Memorandum To: County Managers, Assistant Managers, Finance Officers and Budget Directors From:

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1 Memorandum To: County Managers, Assistant Managers, Finance Officers and Budget Directors From: Rebecca Troutman, NCACC Intergovernmental Relations Director Date: March 22, 2012 Subject: Annual Revenue Projections for State-Collected, County-Authorized Revenues Notable Notes Local sales taxes up 7.8 percent through March distribution Projected statewide growth rate in 2-3 percent range; highly dependent upon local economic climate Article 44 hold harmless payment (NOT the Medicaid hold harmless) set to expire August 15, 2012, absent legislative action EMS Enhanced Federal Medicaid payment could be lowered due to expiration of federal stimulus funding July 2013 implementation date for combined motor vehicle registration/property tax collection system; some tax office dual processing likely to occur temporarily Federal TANF Supplemental Grants of $36 million to counties has expired expect further cuts in federal funding Introduction Every year at this time, we develop forecasts of major county revenues and assemble other information to help county officials put together their proposed budgets for the upcoming fiscal year. Please find here a spreadsheet of all local state-collected revenues from We have also linked all other accompanying materials within this main document for your easy retrieval. If the link cannot be accessed, please see our budget website. State and National Economic Outlook North Carolina continues to experience anemic growth post-recession, with largely a jobless recovery still in effect. Last year at this time, state economic expansion had begun to take hold, but the economic shocks of Japan s tsunami, the high price of gas, and the U.S. and European debt crises wiped out much of the economic momentum. North Carolina s economy continued to lag behind the U.S in 2011, similar to that experienced in In his March 13 economic forecast, Dr. John Connaughton, UNCC s Babson Capital Professor of Financial Economics, finds that our state s GDP grew at 1.1 percent versus the U.S. s 1.7 percent growth. With more jobs in manufacturing and housing, North Carolina suffered more severely in the economic downturn, losing 334,300 jobs, and adding only 33,000 jobs last year. Dr. Connaughton does project an improving job outlook in 2012, with a 2 percent increase in state GDP, although he cautions that it will take five to six years to regain 2007 employment levels. Wells Fargo notes that revised employment figures show better gains in North Carolina than previously calculated, but an addition of nearly 100,000 new residents increases the state s revised unemployment rate to

2 10.2 percent in January, the fifth highest nationally. Wells Fargo cautions that three hard realities will continue to stymie national economic growth housing, federal deficits, and job skills mismatch. While forecasters predict continuing recovery in 2012, growth predictions are modest at best and do not track with past post-recessionary recoveries. Nationally, the U.S. economy is predicted to expand by 1.9 percent (Wells Fargo Economics), on par with the state economic outlook (Connaughton, UNCC). Fortunately, albeit somewhat surprisingly, local sales tax collections post a 7.8 percent gain through the first six months of the fiscal year. Pent-up demand by consumers, a mild winter allowing home improvements and outdoor activities, and a stabilizing job environment are believed to be the main drivers. The State Budget In managing a budget gap of nearly 15 percent, General Assembly members remained adamant that the state s budget problems would not become county budget problems. Counties are grateful that legislative leaders recognized that the same financial pressures facing state budget writers drove county budget cuts as well. Of greatest concern to the state budget picture is the growing Medicaid deficit, expected at $159 million over budget. Slow federal approvals of 2011 state Medicaid budget cuts, coupled with unfavorable court rulings and federal audits, have led to this growing gap. While the budget does provide remedies for not meeting Medicaid budget targets, options such as provider rate cuts and reduction or elimination of optional services are unpopular. As of this writing, it is still uncertain as to how the Medicaid gap will be handled. State revenues through February are slightly ahead of projections. Based on the most recent analysis by the General Assembly s Fiscal Research Division, state revenue collections through February are $145 million above the $11.1 billion, or 1.3 percent. Per state analysis, recent economic activity points to recovery patterns similar to that experienced last spring. Income tax withholdings have improved, and baseline sales tax collections through February are up 7.1 percent. However, the report notes that January sales receipts were 1.5% below state budget targets, and that the second half of the fiscal year has an aggressive growth rate of 6 percent built into the budget. Rising gas prices could dampen consumer spending. All in all, the consensus for this fiscal year s state revenue is an overall baseline growth of 3.6 percent and net State revenue growth of 4.7 percent. State base sales tax collections are expected to grow by 5.2 percent, suggesting that the local sales tax growth of 7.8 percent in the first six months will mitigate in the second The General Assembly will convene May 16 for a short session designed primarily to tweak the second year of the state s biennial budget. Legislative leaders have promised just that a very short session lasting six weeks. NCACC staff have been meeting with House and Senate appropriations chairs, and their commitment to protecting county budgets remains strong. As one budget writer noted, shifting state responsibilities to counties would in turn increase his property taxes. To ensure focused attention to county budget priorities, the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners is seeking greater lottery funding to guarantee that counties can meet their ongoing debt obligations and school capital needs. Annual lottery appropriations are allocated via the state budget bill. Also, per last year s budget actions, the non-recurring cuts in community mental health are scheduled to be restored another key county budget issue. It s important to note that the General Assembly is under no obligation to take any budget action other than federal block grant allocations and other minor modifications, given that the second year s budget is already in place. Our discussions with the legislative appropriations chairs suggest that few budget adjustments may be forthcoming. We understand that Governor Perdue will propose temporary restoration of the 3/4 cent state sales tax in her budget request, and direct those proceeds to education. Her proposal thus far has been met with a cool legislative reception. Upon receipt of the governor s budget, we will conduct and distribute a comprehensive analysis of her proposal and its impacts on county budgets. 2

3 State revenues undergirding the budget include a 3.1 percent sales tax growth. Escalating gas prices could negatively impact overall sales tax collections. Last year s consensus revenue estimate may be revisited after personal tax collections are tallied in April. The Medicaid deficit is expected to compound in costs, upwards of $250 million. For locally paid school employees, counties can expect the state health plan annual premium of $4,035 for Medicare-eligible employees and retirees and $5,192 for all others. Unless adjusted in the budget, the employer retirement contribution for locally paid school employees will equal percent of salary, but a recent refresh of state actuarial assumptions may keep this nearer the 2012 level of percent. As a reminder, the budget includes additional reductions of $74 million for public schools, with total recurring cuts of nearly $500 million. A $20 million non-recurring cut in school bus replacements will also kick in. The non-recurring cuts for community mental health, $20 million for service cuts and an additional $25 million offset by LME fund balances, will be automatically restored, absent legislative action. The House takes the lead with budget action this biennium. Medicaid Relief Swap The General Assembly enacted a Medicaid relief swap package in its budget (House Bill 1473) to phase out the county share of Medicaid over three years, with the final components of the relief swap occurring in Prior to the Medicaid relief swap, the state required counties to pay 15 percent of the non-federal share, the last state requiring county financial participation in all Medicaid services. Counties continue to bear the total non-federal portion for Medicaid administrative costs, estimated at $106 million for Counties still need to budget some marginal funds for Medicaid transportation administration and will need to closely track Medicaid eligibility determination error rates. Sustained and habitual errors in eligibility determination may result in the county being responsible for the federal and state pay-back for the Medicaid services costs inappropriately incurred. To help the state absorb the additional Medicaid cost, counties relinquished a half cent of their local sales tax the per capita portion of the Article 44 sales tax effective with sales made on or after Oct. 1, 2008, and the point of sale portion of Article 44 effective with sales made on or after Oct. 1, To mitigate state financial exposure, the Article 42 sales tax changed from a per capita distribution to that of a point of delivery basis, beginning with the October 2009 distribution (January payment). Since the per capita food sales tax is no longer statutorily tied to Article 42, it remains distributed on a per capita basis. Counties also are required to hold their cities harmless for their Article 44 loss, adjusted by the Article 42 distribution change. Please remember that sales tax collections and distributions are roughly three months apart in , counties saw Article 44 eliminated with the distribution they received in January However, as sales tax refunds from hospitals, non-profits, local governments, and other entities are processed, generally with a year or more lag from the sale, the Article 44 posting on the sales tax monthly distribution report may show negative amounts for some time to come. The Medicaid relief swap includes a hold harmless provision that guarantees each county will benefit by at least $500,000 in Medicaid relief every year in perpetuity. Eligible counties receive 90 percent of the estimated hold harmless payment by March 15, with a truing up of the actual payment due by Aug. 15. In this and future years, the Medicaid hold harmless payment is based on actual performance actual Medicaid savings versus actual foregone sales taxes. The fifth annual Medicaid hold harmless report was released March 15 March 2012 hold harmless report. Please find here the methodology and estimate for the Medicaid hold harmless payment. The Department of Revenue calculates the city loss monthly and withholds this amount ostensibly from the county s Article 39 monthly distribution (reduction is actually made against total county allocation). DoR includes the city hold harmless in the city s monthly distribution. The Local Government Commission recommends that counties book the city hold harmless against their Article 39 receipts. 3

4 Because the Medicaid relief swap affects Articles 44, 39 and 42, counties must project their sales tax revenues accordingly the county s actual loss in Article 44, the city s loss of Article 44 being deducted from the county s Article 39, and the county/city impact for Article 42 shifting to a point of delivery basis. Counties receiving the Article 44 hold harmless payments from lost reimbursements will continue to receive these funds until the current expiration date of 2012 ( fiscal year), absent legislative action. Current law requires counties to use 60 percent of Article 42 receipts for public school capital outlay purposes as defined in G.S. 115C-426(f) or to retire any indebtedness incurred by the county for these purposes. The General Assembly modified this requirement in the 2008 technical corrections bill (S1704), to require counties whose Article 42 receipts would be less under the point of delivery allocation to earmark enough revenue to make up for the loss of school construction funding. Discussions with General Assembly staff and School of Government faculty indicate that the required school construction set-asides under Articles 40 and 42 do not apply to the food sales taxes previously levied under these articles. A reformatting of the N.C. Department of Revenue s sales tax distribution report now clearly shows those sales tax collections attributed to food sales. To help counties calculate the monthly required setaside, please find here a suggested methodology, based on data supplied via the sales tax distribution report. As a reminder, Article 42 and Article 40 set-aside dollars are to be used by counties to meet their statutory obligations regarding school construction and maintenance; this is not a funding stream directly to schools. Federal Healthcare Legislation As a reminder, the federal healthcare reform legislation passed in 2010 expands Medicaid eligibility to all individuals under 65 with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level effective until This will greatly increase county DSS eligibility caseloads, but sufficient automation should be in place to help counties with eligibility determination. Federal Deficit Reduction Impacts The Budget Control Act of 2011 sets deficit reduction targets of $841 billion for discretionary spending caps and $1.2 trillion for the Super Committee s deficit reduction plan. Since the committee could not reach consensus, and barring further Congressional action, sequestration is scheduled to begin Jan 2, 2013, leading to automatic across-the-board spending cuts of $2 trillion over nine years, half from defense and half from nondefense discretionary spending. Cuts of up to 10 percent are projected for 2013, unless further legislative action is taken. H1779 Combined Motor Vehicle Property Tax Collection/Vehicle Registration System Starts 7/1/1/13; Initial Impacts in In 2005 and in pursuit of a statewide county legislative goal, NCACC worked closely with then-freshman legislator Rep. Dale Folwell (Forsyth-R) to enact a combined vehicle registration and property tax collection system. North Carolina was the only state collecting property taxes in arrears of registration renewals, and the property tax collection rate on motor vehicles was 10 percentage points lower than that for all other property. Counties were losing $55 million annually, and spending thousands or more on vehicle tax collection activities. H1779 implemented a delinquent motor vehicle taxpayer surcharge to begin development of an automated system that would combine the billing and collection of motor vehicle property taxes with DMV s license plate renewal process. After several fits and starts, and legislative extensions of the required implementation date, the combined system is set to be in place and operational on July 1, The state will be selecting the automation vendor within the next month. The combined system s implementation plan calls for the counties to process their first group of vehicles under the new system in March 2013 (these are the July 2013 renewals). This means the new Vehicle Tax System (VTS) must be operational, all county users trained and the initial conversion completed prior to March It is anticipated that county tax offices will need to maintain dual processes for several months as the system is brought online. Budget implications include possible overtime or part-time staff help to cover the dual 4

5 processing, staff training, and data cleanup and conversion. County computer interfaces may also need upgrading. ADM Fund and Lottery Proceeds for School Construction ADM Fund The General Assembly redirected once again all of the biennium corporate tax set-asides for school construction, the statutory revenue stream for the county ADM Fund, to state public school operating expenses. While the General Assembly s funds diversion did not impact current ADM Fund balances, we remain concerned that fund balances in both the ADM and Lottery Fund could be targeted if the state revenue picture deteriorates. For your county s balance, please see the ADM Fund Special Summary Report, under the Public School Building Capital (ADM) Fund link at this site. Lottery Proceeds The state budget appropriated $100 million in county school capital lottery proceeds, and while far shy of the $170 million statutorily required, it reflects a strong commitment to honor past pledges to counties in a difficult budget environment and is well above the initial budget target of $55 million. What s more, state budget writers also directed that any lottery revenues generated in excess of the appropriated levels for all eligible expenses be allocated for school capital needs. Lottery sales are up, and some additional revenues are being deposited in the counties school capital accounts in each quarterly distribution. A special provision allocated the appropriated county lottery monies on a straight per pupil basis, effectively for the fourth time in as many years, setting aside the statutory allocation that favors counties with effective tax rates above the statewide average. We are doubtful that this statutory distribution among counties will be used in the future. Please find here an estimate of county lottery funds based on the $100 million appropriation and the estimated statutory allocation (40 percent of net lottery revenues), allocated on a per pupil basis. As a reminder, net lottery revenues are statutorily allocated with 50 percent to early grade classroom reduction, and at-risk pre-k programs, 40 percent for school capital needs, and 10 percent for university and community college scholarships. Once the school capital lottery appropriations are made to the Public School Building Capital Fund, county access to those funds mirrors the process for accessing current ADM Fund dollars in terms of project approval and uses with two major exceptions lottery dollars do not require a local match and cannot be used for technology projects. Local Government Retirement System At its Jan. 28, 2012, meeting, the North Carolina Local Government Employees Retirement System (LGERS) Board of Trustees approved a.14 percentage point decrease to the employer annual retirement contribution (ARC), based on a refresh of demographic and economic actuarial assumptions. Furthermore, the Board approved a three-year holiday for death benefit payments, saving counties roughly $6.7 million over the three years. While not all counties elect the death benefit for all employees, counties must provide this to law enforcement officers at.14 percent of salary. Effective July 1, 2012, the ARC base rate will decrease to 6.74 percent of payroll for general county employees, and 6.77 percent for law enforcement personnel (7.22 offset by court cost fee of.45). Each county should have received its notice of employer contribution rates from the N.C. Department of State Treasurer, Retirement Systems Division. County Revenue Streams The following sections outline those county revenue streams that are either collected on behalf of counties or are state-shared, local revenues. 5

6 Local Option Sales Taxes Our original projections for sales tax distributions recommended a 2 percent increase over receipts. Through the March payment, representing December sales, local sales tax distributions are up 7.8 percent year to date, with erratic shifts in monthly payments due to payment of refunds. For the remaining months, sales tax collections are likely to be in the 3 to 4 percent range. We reference sales taxes by their statutory citations in General Statute Chapter 105: Article 39 one percent point of delivery, authorized 1971, food in base Article 40 one-half percent per capita, authorized 1983, 30 percent set aside for school capital, food in base as state sales tax; school capital set-aside not required on food portion Article 42 one-half percent point of delivery, authorized 1986, 60 percent set aside for school capital, converted to point of delivery October 2009, food in base as state sales tax; set-aside not required on food portion Article 44 one-half percent authorized 2001 to replace repealed reimbursements, ¼ cent per capita ceded to state October 2008, ¼ cent point of delivery ceded to state October 2009, no food Article 46 one-quarter percent point of delivery, authorized 2007, no food, no municipal share, requires referendum Please visit the budget website for spreadsheets showing the countywide, and local government, sales tax distributions by Article, including those receipts due to sales tax on food for home consumption. Sales Taxes Changes It s important to define the sequencing of sales, collections, allocation and distribution to help in projecting sales tax receipts. For example, August collections reflect July vendor sales, which are processed and allocated in September, with a local government distribution made on or before Oct. 15. The October payment is the first month s sales tax distribution allocated to the July-June fiscal year. Put another way, local government sales tax distributions in any given month reflect the actual sales made three months prior. Please note that the 2 percent local sales tax on food its administration and accounting is treated as if it is a state sales tax beginning with the Oct. 1, 2003, collections (Jan. 12, 2004, payment report). For allocation purposes, one-half of the food sales tax is distributed on a per capita basis while the other half is distributed proportional to the Article 39 tax on food. The summary sales tax distribution report reflects county sales taxes attributable to food for the point of delivery portion of sales taxes. Overall, food accounted for $127 million per penny in , or 14.6 percent of the total. As a reminder, you may access all local sales tax distribution reports from our Links page. Sales Taxes Refunds We encourage counties to monitor closely the sales tax refunds debited from their county area distribution, given the growth and expansion of these refunds. Overall, these refunds are now at $223 million for the local share alone. Per G.S (f), counties may request in writing to DoR the refund detail for the previous 12 months, and the sales tax distribution report lists the total refunds month by month. Article 39 For Article 39, counties need to decide whether a 2-3 percent growth in sales tax collections appropriately reflects their specific economic conditions such as job losses, changes in net migration, and availability of retail options. Article 40 Article 40 is distributed on a per capita basis, with 30 percent of Article 40 receipts dedicated to school capital. We recommend that counties consider a 2-3 percent growth in their Article 40 sales tax revenues. 6

7 As noted earlier, discussions with General Assembly staff and School of Government faculty indicate that the required school construction set-asides under Articles 40 and 42 do not apply to the food sales taxes previously levied under these articles. Article 42 Article 42 was converted from a per capita to a point-of-delivery basis with sales made on or after Oct. 1, Sixty percent of Article 42 receipts are dedicated to school capital. For Article 42, counties need to decide whether a 2-3 percent growth in sales tax collections appropriately reflects their specific economic conditions such as job losses, changes in net migration, and availability of retail options. The food sales tax receipts originally levied under Article 42, now levied under Article 5, the state s sales tax legislation, remain distributed on a per capita basis. Article 44 The remaining portion of Article 44 was ceded to the state on sales made on or after Oct. 1, Counties saw a reduction in their cash-basis distribution in January 2009, and may continue to see Article 44 adjustments as refund requests are processed, and sales tax discoveries are made. Hold Harmless Legislation authorizing Article 44 provided for a hold harmless provision for those local governments whose expected Article 44 receipts do not replace their repealed state reimbursements. Per G.S , by May 1 of each year, the Department of Revenue (DoR) and the Fiscal Research Division of the General Assembly must estimate what Article 44 would generate for all local governments, based on their existing allocations for Articles 39, 40 and 42. If a locality s repealed reimbursements are $100 or more than their anticipated Article 44 receipts, the Secretary of Revenue must submit an annual payment of that difference by August 15, and take the hold harmless funds from the state s sales tax receipts. The 2004 Appropriations Act (H. 1414) amended by guaranteeing hold harmless payments through 2012 (last payment in ). The Medicaid relief swap continues the Article 44 hold harmless through its existing sunset. The hold harmless payment was $22.3 million. Given the preliminary consensus forecast of 3.1 percent growth in sales taxes, counties should expect a decrease in the last payment of the Article 44 state hold harmless funds. Article 46 Article 46 was authorized as a part of the 2007 Medicaid Relief swap, whereby legislators acknowledged the substantial infrastructure and operating demands facing county governments. It is allocated point of delivery, does not apply to sales on food for home consumption, and is not shared with municipalities. For those counties interested in the mechanics of the Article 46 referendum and levy, NCACC maintains a webpage that tracks referenda results and a FAQ sheet on authority and levy. Also find here an estimate of the levy, based on sales taxes distributed to each county in Counties will need to adjust these estimates based on current economic activity. e-911 Fees State legislation, effective Jan. 1, 2008, preempted local authority to set an e-911 landline fee and substituted a statewide rate of 70 cents on all voice communications service connections, including landline, wireless and voice over internet protocol (VoIP). The 911 Board the statewide entity charged with overseeing the 911 service charge and its use, reduced the monthly rate to 60 cents effective July 1, 2010, but did not reduce the monthly distributions made to eligible PSAPS. An annual allocation of $63.3 million had been distributed to counties and cities via monthly allotments and was based on the PSAP s landline receipts and wireless allocation. After years of county legislative efforts to expand the use of e-911 fees for call taking and call dispatch, the 2010 General Assembly enacted House Bill 1691, which added telecommunicator furniture and any dispatch equipment located exclusively within a building where a PSAP is located to the list of eligible expenditures. H1691 also expanded the 911 Board to include additional local government representation. 7

8 H1691 also directed the 911 Board to develop a new funding formula that is equitable and sustainable and that ensures distributions for eligible operating costs and anticipated increases for all funded PSAPs. The monthly e-911 distribution based on a snapshot in time amount creates a static funding stream that will not accommodate new technologies or current spending patterns. And, given a limited list of eligible expenditures, most PSAPs accumulated large fund balances within their emergency telephone funds. H1691 enables counties and cities with eligible PSAPs to spend 50 percent of their emergency telephone fund balance on any public safety expense, including field radios. Such expenses must be incurred within fiscal years 2011 and The remaining fund balance is reserved for eligible categories of expense. H1691 can also restrict the amount of carryover from year to year to 20 percent of annual distributions. The Board convened a working group, which included county representation, to study and propose a new distribution formula. The new formula as adopted by the 911 Board at its December 2010 meeting provides for a five-year rolling average of expenditures as a base amount for the distribution, with a total allocation of $46.4 million. Counties may petition the board for additional funding, and separate grant funding opportunities are also available for large capital investments or consolidation activities. Participating counties should have now received notice of their distribution. The board has also adopted minimum standards for PSAP operations its draft plan undergoing the state s rules review process requires a minimum of two telecommunicators be available at all times. Video Programming Revenues House Bill 2047, effective Jan. 1, 2007, eliminated county and city government authority to award or renew local franchise agreements for cable services (G.S ). To replace lost local cable franchise fee revenues, G.S I requires DoR to distribute part of the state sales tax collected on video programming and telecommunications services to counties and cities on a quarterly basis. For municipalities and counties that did impose a cable franchise tax, the amount is based on the cable franchise tax and PEG channel subscriber fee revenue imposed from July 1 through Dec. 31, For those that did not impose a cable franchise tax before July 1, 2006, the amount is based upon population. In , $24.2 million was distributed to counties, a 4 percent decrease over the prior fiscal year with total video programming revenues down 3 percent. Year to date revenues for all local governments in this fiscal year are up 6.5 percent, largely due to increases in satellite TV service revenues (based on distribution months, not collection months). Counties may wish to maintain revenues at the distribution levels. Counties with qualifying public, educational and governmental (PEG) channels are also entitled to supplemental PEG operating funds for up to three certified channels. H1691 (see e-911 fees above) increased the allocation for county and city PEG channels by $2 million, bringing the total allocation to $4 million beginning in H1691 also eliminated the $25,000 per PEG channel ceiling, and instead allocates the $4 million proportionately across all certified PEG channels. Using the current number of certified PEG channels 123 would equate to roughly $32,500 per channel. Please bear in mind that the additional $2 million comes from the current statutory set-aside of state telecommunications taxes so an increase in the PEG channel allotment reduces the video programming allotment by a like amount. Please also remember that you must certify your PEG channels to DoR each year by July 15, by visiting this site. Beer and Wine Taxes By law, the beer and wine distribution must be made within 60 days after March 31. Please also note that the share received by the county government can be affected by changes in population within the county. The 2011 payment was $34 million, up 4.4 percent over the payment (absent the state withholding), of which counties received $11.4 million, up 3.2 percent. State analysts project a 4-5 percent increase in beer and wine taxes for next fiscal year. White Goods and Scrap Tire Disposal Taxes A portion of the tax collected to offset disposal costs for white goods and scrap tires is distributed quarterly to counties on a per capita basis. In 2011, $3 million and $12 million, respectively, were allocated in disposal taxes to counties, a 31 percent increase in white goods and a 20 percent increase in scrap tire receipts. Through the 8

9 February 2012 payment, scrap tire distributions were up 6.3 percent while white goods distributions were down slightly, reflecting in part expiration of the federal stimulus credits for purchasing energy efficient appliances. Continued economic improvement should increase scrap tire tax and white goods revenues in As a reminder, state budget action for redirected the special grants programs for these taxes but left intact the direct allocation to counties. $2 Ton Statewide Tipping Fee The General Assembly enacted a $2 per-ton statewide tipping tax in 2007 via S1492 and S6, in conjunction with the rewrite of the state s solid waste landfill disposal laws. The excise tax went into effect July 1, 2008, and is charged on municipal solid waste and construction and demolition debris that is deposited in a landfill in the state or transferred at a transfer station for disposal outside the state. The proceeds of the tax are distributed as follows: 50 percent to the Inactive Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund to help pay for assessment and remediation of pre-1983 landfills (including abandoned, unlined city or county dumps), percent to cities on a per capita basis for solid waste management programs and services, percent to counties on a per capita basis for solid waste management programs and services, and 12.5 percent to the Solid Waste Management Trust Fund for grants to local governments and state agencies. County per capita figures exclude those persons residing within a city. Proceeds of the tax can only be used to support solid waste programs or services. A city or county is excluded from the distribution if it does not provide solid waste management programs and services and is not responsible by contract for payment of the programs and services, unless it is served by a regional solid waste management authority. A city or county that receives funds and is served by a regional solid waste management authority must forward the amount it receives to that authority. In , distributions to counties and cities equaled $6.8 million, with quarterly payments at $1.8 million for the last two quarters. State Allotments for Public Schools Please find here the N.C. Department of Public Instruction s budget planning allotments for next fiscal year. You will find the estimated average daily membership for your LEA(s) and charter schools. Please find here the local salary supplements paid to teachers and other school employees in Charter Schools Last year s Senate Bill 8 removed the cap on charter schools, and the State Board of Education recently fasttracked approval of nine new charter schools for the fiscal year. Additional charter initiatives for the school year will be considered during the application and planning process to be initiated in April. The allocation method to share county current expense dollars with charter schools continues as originally enacted the county makes its current expense appropriation to its LEA(s), and the LEA shares the county s current expense appropriation with the charter school serving the county s students on a per pupil basis. No capital funding is authorized. State Estimates for Social Services Programs/NCACC EMS Federal Medicaid Enhancement Project Please find here the DHHS budget estimates for the county share in social services programs. The most significant change is the expiration of the federal TANF supplemental grant program, with annual funding of $36 million to counties. This loss, coupled with overall reductions in TANF funding, will result in an estimated 20 percent reduction in total TANF dollars. Restoration of the TANF supplemental funding is one of the four key congressional issues that NCACC is pursuing with our Congressional delegation. In more favorable news, NC-DHHS continues progress on the NCFAST automation initiative to provide better tools for county social services workers. Counties should be preparing for NCFAST implementation by ensuring that appropriate equipment and network access are in place. Each year, NCACC conducts a Medicaid cost finding process for county EMS services to maximize federal Medicaid dollars in support of emergency EMS services. This May, we anticipate returning more than $34 million for participating counties. 9

10 For North Carolina, the normal FMAP share (federal medical assistance percentage) offsets roughly 65 cents for every dollar spent in Medicaid services, with the state funding the remainder. For the past several years, Congress has provided a higher federal share of Medicaid expenses to help states cope with the economic crisis. As a part of the first and subsequent federal stimulus packages, North Carolina has enjoyed federal participation at roughly 75 cents on the dollar. The additional FMAP expired last December, so future EMS Medicaid cost settlements return to the normal NC FMAP percentage. Holding all other factors such as number and costs of trips constant, the reduction in FMAP can lower an individual county s cost settlement by roughly 11 percent. Counties can expect more robust Medicaid auditing processes connected with both emergency and nonemergency transport. Each county EMS program will be subject to Medicaid auditing in conjunction with the cost finding process. In addition, non-emergency transportation will also face significant changes over the next several months. Past federal audits have revealed error rates for services and payments for non-emergency transportation approaching 10 percent of total. To minimize future error rates, NC-DHHS convened a stakeholder s process to identify new documentation and training processes, some of which may result in additional paperwork for public transportation and social services departments. Summary of Revenue Estimates Statewide sales tax: 2-3 percent growth E-911 fees : per new formula allocation Beer and wine 4-5 percent growth Video programming: 2011 levels White goods & scrap tire: some growth in white goods and scrap tire Statewide tipping fee: no growth Department of Revenue Contact List Please find below Department of Revenue staff by area of responsibility. As a reminder, the distribution unit has been combined with the property tax division into the consolidated Local Government Division, under the direction of David Baker. Questions about the amount of revenue included in a distribution Cindy Honeycutt, Distribution Unit, (919) Questions about a county s sales tax refund Susan Broadwell, Examinations Division, (919) Interpretation of sales tax or occupancy tax laws Eric Wayne, Director, Sales and Use Tax Division, (919) Requests for a list of claimants that received a sales tax refund in a county Cindy Honeycutt, Distribution Unit, (919) Requests for statistical data related to State-collected taxes Bill Spencer, Director Policy Analysis and Statistics Division, (919) To change the address at which you receive notification of distributions Rhonda Raynor, Financial Services Division, (919) If you have failed to receive an notification of your distributions, do not contact DOR, but instead call the Office of State Controller at (919) NCACC Contact Rebecca Troutman, NCACC IGR Director, ( ) or rebecca.troutman@ncacc.org. 10