simpson County Judge/Executive Jim Henderson who presented the legislative agenda.
Judge Henderson said that there were four topics of concern for counties:
E911 is the biggest issue for counties. There are 114 certified Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) in the Commonwealth. Sixteen are Kentucky State Police (KSP) Post PSAPs and 98 are local government PSAPs. Of the 98 local government PSAPs, 89 dispatch for all local governments within that county; two are multi-county PSAPs (Barren-Metcalfe/Garrard-Lincoln); and four are single city PSAPs (Providence, Erlanger, Murray and Prestonsburg).
KACo will partner with the Kentucky League of Cities (KLC) on legislation to: increase the current Commercial Mobile Radio Services (CMRS) wireless fee of .70 to capture the current purchasing power of the fee when originally enacted in 1998; increase transparency by explicitly stating the authorized expenditures for 911 monies. This will be the main focus of KACo for the upcoming session; require pre-paid phone providers to remit an equitable amount of fees currently borne by contract “post-paid” subscribers; change the composition of the CMRS Board to include more representation by local governments; and reallocate distribution of the CMRS fee to incentive further consolidation of PSAPs and eliminate cost recovery for phone companies.
Budget. KACo represents many affiliates that are funded by the state, and will lobby on their behalf to have state funding increased. Those include: (1) funding for Property Valuation Administrators (PVAs). PVAs are interested in seeing more funding for deputies who assist in the assessment of property valuation; and (2) road aid funding. KACO opposes KLC’s proposal, in its present form, to change the road aid formula. KACo looks forward to working with KLC for a solution that helps cities without harming counties.
In response to a question from Representative Riggs, Judge Henderson stated that counties are not statutorily allowed to spend road aid money on cities. Representative Riggs commented that county residents who live in the city would be penalized.
Local Investment for Transformation (LIFT). KACo continues to support a Constitutional Amendment creating a new tool for local project funding, which allows voters to directly determine if their local governments should have this option.
Public Pension Crisis. KACo supports funding KERS above and beyond the Actuarially Required Contribution (ARC) established for the upcoming biennium. KACo encourages the General Assembly to explore a dedicated revenue stream for funding the future needs of the state retirement system; KACo supports the exploration of completely separating the County Employees Retirement System (CERS) from the Kentucky Retirement System (KRS); and KACo supports codifying legitimate compensation increases, such as leave allowed under Worker’s Compensation and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), while preserving the intent of the 2012 reforms already in place to prevent spiking.
In response to a question from Representative Riggs, Judge Henderson said that KACo is monitoring the most recent court decision allowing a local fee to be used to raise emergency telephone revenue. Ms. Hampton added that there is a possibility of an appeal that is still available before the courts before the matter is completely settled.
Senator Bowen commented that the E911 Public Private Partnership (P3) concept should be kept simple and precise. It needs to return to its original concept.
In response to a question from Representative Belcher, Judge Henderson stated that Emergency Medical Service (EMS) benefits for police and fire are locally determined by the jurisdiction in part and by the statutes in part.
In response to a question from Senator McDaniel, Ms. Hampton said that KACo believes the Kentucky State Police taking over 911 dispatching is a good idea. Judge Henderson added that KACo is willing to explore the idea.
Representative Moffett commented that the committee needs feedback from KACo regarding regional, rather than local, service provision.
Representative Lee commented that the present would be an opportune time to look at ways to be efficient. In response to a question from Representative Lee, Judge Henderson stated that KACo is just asking for the ARC to be funded, and that decision is up to the legislature.
Representative Riggs commented that the consolidation of counties is never going to occur so services need to be merged. Also, the affiliate members of KACo should work with the committee.
Kentucky 811 Update
Mr. Tim Vaughn, Vice-President of Public Affairs for Kentucky 811 told the committee that Kentucky 811 and Indiana 811 merged operations in 2006. Kentucky 811 was established in 1987 (incorporated as Kentucky Underground Protection, Inc.). Located in Jeffersontown, Kentucky 811 has 438 members and is governed by a board of directors as described in state statute.
Kentucky 811 operates in the following manner: (1) excavator plans to dig; (2) excavator calls Kentucky 811; (3) Kentucky 811 notifies member utilities; (4) excavator contacts Kentucky 811 non-members; (5) utilities locate and mark their facilities; and (6) excavator digs with care.
Kentucky 811 lead the nation in almost all categories of a nationwide awareness survey. Fifty-seven percent of Kentuckians are aware of 811, with the national average being 44 percent. Ninety-five percent say they plan to use 811 before starting a project involving excavation.
Kentucky 811 is fully funded by member utility operators. There is no state or federal funds, nor are there any membership or annual fees. The only cost to members is based on usage.
KRS 367.4901 to 367.4917 was created by the 1994 General Assembly for Kentucky 811 and was amended in 2000, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2015, and probably for 2016. The statutes authorize fire departments to cite violators and give the ability to perform investigations.
With regard to training and education, Kentucky 811 conducts over 100 training sessions annually and it partners with pipeline operators on outreach to emergency responders. Over 50,000 radio spots are held annually promoting public safety. Kentucky 811’s website is www.Kentucky811.org.
In response to a question from Representative Meredith, Mr. Vaughn stated that membership to 811 is voluntary by utilities with the exception of petroleum and gas utilities.
In response to a question from Representative Shell, Mr. Vaughn said if a utility or excavator hits a line without complying with the law to find infrastructure locations, it would be subject to penalty. If a utility is not participating in Kentucky 811, then it must operate its own call center.
Role and Function of Barren River Area Development District
Mr. Rodney Kirtley, Executive Director of the Barren River Area Development District (BRADD), Metcalfe County Judge/Executive and BRADD Board of Directors Chair Greg Wilson, and Ms. Sharon Woods, BRADD Workforce Development Director, addressed criticisms that BRADD had received.
In response to a question from Senator Bowen, Mr. Kirtley said bonuses were given to employees across the board at the end of the year, not based on individual performance. It was a way to bring employees’ income up. That practice has been stopped.
In response to a question from Senator Bowen, Mr. Kirtley said the salary schedule is set by the Board of Directors.
In response to a question from Senator Bowen, Mr. Kirtley stated that 10 percent of workforce development funds was used for administrative purposes which is permitted by federal law.
In response to a question from Senator Bowen, Mr. Kirtley said that all board meetings, records, and audits of BRADD are open to the public.
In response to a question from Senator Bowen, Ms. Woods replied that BRADD’s workforce development provided 23,000 services with over 800 people.
In response to a question from Senator Bowen, Ms. Woods said the state measures workforce performance using nine categories. The state gave BRADD the highest marks in all but one category, and for that category, one relating to how much money the customers receive, which was out of BRADD’s control, BRADD met the performance standard.
In response to a question from Representative Riggs, Mr. Kirtley said BRADD’s performance is not measured on a scale but they do meet regularly with the employers and survey their members.
In response to a question from Representative Moffett, Ms. Woods said that all funding to workforce development is federal funding.
In response to a question from Representative Smart, Mr. Kirtley stated that BRADD board members benefit professionally from attending conferences.
Representative Meyer commented that area development districts play a huge role in several communities and applauded their efforts.
Regarding workforce development, Representative Denham commented that drug use continues to be a big problem.
Report of 2015 HJR 134: Kentucky Single Family Inspection Task Force
Mr. Jack Coleman, Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction (DHBC), told the committee that 2015 HJR 134 required the formation of the Kentucky Single Family Inspection Task Force which was composed of the Commissioner of the DHBC and various stakeholders of the industry, local governments, and interest groups.
Ms. Winnie Blythe, Assistant Director for the Division of Building Codes Enforcement with DHBC, informed the committee that 7,819 new homes were constructed in Kentucky in 2014. Of those, 748 were built in counties wherein there are no inspections either on the county or city level. 1,094 homes were built in a county where one or more of its cities operated a local inspection program. Local jurisdictions currently must pass an ordinance to begin inspections of new home inspections. The state does not have the statutory authority to inspect new homes. An amendment to statute would be required to authorize DHBC to inspect new homes in areas that do not have local inspections. To begin the inspection program, DHBC estimates the annual cost to be $500,000 to initiate and staff the program. An appropriation would be required initially with inspection fees offsetting costs once the program is operational.
There are several anticipated effects from required statewide new home inspection, which include: increased consumer protection for quality construction; potentially lower insurance premiums based upon the belief that better built homes suffer less damage in natural catastrophes; lender confidence in the quality of the product; potential delays in one or more phases of construction at least in areas where enforcement is currently absent; and potential increases in buildings costs at least in areas where enforcement is currently absent. There are similar programs in other states.
Mr. Bob Weiss, Executive Director of the Home Builders Association of Kentucky, told the committee that DHBC should be given more leeway to inspect homes.
In response to a question from Representative Belcher, Mr. Weiss said that buildings could be required to be inspected again if there is a change in use that requires the application of a different building code than the one used for its original construction.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 12:05 p.m.