Bills that prohibit local governments from acting, also known as preemptions, are among the most serious for local governments, because they can keep the government from responding to demands from citizens. This year’s only example, HB 1473, is a minor one. It exempts agricultural  land 40 acres in size or larger from ordinances restricting land use and building construction when those areas are annexed into a city. This could mean cities can never rezone or restrict buildings on this property, even after it is developed. Here’s the Oklahoma Municipal League’s response, which references an earlier version with an even stricter 10-acre minimum.

Another group of bills impose unfunded mandates by adding to local responsibilities and costs without providing additional funding.

• Police offices will be busier with non-core duties as a result of two new bills. HB 1509 adds persons convicted of assisting or harboring known sex offenders to the list of those who must register with local law enforcement authorities. HB 1049 expands open records responsibilities of law enforcement by making all incident reports available for public inspection rather than only those pertaining to an arrest. Most small police departments and county sheriff offices assign such duties to detectives or support personnel with already heavy workloads. As many local governments cut back on staffing due to the recession, these bills adds to the workload at an inopportune time.
• SB 306 and HB 1424 add new requirements to local government regulation of building and land use. The first bill requires governments issuing residential building permits to obtain proof of workers compensation and workers compensation. Since 10,003 permits were issued last year, this will add to building officials’ workloads and to the weight of their filing cabinets. The second bill requires local governments to send a second notice to surrounding properties 30 days in advance of considering a zoning change for multifamily housing, group homes, and similar uses. Both bills could delay the planning and building processes and eventually may lead to increased fees for developers.

There are several other bills that impose relatively minor costs on local governments. One, SB 1166, serves as a cautionary tale of what can go wrong in the legislative process and how it can be righted. The final bill mandates that local governments create districts to provide statewide 911 service by 2012. It does, however, allow these districts to collect a previously authorized fee that covers part of the cost of service. Our earlier post describes an effort to lower this fee, which did not make the final bill. The locals will consider themselves lucky as a result.

For local governments, it’s a sign of a pretty good session when the biggest concern is not preemptions, mandates, or revenue losses, and that’s the case this year. Still, local leaders, especially those from cities, are fuming over the state’s failure to pay the traditional twelve and one-half percent share of federally declared disaster recovery costs. The state has normally paid these costs from an emergency fund that is occasionally replenished in the budget process. It’s out of money, however, and the Oklahoma Municipal League estimates local governments are waiting on $21 million in reimbursements for cleaning up from storms, ice damage, and fires in 2008. Since the Legislature adjourned without refilling the fund, cities and counties presumably will wait at least another year for satisfaction on this count. At least they don’t have too many other wounds to lick from this year’s session.

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The 2009 session was fairly calm for local governments. A later post will address some negative legislative results for local governments. Here are some that most local governments would view as positive:

• SB 431 allows counties to establish fines and to cite and prosecute alleged violators of zoning, subdivision, flood plain, and storm water ordinances. This gives counties more tools to manage the growing development that is taking place outside city limits.
• SB 487 gives state agencies and local governments sued under the Government Tort Claims Act more flexibility in working with claimants to structure settlements. This could allow local governments to reduce property tax impacts of these settlements.
• Local governments got a little more revenue flexibility and freedom from HB 1480, which expands allowable uses of lodging taxes, and HB 1048, which reduces steps counties must take in collecting delinquent property taxes.
• Counties got more management flexibility from HB 1608, which adds sheriff’s deputies and others to the list of public employees who can work shifts of more than eight hours per day, and SB 490, which raises the dollar amount where counties can award contracts to the second lowest bidder if the lowest bidder cannot fulfill the contract.
• HB 1483 gives Oklahoma water use priority over out-of-state use. Oklahoma cities support this bill since it may help them meet growing water demands.
• City governments may find it easier to hire for key positions due to HB 1753, which expands the area in which a city manager may reside to include the school district serving the city and an area within 10 miles of the city limits, and HB 1420, which lets small cities hire part-time city planners.

Local governments came close to another small victory when the Legislature passed SB 490 to increase the number of citizens who must join a taxpayer lawsuit from 10 to 100, but Governor Henry vetoed this bill, claiming “SB 490 would take a backward step and make it more difficult for citizens to hold public officials accountable.” This could be the case, though in this author’s experience as a local official, such suits have more to do with policy disagreements than accountability.

Cities also are happy over the defeat of SB 347 and HB 1484, which would have made it more difficult for city water systems to buy out rural water districts while still protecting the interests of water customers.

Perhaps most important of all the victories–which could affect every county and school district, as well as many cities and special districts–was the defeat of SJR 5 and HJR 1016, which would have allowed voters to limit annual property tax assessment increases to three percent instead of the current five. This would have cost local governments over $20 million the first year and a larger amount each succeeding year. Our fact sheet provides some background on this. Legislative sponsors expressed extreme disappointment at the outcome and indicated it will be back next year.

Next week we’ll discuss the negative impacts this year’s session had on our local governments and report on why the state still owes local governments $21 million for disaster recovery expenses.

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