County Issues
Dec. 15, 2011
Lt. Gov. Issues Border Security, Economic Development Interim Charges
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst recently released select Senate interim charges relating to border security and human trafficking and economic development.
Dewhurst said Texas has seen a disturbing influx of drugs, human trafficking and transnational gangs in the past decade.
"As lawmakers, our most important responsibility is to ensure the physical safety of all 25 million men, women and children who call Texas home,” Dewhurst said. “That's why we must continue to improve our border security and stop deadly spillover violence from coming across our borders."
In regard to economic development, Dewhurst praised Texas as a state with a welcoming business climate that has led the nation in private sector job growth. However, Dewhurst and Senator Mike Jackson, chairman of the Senate Committee on Economic Development, also recognized that the effects of the national economy are causing many Texans to struggle.
"While our unemployment rate remains below the national average, the Legislature must continue to do what we can to support a successful business climate and foster a healthy job market," Jackson said. "The Senate Committee on Economic Development has been tasked with studying how best to make that happen… .”
Among those economic development charges is a review of the implementation of SB 1048, relating to public-private partnerships.
CJD to Consider Criminal History Reporting Rates in Determining Grant Eligibility
The Criminal Justice Division (CJD) in the Office of the Governor recently distributed a memorandum to grant recipients indicating its intention to consider a county’s criminal history disposition reporting rate when determining eligibility for certain federal and state grants administered by the agency. Under Chapter 60 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, criminal history dispositions are required to be reported to the Department of Public Safety.
According to the memorandum:
Effective Sept. 1, 2012, each county must comply with Chapter 60 reporting requirements in order for the county or any political subdivision within that county to be eligible for grants under CJD’s Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program. Effective Sept.1, 2013, any entity, public or private, in a county that does not report at 90 percent or above will be ineligible to receive grants from any state or federal fund sources managed by CJD. CJD will discuss possible grant funding to help counties get into compliance.
CJD references a recent state audit of the reporting requirement system as part of the rationale for pursuing these measures. Click here for a list of counties and their criminal history reporting averages with the Department of Public Safety.CJD to Consider Criminal History Reporting Rates in Determining Grant Eligibility
State Sales Tax Collections Hit Monthly Record
By Paul Emerson,
TAC State Financial Analyst
State sales tax collections for November were the highest recorded in the past decade, surpassing $2.02 billion in August 2008. November 2011 receipts were $2.07 billion, up 12.2 percent compared to November 2010 collections.
In early December, Texas Comptroller Susan Combs released the latest state sales tax collections figures, which showed that over the past 20 consecutive months, the state sales tax has steadily increased.
Combs identified several factors that contributed to the latest sales tax revenue increase: sales receipts associated with oil and natural gas were strong, while consumer-driven sectors in retails also performed well.
Past State Sales Tax Collections
Despite the peaks and valleys illustrated in the chart, similar inclines occur each year during the same months — such as April, July and October. Leading up to the holiday months in 2011, the state sales tax shows significant gains which may carry into 2012.
But if the previous three years (Calendar Year 2008 – CY 2010) are any indication of what could happen next, CY 2011 collections will probably peak and then began to taper off. As shown in the chart, the state sales tax for CY 2011 outpaced the previous three years, except for various points where collections dipped below CY 2008 figures.
CY equals calendar years.
click image to enlarge
Interestingly, total collections between CY 2008 and CY 2011 were significantly different. During a period of 11 months (not including December for both years*), total collections for CY2011 equaled $20.3 billion, which is $328 million more than what was collected in CY 2008.
Biennial Revenue Estimates: 2012-13 Biennium
If collections continue at the November 2011 pace, Combs may have to readjust the Biennial Revenue Estimates (BREs) again. In May 2011, Combs increased the state sales tax revenue estimate by an additional $1.2 billion — now putting the state general revenue at $73.3 billion for the next two years (2012-13). Below is an abbreviated summary of funds available in General Revenue and General Revenue-Related (GR-Related).
For more information, contact TAC State Financial Analyst Paul Emerson at (800) 456-5974 or paule@county.org
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* December 2011 state sales tax collections will not be released until the first week of January 2012.
Texas Supreme Court Hears E-filing Testimony
By Nanette Forbes,
TAC Legislative Staff
In a hearing on e-filing, the Supreme Court of Texas heard from Justice Rebecca Simmons, chair of the Justice Committee of Information Technology, (JCIT) and various stakeholders including a district judge, district clerks and vendors that have an interest in what e-filing is and can become for the state of Texas.
The Dec. 8 hearing embarked on the sensitive subject of Mandating E-Filing for all pleadings in Texas district and county courts. The idea is to create paperless courts, similar to federal courts.
The court heard testimony on the benefits of adopting a state-wide uniform e-filing system to assist users, including convenience and cost savings. The court also heard testimony regarding the benefits of a statewide PACER-type system, which would allow access to court documents in a centralized service once they are e-filed, regardless of where the documents were e-filed.
Testimony by representatives from some larger counties suggested that those testifying seemed ready, willing and in favor of mandatory e-filing to assist in efforts to move toward paperless courts.
Harris County is by far the largest user of e-filing, but it voiced extensive dissatisfaction with NIC, the current e-filing provider. The county would like to move forward with implementation of its own e-filing system.
Mid-sized to smaller counties stated the most difficult aspect of implementing e-filing is that the mandate is unfunded. From case management systems that do not provide e-filing interface capabilities to a lack of county technology staff to assist in implementing an e-filing system, the cost factor would outweigh any direct benefit from those counties attempting a paperless court.
In conclusion, the vendor NIC who provides Texas.gov and the e-filing system for Texas was forthcoming regarding the matter of being able to provide service for the entire state. The vendor representative stated that old equipment and programs would prevent the company from being able to provide the service.
If the court mandated e-filing, the company would have to start over, creating a more universal e-filing system that could handle the workload. The NIC contract will be ending soon and will need to be renewed, or Texas may look for another company to provide e-filing services.
No decision was made in the information gathering hearing. The Supreme Court report on the hearing has yet to be issued.
County and district courts across Texas have worked to implement e-filing since its inception in the early 2000s. Approximately 50 counties are now e-filing in their county and/or district courts.
CMS Approves Waiver Allowing Texas to Expand Managed Care
By Rick Thompson
TAC Legislative Staff
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved a Section 1115 Demonstration Waiver to expand managed care statewide in an effort to achieve state budget savings and preserve hospital access to funding consistent with Upper Payment Limit funds (UPL).
The 82nd Legislature directed the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to expand managed care statewide to accomplish these goals. In order to achieve this, HHSC submitted a proposal to the CMS in July of 2011, which was approved Monday, Dec. 12.
With the approval of this waiver, the role counties with indigent health care programs will take is not clarified.
“This (waiver) does not fundamentally change the structure of the Medicaid program or impose any unfunded mandates on counties,” testified Billy Millwee, associate commissioner for Medicaid and CHIP, in a Sept. 15 hearing of the House Committee on County Affairs. “All it does is take those UPL dollars and put them into the Opportunity Pool so if a county wants to participate and has the Intergovernmental Transfer (IGT) to participate and draw down those dollars, [it can].”
TAC and the County Judges and Commissioners Association have been monitoring the progression of this initiative closely, and to date, the HHSC has only provided anecdotal information on how counties will be affected. Moving forward, many of the policy decisions have not been made, so it will be important for counties to be aware of the initiative’s progress and provide input when necessary.
TAC will provide more information as it becomes available.