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News from IACC
Anderson
Receives AIC's Highest Honor
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The Association of Indiana
Counties (AIC) has named Vigo
County Commissioner Judy
Anderson as the 2011 Himsel
Award winner. The Arthur R.
Himsel Award is the AIC's
highest honor and is named for
an individual who dedicated his
public career as a Hendricks
County Commissioner. Himsel was
also one of the AIC's founding
members.
Judy Anderson has faithfully
served taxpayers in Vigo County
as Council and for the last 10.5
years, as Commissioner. She has
been an advocate for Vigo County
at the Indiana Legislature and
as a member of the Association
of Indiana Counties (AIC) as a
District Officer, Board Member
and recently as an Executive
Board Member. Her efforts have
also brought her to the national
level as a District Officer on
the National Association of
Counties (NACo) Board of
Directors. Additionally, Judy
has served as a Board Member and
President of the Indiana
Association of County
Commissioners (IACC).
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Vigo County
Commissioner Judy Anderson (c)
receives Himsel Award from 2010
Himsel Recipient Tony Wolfe (l),
Gibson County Councilman and AIC
President Dick Jones (r), Clark
County Recorder |
Berry Named 2011
Outstanding County Commissioner at AIC
Conference.
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Congratulations to the 2011
Outstanding County Commissioner
Julie Berry! Commissioner Berry
was nominated by her peers for providing effective
leadership and other important
contributions to county
government. The award was
presented during the annual
awards banquet at the AIC's
Annual Conference in September. |
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Surface
transportation reauthorization heats up
Both Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)
of the Senate Environment and Public
Works Committee and Chairman John Mica
(R-Fla.) of the House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee provided
updates earlier this month on where they
are heading on the reauthorization of
the surface transportation program.
Boxer confirmed that she is working on a
two-year reauthorization that would
total about $109 billion for both
highway and transit. Under this
scenario, an additional $12 billion in
new revenue would need to be found to
supplement what the Highway Trust Fund
can support.
It is unclear whether Boxer has the full
support of the Republican committee
leadership. It is also unclear whether
the Senate Finance Committee will agree
with Boxer and find the necessary $12
billion to fully fund her proposal.
Originally, Boxer and the bipartisan
leadership of her committee had proposed
a six-year $339 billion reauthorization
that would have required about $75
billion in new revenue, a figure that
appeared to be politically unattainable
in the current budget climate.
Meanwhile, Mica announced, at a two-hour
briefing July 7, the outline of his $230
billion six-year reauthorization bill.
In explaining the size of his proposal,
which would mean a 30 percent cut from
current spending for highways and
transit, Mica cited House rules limiting
new Highway Trust Fund spending to the
projected amount of revenue coming into
the Trust Fund. His proposal would begin
at about $35 billion annually for
highways and transit combined.
While no bill language was presented, he
explained the need to stabilize the
trust fund, which would ensure that the
nation is not spending money it does not
have. He stated his desire to include
provisions that would leverage federal
spending, such as TIFIA (the
Transportation Infrastructure Finance
and Innovation Act) and state
infrastructure banks. TIFIA would be
increased from $110 million to $1
billion annually or $6 billion over the
life of the bill, and Mica claims that
would leverage $60 billion in
low-interest loans over the life of the
program.
States that have their own
infrastructure banks would be allowed to
increase from 10 percent to 15 percent
the amount of federal funds they can
direct to these banks. Mica outlined his
interest in streamlining project
delivery and the permitting process,
which he believes would allow projects
to get done more quickly and at a lower
cost. Among reforms suggested are
concurrent federal agency reviews and
classifying projects in existing rights
of way as categorical exclusions under
NEPA (National Environmental Policy
Act). The proposal would eliminate or
consolidate more than 70 existing
programs.
Few of these programs were identified in
the Mica proposal, but though it was
clear that the Enhancement Program would
be eliminated, the states could continue
to have the option of spending funds on
enhancement-type projects. It appears as
if the Surface Transportation Program
and the Congestion Management and Air
Quality Program would survive, but there
was no mention of the Bridge Program.
There would be a focus on the National
Highway System, which would get more
than half of the highway funding and
would be increased to 160,000 miles.
Highway Safety would also be a priority
and the Highway Safety Improvement
Program would be continued. Like the
highway program, transit funding would
be reduced. However, the percentage of
formula funds available for suburban and
rural areas, and for programs that
support transit services for the elderly
and disabled, would be increased.
Changes would also be made to encourage
more private sector investment in
transit.
Democratic members of the Transportation
and Infrastructure Committee followed
with their own briefing, which stated
disappointment with the Mica proposal
due to its underfunding of
transportation infrastructure and its
failure to create new jobs. Ranking
Member Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) indicated
that he would support a two-year bill
similar to the Boxer proposal.
Similarly, Democratic leaders of the
Senate Banking Committee, which has
jurisdiction over transit programs,
slammed the Mica proposal for its impact
on transit service and on jobs, which
they claim could lead to the loss of
141,000 transit-related jobs.
2009 "Needs Assessment for Local Roads
and Streets" by Indiana LTAP Now
Available
(exercpt)
Table 1.1. Transportation Infrastructure
Funding
Shortfalls for Local Agencies
| |
Component Short-term |
Long-term |
| |
(Backlog) |
(Annual) |
|
Roads and Streets |
$3,504,000,000 |
$715,000,000 |
|
Bridges and Culverts |
$1,169,000,000 |
$117,000,000 |
|
Safety
Improvements |
$706,000,000 |
$26,000,000 |
|
Total |
$5,379,000,000 |
$858,000,000 |
The results of the study
indicate that there is a significant
shortfall in funding in all of these areas.
Table 1.1 shows the increased funding
necessary, over and above funding, for each
of the main study areas. The study includes
two funding components. The first component
is the short-term funding to remediate the
deficiencies of the current system. This
short-term funding would be used to address
the backlog that has resulted from years of
inadequate funding. The short-term funding
could be distributed over a period of
five to ten years; however, no provision for
the impact of inflation is reflected in this
value. The second component is the long term
need, which represents the annual funding
shortfall. The long-term shortfall is
the difference between the funding required
for annual maintenance and programmed
reconstruction of the current system and the
funding currently provided. The long-term
shortfall is expressed in current dollars,
and does not reflect future inflation.
Read the full Executive Summary -
Click Here
P25 requirement for
all new 800 MHz radios
During its regular meeting of March 25,
2010, the Integrated Public Safety
Commission (IPSC) approved new direction
to agencies when considering purchase of
radios intended for operation on the
Hoosier SAFE-T trunked, statewide 800
MHz radio system.
During the meeting, the Commission
pursued its earlier discussions with
staff concerning the benefits of
migration to P25, the anticipated costs
and the impact of such a migration
decision upon current and future users
of the system. Concluding, for a number
of technical and operational reasons,
that migration to P25 technology may be
the correct choice; the Commission
modified its previous recommendation
that user agencies included the P25
option be in all future purchases of
radios to a purchase requirement.
The Commission ordered that "all
new orders (placed after March 31, 2010)
for 800MHz radios intended for use on
the Hoosier SAFE-T trunked system
include the P25 software option".
Fully understanding this bold stance may
increase the initial cost of a radio and
lessen the number of radios that can be
purchased, the Commission deemed the
requirement essential in order to
prepare agencies for the future P25
migration. Policy outlined in the
earlier Commission letter of December
29, 2009 regarding the availability and
assignment of radio ID's remains in
effect.
In further support of the Commission
requirement the IPSC Network Operations
Center will, prior to issuing any radio
ID, request a submission of the vendor's
radio order form that include the P25
option. The information must be
forwarded via email to
nocipsc@ipsc.in.gov, or by FAX to
317-234-6514. |