Continued state funding of Medicaid and restoration of the original 40% share of lottery proceeds designated for school construction were voted on as the top two priorities for counties for 2015-16. Voting delegates from 89 counties approved 45 proposals in areas such as environment, public education, tax and finance and health and human services during the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners’ (NCACC) Legislative Goals Conference, which was held Jan. 15-16 in Moore County.

“We had representatives from 89 of 100 counties, which shows how important this process is to our members,” said NCACC President Ronnie Beale, a Macon County Commissioner. “We are grateful for the participation of so many counties. We had a very productive conference, but our work is just beginning. We have enjoyed a positive relationship with the General Assembly in recent years, and we look forward to working with the legislature on these goals.”

After voting delegates approved the 45 proposals, each delegate was asked to rank his or her top five priorities. Other priorities were to eliminate the General Statute that allows school boards to sue boards of county commissioners over county appropriations for education, to ensure the state does not shift any funding responsibility for transportation responsibilities such as secondary road construction and maintenance to counties, and to avoid unfunded mandates or shifts of state responsibilities to counties.

Voting delegates debated and voted on 50 proposals during the conference, which was attended by more than 250 county officials. The proposals were among the more than 300 proposals submitted by counties last summer and survived a multi-stage review process to make it into the final package. To see the entire list of goals, please visit the NCACC Web site at www.ncacc.org/index.aspx?nid=480