The West Virginia Association of Counties is introducing our new WVACo Online Academy, your 24/7 training center, offering a wide variety of online courses written specifically for county government entities and employees. Online courses are offered year-round with fresh, innovative, and relevant material on a wide range of topics including Human Resources, Risk Management, Safety, and Law Enforcement.
WVACo is committed to excellence in education for county government and we have partnered with LocalGovU to provide this resource. Our partnership will enable these courses to be available at a lower rate for West Virginia's counties!
These online training courses will be available on demand 24/7 from any computer with internet access. A certificate of completion can be printed once the quiz at the end of the course has been passed.
September’s round of interims covered a few items of interest to counties. The next interim session will be post election in December.
The Judiciary Committees of House and Senate reviewed issues of controlled substances, the impact of legalization of marijuana in Colorado, criminal justice data collection, and criminal sentencing. Sgt. David Hudson with the Dunbar Police Dept. spoke on the topic of controlled substances and their abuse, stating, “Cartel members are in our state. They come here because there’s a market here. They set up a shell business to launder their money.” Blaming the cartel for fueling the heroin addiction problem, Sgt. Hudson stated that current laws need updated and new laws added, such as for money laundering, to enable law enforcement to deal with the problems they are facing.
The Director of the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) provided information on the impact of Colorado’s legalization of marijuana. Colorado legalized marijuana for recreational use in 2013. Overall, the impact report findings are negative with regard to law enforcement issues. For example, marijuana related traffic deaths in 2009 represented 10% of all traffic fatalities but by 2015 that number had doubled to 21%.
Rick Staton, Director of Community & Justice Services, discussed the need for additional data because data drives the Justice Reinvestment Act of 2013. Currently, there is no statewide assessment or data collection of drug offenses, charges, or convictions. With regard to sentencing, Director Staton noted that the Governor’s Committee on Crime, Delinquency & Corrections studied the issue in 2003. He asked for legislative authority to receive certain types of data from all sources if they are asked to do the study again. He also said that a priority listing of category of offenses would help the Governor’s Committee provide a timely response.
The Personal Property Tax on Inventory, Machinery and Equipment Subcommittee of the Tax Reform Study Committee met in an organizational meeting to discuss ways to minimize or eliminate this tax. Sena- tor Gaunch, serving as chairman, opened the meeting by stating these taxes are “onerous to business” and the only reason they haven’t been eliminat- ed already is because they are Constitutional. He stated that they need to find a way to eliminate these taxes without hurting our counties. Senator Hall also suggested looking at other states on how they have minimized or eliminated this tax but also noted that in Ohio, real property is higher so overall the taxes are no higher on businesses than in WV. (Note: This topic was discussed extensively in last year’s Tax Reform Committee study and no recommendations were made to change personal property taxation or any other taxation). The committee will invite interested stake- holders to provide information at December’s interim session, including business leaders, county commissioners, and county officials.
The Forest Management Review Commission listened to information about the managed timberland taxation rule that came out at near the end of the legislative session and was vetoed by the Governor. The Division of Forestry presented a mapping project that they are working on to provide a better overall picture of timberland and soil productivity in WV. One of their goals is to eliminate county boundaries within the data. Katherine Gazal, a Professor of Forestry Economics at WVU, gave a detailed presentation of the suggested revisions for valuing managed timberland. Currently it is based on the USDA Forest Service Bulletin but the proposal is to use WV’s historical saw timber and pulpwood prices. The proposal also removes the current “floor” below which managed timberland values may not go. During the session, numbers were presented showing the revenue from managed timberland decreased in 29 counties using the revised rule. According to the Division of Forestry, 2.43 million acres are in managed timberland out of 12 million total acres of timberland. 719 corporate owners own 72% of the acreage of managed timberland. The rule revision is being sought by the WV Forestry Association.
On September 15, 2016 the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia filed its opin- ion in the case styled ERIK PATRICK WELLS , Petitioner/Respondent Below v. STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA ex rel. CHARLES T. MILLER, Prosecuting Attorney for Kanawha County, Respondent/Petitioner Below. On July 18, 2016 petitioner, a registered Democrat, filed a “Candidates Certificate of Announcement for 2016 Partisan Elections” and paid his required filing fee to the Kanawha County Clerk’s office. Hel left blank a portion of the form which stated as follows:
I am a member of and affiliated with the following political Party:__________________. I am a member of and affiliated with this political party as evidenced by my current voter’s registration and I have not been registered as a member of another political party within sixty days of this date. (W. Va. Code § 3-5-7(d)(6)
Thereafter, he filed a Minor Party or Independent Candidate Nomination Petition in order to become a certificate nomination candidate pursuant to W. Va. Code § 3-5-23. On this form in the space provided for “Party” the certificate read: “Independent.” Later petitioner submitted signatures from 1,019 individuals.
The West Virginia Association of Counties is proud to be a part of the DOTS coalition, Dementia –Capable Outreach, Training and Support. The coalition is made up of the WV Bureau of Senior Services, WV Alzheimers Association, and many other organizations. Seven communities were awarded up to $10,000 each in June to implement plans to make their communities more dementia-capable. Later this year there will be another opportunity to apply and at least eight additional grantees will be selected. Projects selected were in Monongalia, Jefferson, Kanawha, Lewis, Mingo, Raleigh, and Randolph counties.
This is an important project for West Virginia due to our older demographics. What is a dementia friendly community?
Health care that promotes early diagnosis and uses dementia care best practices along the care continuum
Businesses with dementia –informed services and environments for customers and employ- ee caregivers
Dementia-friendly public environments and accessible popu- lation
Dementia-aware local government services, planning, and emergency responses
Health care that promotes early diagnosis and uses dementia care best practices along the care continuum
Businesses with dementia –informed services and environ- ments for customers and employee caregivers
Dementia-friendly public environments and accessible population
Dementia-aware local government services, planning, and emergency responses
Supportive options for independent living and meaningful community engagement
Welcoming and supportive faith communities Dementia-aware and responsive legal and financial planning
