Souped-Up Driving Simulator Rolling Soon

The TAC driving simulator that has been instrumental in providing safety training to more than 5,300 county employees is about to be switched out with a new model that takes advantage of a variety of technology’s latest tricks.

The old-model simulator introduced in 2000 focused on training emergency personnel and road/bridge drivers to handle their vehicles safely. The new model has some high-tech bells and whistles that will enhance the training, including:

• Pit Maneuvers. Law enforcement personnel can now learn to stop fleeing vehicles by bumping them from behind and throwing them into a spin.
• Road Hazards. The simulator can make a deer or pedestrian walk into the road ahead, or a pothole appear in the street.
• Firefighting Simulations. Volunteer firefighters can now drive to a burning building, navigate through pedestrians and thick smoke on wet streets, set up and start pumping.
• Personalized Safety Scenarios. TAC safety staff can create personalized road scenarios for counties, based on the county’s needs and safety concerns.
• Automated Scorekeeping. The new simulator tracks a driver’s mistakes – missing stop lights and signs, speeding, failing to signal, hitting curbs, following traffic too closely – and keeps a tally. The simulator also shows results in real time, so trainers and drivers can go back and look at the incidents that lead to violations.
• Convoy Driving. The simulator will train two drivers at once, either in two trucks or in one truck and one emergency vehicle, to emphasize safe driving distances.
• Plasma screens. Realistic graphics and high definition screens improve the driver’s sense of actually being on the scene.
• Shaker seat. Road and Bridge scenarios are treated to a shaker seat, which gives the driver a real sense of motion. The simulator’s realism extends overheating engines, tire blowouts and visible flashing lights when emergency vehicles, including ambulances, run their lights and sirens.
• Open design. A more open environment helps decrease any instances of motion sickness.

The additions and other enhancements will improve TAC’s driver training capability. For scheduling information, call Don Courtney at 800-456-5974 or talk to a TAC safety representative. No quarters are required.

Registration Now Open for Nov. Public Funds Investment Conference

Everyone can use a little sound advice when it comes to investments, but those who handle public funds must be even more cautious. With all the changes in the investment market, it only makes sense to get the best advice and training possible.

That’s why TAC created its Texas Public Funds Investment Conference. Each year, officials and staff who handle public funds gather for an intensive training session. Investment officers and officials who attend the training receive 10 education credits toward the 20 credits required by the Texas Public Funds Investment Act.

The Texas Public Funds Investment Conference will be held Nov. 15-16 at the Renaissance Houston Hotel. Conference registration is already available online at www.county. org. Call 713-629-1200 for hotel reservations.

Outstanding County Programs Eligible for Innovations Award

Harvard University is inviting counties, cities and other governmental bodies to apply for its Innovations in American Government Award. The Innovations Award, heralded as one of the premier public- sector awards in the nation, is given out annually to creative and effective governmental programs.

Each winner of the award will receive a $100,000 grant to support replication and dissemination of the winning programs. The award is administered by the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

The Innovation Award’s aim is to provide “concrete evidence that government can work to improve the quality of life for citizens and that it deserves the greater public trust,” according to the program’s announcement. “The program serves as a catalyst for continued progress in addressing the nation’s most pressing public concerns.”

Winners will be picked based on the program’s novelty, effectiveness, significance and transferability.

For more information about the award, or for an application, visit the Ash Institute Website at www.innovationsaward.harvard.edu.

Pool Board Votes to Issue Renewal Credits

Following on the heels of two other TAC Pools, the Board of Directors of the Texas Association of Counties Health and Employee Benefi ts Pool (TAC HEBP) voted to issue $6 million in performance-based renewal credits to members of the pool who renew their medical coverage with TAC HEBP this year. Th is makes the third TAC pool to issue results- driven renewal credits to its members in the past two years, bringing the total that has been returned to the members of the pools to more than $20 million.

At its annual rate-setting meeting this June, the TAC HEBP board reviewed the fi nancial statements and recommendations from TAC staff and the independent actuarial fi rm of Rudd and Wisdom. For the last several years, the pool has performed well fi - nancially and built its required reserves. After meeting its reserve requirements, additional surplus was available. “Th e pool has had some good claims experience in recent years and we’ve also negotiated some savings on key contracts, so the rates have been pretty stable and we’ve met our financial obligations,” said Roberts County Judge Vernon Cook, board chair. “The board was delighted to be able to share that success with the members.

The board, comprised of county offi cials representing the Pool members, also set new rates for the upcoming 2007-2008 plan year. After discussing several fi nancial options – including simply lowering the rates and foregoing a credit altogether. – the offi cials opted for a modest 3.5 percent average rate increase and a credit for groups that renew coverage. “It’s tempting to just cut the rates, but the rates have to refl ect what next year’s medical claims will be. If we lower the rates below expected costs, next year we’d have rate increases that are double our average, maybe more,” said Bill norwood, Manager of Employee Benefi ts Programs for TAC. “That defeats the whole purpose of pooling, which is to stabilize rates over the long term.”

TAC HEBP, like commercial insurance carriers, is required to maintain suffi cient reserves, or savings, to ensure its ability to pay all covered medical expenses. In addition, the TAC HEBP Board of Directors can set aside reserves to help stabilize rates for pool members during diffi cult market cycles. For example, when the market tightens periodically, as it did in 2002, reinsurance costs can easily double or triple if coverage is available at all. Having adequate reserves allows the pool to ride out temporary market cycles over the long term, instead of passing on cost increases to the members.

The amount of the credit for each group depends on how long it has carried health coverage with TAC HEBP and how much it has contributed to the surplus. Each group’s rates are diff erent, based on the type of plan it off ers, the demographics of the group and the group’s size.

“TAC HEBP uses the best underwriting methods available. But it’s never been an exact science. Statistically, you need really large numbers to be predictable,” said norwood. “For the pool as a whole, we are very accurate. But when you get down to smaller groups, say less than 1,000 employees, it gets a lot less predictable. For example, we know that we’ll have two or three (organ) transplants every year and they will run about $350,000 each. But we can’t predict which county will have them.”

The credits will be issued on each monthly invoice beginning with the group’s anniversary date. Groups must have been a member for at least one full year in order to qualify for the credit.

TAC staff cautioned counties against creating expectations for artifi cially low costs in the future.

“As in any business, there are good years and bad years. In this market, a renewal credit is not something you can expect to happen every year, but it does emphasize the diff erence between a county-owned pool and commercial carrier,” said Jim Jean, TAC’s Program Administration director.

The TAC HEBP Board follows similar moves by other county-managed pools in the past year. Last year, the TAC Risk Management Fund Board of Directors issued $6 million in performance-based renewal credits and another $8 million is on the way to its members for 2007. In addition, the TAC Workers’ Compensation Fund Board of Directors issued $1.49 million in renewal credits during its last contract renewal. For pool members, the renewal credits come as a welcome reward for their hard work in reducing risks and controlling losses at the local level.

“Th e fact that counties are receiving renewal credits did not happen by accident,” said Richard Slagle, TAC’s Director of Field Services. He said that most pool members, working closely with our human resources, safety, and law enforcement loss control teams, were able to identify their major areas of loss exposure and then develop programs to control those exposures.

“The resulting lower claims costs certainly contributed to the renewal credits available to those proactive counties,” Slagle said. “I think the real story here is just what can happen when counties work together. Counties created these pools because the commercial markets weren’t meeting their needs,” said Karen Ann norris, TAC’s executive director. .”The Pools are financially strong, which is so important to the counties, and ultimately the local taxpayer.

“That strength is what allows us to give back to the members when the pools are having a good year,” she continued. “Every one of these pools is governed by county officials, so we understand counties better than anyone else could. Counties can be proud of what they’ve accomplished with these Pools.”

NACo Survey Reveals County Officials’ Views, Makeup

The 2007 National Survey of County Elected Officials, taken voluntarily by attendees of the National Association of Counties Annual Conference, made some revelations, for those who are interested in local officials’ thoughts on major national issues such as the Iraq War, immigration and the economy.

The survey, sponsored by the National Center for the Study of Counties, concluded that “raising revenue is the greatest problem facing counties.” Specifically, officials said they were most worried about taxes, maintaining infrastructure, economic development, crime and drugs, managing growth and unfunded mandates, in that order. Generally, though, unfunded mandates were a much greater cause of NACo Survey Reveals County Officials’ Views, Makeup concern.

Officials were also asked to rate the economic condition of both the nation and their own county. Forty-two percent of the respondents said they believed their county was doing well economically; only 11 percent responded they were doing poorly. Nationally, 18 percent believe the United States economy is doing poorly. Republicans were much more optimistic than Democrats, though about 40 percent of respondents said balancing their budget was more difficult this year than in past years.

When asked which national problems were most disturbing, county officials rated the number of Americans without health insurance as the most troubling national issue, followed by the number of American jobs going overseas, the lack of control over illegal immigration, declining moral values and standards and the growing gap between the rich and the poor. The lowest-ranked choice was the quality of public education, which received 14 percent of votes.

Taking a closer look at the health care problem, the survey asked officials how they would like to see Congress address the issue. About 39 percent said they want to somehow reduce health care costs; 24 percent said health insurance coverage should be expanded to cover more people; and 13 percent said medical standards should be increased. However, 62 percent said they prefer the current private health care system to other options.

In other news, 34 percent of county officials are at least 66 years young, and 33 percent are between the ages of 56 and 65, and the vast majority of county elected officials are white males. More survey results can be found by visiting the NACo Website at www. naco.org.

TAC Health and Employee Benefits Pool Reports Cost Savings

Counties who are members of TAC’s Health and Employee Benefits Pool are continuing to reap cost-savings as the result of the pool’s dedication to lowered health care costs. According to figures reported during the pool’s June Board meeting, the pool’s average 5-year rate increase for health insurance was just 3.47 percent, compared to the average yearly increase of healthcare costs, which hovers around 10 percent.

That means that 2007 health insurance rates for TAC members are 17.35 percent higher than they were in 2002; generally, companies are paying 50 percent or more now than they were in 2002.

In the last several years, the HEBP has introduced several new programs in order to help keep rates low while still providing county employees with excellent health care coverage. The initiatives include new disease management programs and an emphasis on maintaining healthy lifestyles. The pool is also embarking on a three-year Health Improvement Project, which will focus on assessing and improving the wellness culture in Texas counties. “With insurance costs rising yearly, TAC has led the industry in keeping costs as low as possible. The Board is always looking at innovative methods to keep insurance premiums low and employees healthy,” said Bill Norwood, manager for the HEBP. “This Health Improvement Project will be critical in keeping our performance edge high, relative to the average medical industry inflation trends.”

BuyBoard Exceeds $400 Million in Sales this Fiscal year

Th e BuyBoard purchasing cooperative announced in its quarterly member newsletter on Aug. 9 that it exceeded $400 million in sales for the 2007 fi scal year, which ended Aug. 31. During the 2006 fi scal year, total sales were $315 million.

Membership to the BuyBoard is free with an interlocal agreement, and most counties fi nd that they don’t have to change their vendors. Simply by obtaining quotes from BuyBoard vendors and submitting the orders via the purchasing cooperative, members receive the BuyBoard rate, which is often substantially less than market rates.

All products and services listed on the BuyBoard have already gone through a competitive bid process and are 100 percent compliant with State of Texas procurement laws. Bids are advertised in 20 metropolitan newspapers in Texas. Vendors can download bid/proposal packets from the BuyBoard’s vendor Website and respond according to the instructions. The purchasing cooperative evaluates each bid and prepares a full tabulation, then makes recommendations to the Board and issues award letters accordingly.

BuyBoard contracts are three-year agreements between BuyBoard and the awarded vendors. Should vendors need to increase prices due to fuel or other economic issues, they must notify the Buy- Board in writing before the increase is passed on to BuyBoard customers.

Basically, BuyBoard does the bidding so counties don’t have to. of 254 counties in Texas, 183 are BuyBoard members. For more information about becoming a member of the Buy- Board, call Steve Fisher at 800-695-2919, or email steve.fisher@ tasb.org.

BuyBoard Announces online Enhancements

New employees and others who may not be familiar with either the benefi ts or ease of BuyBoard now have a new tool to familiarize themselves with the purchasing cooperative: Th e BuyBoard Demo. To view the Demo, which is less than 5 minutes long but fi lled with information for interested parties, visit the BuyBoard Website at www.buyboard.com and click on the shopping cart in the upper right corner to start the demo.

BuyBoard has also made other additions to its Website. It is now placing important news bulletins on the Login page.

If there is red text under the login button, click the Find Out More link for the latest updates. Th is area has been used to notify members of the availability of Automatic Electronic Defi brillators (AEDs) and other products, and will be used to make members aware of new contracts or changes to existing contracts. After logging in to BuyBoard, members can click on the Resources link, and fi nd the PDF fi les for the Quick Reference Guide, current Vendor List (also available in Excel format), current contracts, bid tabulations and other helpful documents. Members who have forgotten their passwords will see a recent change to the BuyBoard Login page. To recover a password, members must click the Login Help button. For security purposes, BuyBoard will no longer give out passwords over the phone. Instead, passwords will be sent via email. user IDs are still available by phone.

The online enhancements are intended to make county purchasers’ lives easier and BuyBoard shopping more user-friendly. Contact Steve Fisher at 800-695-2919 or email steve.fi sher@tasb.org with any questions or comments.

Williamson, Titus Counties Receive City-County Cooperation Awards

Two counties and their neighboring cities were bestowed with City-County Cooperation Awards during TAC’s Annual Conference, held last month.

City-County Cooperation Award winners are approved based on a joint decision by the Texas Municipal League and TAC.

The City-County Cooperation Award program’s purpose is to honor and recognize efforts between cities and counties that have resulted in successful programs that benefit county residents. “We’ve learned that there are many ways for cities and counties to collaborate, and our associations are actively seeking new opportunities to further this work,” TAC President Marc Hamlin said during the award ceremony.

TML President-Elect and Rockport Mayor Todd Pearson joined Hamlin and TAC President Elect and Tarrant County Commissioner J.D. Johnson on stage to present the award.

“Counties and cities face so many similar issues every year – issues that impact all of us – and it is in our best interest to work together and not be isolated in our efforts. As we have partnered with counties to work together, our goal has been to ensure that local issues remain under local control,” Pearson said. “Innovative problem solving, excellence in management, increasing citizen participation and reaching toward higher service levels are all examples of the ways cities and counties are working together.” Titus County and the City of Mount Pleasant were honored for their joint efforts in their “Keep Titus County Moving” project to build a traffic loop around Mount Pleasant. The loop was a necessity for the area, but the Texas Department of Transportation was so overwhelmed by other needs that the county and city were told they’d have to wait 25 to 30 years to see the loop constructed. Instead, they teamed up and made use of a constitutional amendment that allows Tx- DOT to use pass-through financing for road projects, meaning that they could use local bonding authority to fund the loop. Titus County agreed to build the $168 million loop and negotiate reimbursement from the state, while Mount Pleasant gave $4 million for construction. As a result, Tx- DOT agreed to pay the $168 million back over a 20-year period, and construction on the loop should begin in 2009.

Titus County Judge Sam Russell and Mount Pleasant Mayor Jerry Boatner accepted the award; Titus County Commissioners Mike Fields and Thomas Hockaday were also in attendance.

Williamson County, along with the cities of Cedar Park, Hutto, Leander and Round Rock, received a City-County Cooperation Award for its Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter, which opened in March 2007 after a county-wide effort to build an efficient, fiscally responsible animal shelter facility without having each governmental entity having to duplicate the service unnecessarily. A future expansion of the facility has already been planned.

Williamson County Judge Dan Gattis, Cedar Park Mayor Robert Lemon, Hutto Assistant City Manager Joni Clarke, Leader Mayor John Cowman and Round Rock Lt. Bob Drawbaugh accepted the award.

Getting the Texas EDGE

There’s a new research tool available for counties and others looking to make important economic decisions. The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts office recently released Texas EDGE – Economic Data for Growth and Expansion – a research service that allows officials and community members to tap into up-to-date data necessary for revenue planning, financial analysis, economic forecasting, site location decisions and other projects.

The tool allows users to request in-depth economic reports; receive quick economic overviews based on county-level employment and tax data; compare the demographics, workforce and business clusters of different areas; request maps showing roads, railroads, airports, streets and other public infrastructure; and obtain information on property and sales tax rates and trends.

For more information, visit the Website at www.window.state.us/texasedge.

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