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News & Notes
SBA Reopens Local Government Investment Pool

The State Board of Administration (SBA) announced the reopening of the Local Government Investment Pool (LGIP) this Thursday, one week after they shut the pool down at an emergency meeting. Over the past few weeks local governments across the state began withdrawing funds from the pool at record rates after learning that specific investments within the LGIP had been downgraded. Upon the pool's reopening Thursday, local governments withdrew approximately $1.2 billion under new guidelines prescribed by the SBA that limit withdrawal amounts.

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FAC 2008 Legislative Conference
Take Our Quick Survey

We recently held our Legislative Conference at the World Golf Village Renaissance Resort in St. Johns County. If you were an attendee at this conference, please help us with future program planning by clicking here in a quick conference survey; the survey should only take a few minutes to complete. Your feedback is very important to us.

FACERS Present $25,000 Scholarship Endowment to University of Central Florida at FAC 2008 Legislative Conference

At the 2008 FAC Legislative Conference, the Florida Association of County Engineers and Road Superintendents (FACERS) presented a $25,000 scholarship endowment to the University of Central Florida. This scholarship, along with scholarships awarded in June to Florida International University, University of Florida and University of South Florida, will result in recurring, annual $1,000 scholarships to deserving Civil Engineering and/or Surveying students in perpetuity.

LCIR Conducts a Study to Identify Available Federal Project and Formula Grants

The Legislative Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (LCIR) is conducting an interim project that will identify federal project and formula grants available and awarded directly to county and municipal governments. As part of this project, the LCIR requests that each county and municipality answer the survey below no later than December 31, 2007. Click here for a direct link to the survey (with instructions).

Medicaid Reform Expansion

In a statement released on Thursday, Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) Secretary Andrew Agwunobi stated that his office would not recommend expanding the Medicaid reform pilot projects to additional counties during the upcoming 2008 legislative session. The pilots that are currently running in five counties (Broward, Duval, Baker, Clay and Nassau) will continue as planned. "We will continue to monitor the progress of the pilot and communicate with stakeholders in the program to gather the information necessary to make sound recommendations to Governor Crist and the Legislature," said Dr. Andrew Agwunobi. During our Legislative Conference last month, FAC membership voted to oppose any expansion of the reform pilots to additional counties until problems highlighted in AHCA's Inspector General's report had been satisfactorily resolved. This announcement from the Agency's secretary is good news and we applaud Dr. Agwunobi's leadership on this matter.

CCC: Financial Management
Make Your Hotel Reservations Today

The Florida Counties Foundation will hold a workshop on Financial Management on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 at the Hilton University of Florida in Gainesville. The workshop will focus on fiscal trends at the state and local level, creating an optimum budgeting plan, current revenues, and developing alternative sources for revenues. Commissioners attending will receive 6 Core credit hours towards their certification. If you plan to attend the Financial Management workshop, please register and make your hotel reservations as soon as possible. The deadline to receive FAC's discounted rate of $139 per night is Friday, December 21.

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NACo Five Star Restoration Challenge Grants

NACo is currently accepting applications for the 2008 Five Star Restoration Challenge Grants. The Five Star Program provides financial assistance on a competitive basis to support community-based wetland, riparian and coastal habitat restoration projects that build diverse partnerships and foster local natural resource stewardship through education, outreach and training activities. Project sites can be public land, such as parks, streams and school campuses, or private land, such as corporate facilities.

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Insurance is a Hidden Asset for Environmental Cleanup

Local governments across the country are experiencing budgetary shortfalls, including shortfalls stemming from the enormous costs resulting from environmental and other liabilities. Many local governments have "historic" insurance coverage to pay for these liabilities, but do not tap into this valuable resource. In fact, insurance often is a forgotten source of funds for local governments. Many local governments have decades-old insurance policies in their files that can help fund environmental cleanup costing millions of dollars. Some local governments may have attempted to tap those insurance dollars, only to be rebuffed by recalcitrant insurance companies. With the right program and team, local governments can collect these insurance dollars.

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Transformational Leadership in State and Local Government
(Creating Post-bureaucratic Performance, Accountability, Innovation, & Results)

21st Century government leaders need new skills and knowledge to transcend bureaucracy and reconnect people with their government. This workshop shows you how. It emphasizes "transformational leadership", not leadership that seeks incremental change or even aspires to an excellent status quo.

Learn how post-bureaucratic leadership can achieve breakthrough results and transform your organization. This workshop ties all the high performance concepts you have been hearing about together and places them in a "makes sense" framework.

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Suwannee River Water Management District Hosting Seminar on Rural Water Reuse Opportunities for Small Communities

The Suwannee River Water Management District is hosting a one-day educational and informational seminar regarding rural water reuse opportunities for small communities. There is no charge for the seminar, but seating is limited. To register, contact Kristel Callahan at 800-226-1066.

SCTAS Special Project Start Date Deadline

This is a reminder to all participating small counties. Please note that the SCTAS Special Projects initiation deadline is approaching. Approved projects must be initiated or at least scheduled no later than December 15, 2007. Failure to do so could result in loss of SCTAS financial assistance.

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Apalachicola River Flow Reduced

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began reducing water flow into the Apalachicola River on November 16, after receiving clearance from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Due to an extended drought, and at the request of the State of Georgia, the Corps asked to reduce the minimum flow by 16%. But the Fish and Wildlife Service only approved an immediate drop of 5%, with more reductions possible in the near future, if drought conditions do not ease. If sufficient minimum flows to the Apalachicola do not occur, the entire ecosystem may be threatened.

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