Lincoln County in Montana has faced declining revenue from federal lands over the past two decades, leaving its fiscal condition delicate. Revenue to the county from the US Forest Service's 25% Fund, based on economic activity in the Kootenai National Forest, has fallen from $4.5 million in 1994 to around $330,000 annually since 2008. This has forced large cuts to the county road budget and use of cash reserves. The county's dire fiscal situation is closely tied to unresponsive federal forest management policies that have turned the forest from an economic asset into a liability.
Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth: Federal Update
Jack Schenendorf, Of Counsel, Covington & Burling and Federal Transportation Consultant for Ports-to-Plains Alliance
Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth: Federal Update
Jack Schenendorf, Of Counsel, Covington & Burling and Federal Transportation Consultant for Ports-to-Plains Alliance
Adam Langley of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy surveys the landscape payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs), payments made voluntarily by tax-exempt nonprofits as a substitute for property taxes, in New England.
Yolanda Kodrzycki, emeritus director of the New England Public Policy Center, summarizes her research on resurgent cities including the importance of cross-sectoral and regional cooperation.
Tackling debt, financial resilience and vulnerability at LACEFPolicy in Practice
Deven Ghelani, Director and founder of Policy in Practice, was invited to speak at the Local Authority Civil Enforcement Forum on the topic of 'Debt, Financial Resilience and Vulnerability'. He focused on our early intervention work on arrears with local authorities who are using data analytics insights to identify vulnerability, target support and track change.
For further information visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, call 0330 088 9242 or email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk
Florida Community Loan Fund provides capital and expertise to Florida improve low-income communities. Learn more about FCLF and our social impact through this overview of our nonprofit organization.
Region Five Development Commission: Transportation & Economic DevelopmentRPO America
During the National Regional Transportation Conference and National CEDS Forum (June 2019, Columbus, OH), Tad Erickson shared the approach of Region Five Development Commission to use priority strategies from its Resilience Region planning effort to build assets. One project that exemplifies that connection is the Cypress Drive project in Baxter, MN.
Powerpoint accompanying workshop session from the Homeless and Housing Coalition of Kentucky's 2013 conference. Rachel Hurst, Louisville AHTF.
Critical affordable housing needs are increasing in Kentucky. Representatives from Louisville, Lexington, and
Kentucky Housing Corporation discuss how the AFTF program helps in the development of affordable housing in
their communities.
As the reach and power of Washington, DC continues to grow, our nation needs people like you to hire and inspire leaders that will battle for the only solution big enough to fund education, care for the environment, and grow the economy locally and nationally. Learn more about the Transfer of Public Lands and then utilize that knowledge to educate others, especially your local, state, and national representatives.
"The independent power of the states...serves as a check on the power of the Federal Government: by denying any one government complete jurisdiction over all concerns of public life, federalism protects the liberty of the individual from arbitrary power...The States are separate and independent sovereigns. Sometimes they have to act like it." - US Supreme Court Affordable Care Act Decision, June 2012
Adam Langley of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy surveys the landscape payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs), payments made voluntarily by tax-exempt nonprofits as a substitute for property taxes, in New England.
Yolanda Kodrzycki, emeritus director of the New England Public Policy Center, summarizes her research on resurgent cities including the importance of cross-sectoral and regional cooperation.
Tackling debt, financial resilience and vulnerability at LACEFPolicy in Practice
Deven Ghelani, Director and founder of Policy in Practice, was invited to speak at the Local Authority Civil Enforcement Forum on the topic of 'Debt, Financial Resilience and Vulnerability'. He focused on our early intervention work on arrears with local authorities who are using data analytics insights to identify vulnerability, target support and track change.
For further information visit www.policyinpractice.co.uk, call 0330 088 9242 or email hello@policyinpractice.co.uk
Florida Community Loan Fund provides capital and expertise to Florida improve low-income communities. Learn more about FCLF and our social impact through this overview of our nonprofit organization.
Region Five Development Commission: Transportation & Economic DevelopmentRPO America
During the National Regional Transportation Conference and National CEDS Forum (June 2019, Columbus, OH), Tad Erickson shared the approach of Region Five Development Commission to use priority strategies from its Resilience Region planning effort to build assets. One project that exemplifies that connection is the Cypress Drive project in Baxter, MN.
Powerpoint accompanying workshop session from the Homeless and Housing Coalition of Kentucky's 2013 conference. Rachel Hurst, Louisville AHTF.
Critical affordable housing needs are increasing in Kentucky. Representatives from Louisville, Lexington, and
Kentucky Housing Corporation discuss how the AFTF program helps in the development of affordable housing in
their communities.
As the reach and power of Washington, DC continues to grow, our nation needs people like you to hire and inspire leaders that will battle for the only solution big enough to fund education, care for the environment, and grow the economy locally and nationally. Learn more about the Transfer of Public Lands and then utilize that knowledge to educate others, especially your local, state, and national representatives.
"The independent power of the states...serves as a check on the power of the Federal Government: by denying any one government complete jurisdiction over all concerns of public life, federalism protects the liberty of the individual from arbitrary power...The States are separate and independent sovereigns. Sometimes they have to act like it." - US Supreme Court Affordable Care Act Decision, June 2012
Learn the basics of the Transfer of Public Lands! This presentation will help answer questions such as: why transfer lands? Has this been done before? And Can we afford to transfer the lands? You will also learn what you can do to help American Lands Council move this important effort forward.
Sequestration: The Last Straw? (Karen Kunz, 2013 ABFM Conf)PublicFinanceTV
"Sequestration: The Last Straw?" presentation by Karen Kunz, West Virginia University, presented during "Sequestration's Impact on State Budgets" plenary session, 2013 ABFM Annual Conference, October 3, 2013
Town of LevintonThe September 2010 Levinton Town Meeting was cer.docxturveycharlyn
Town of Levinton
The September 2010 Levinton Town Meeting was certain to be contentious. The views above reflected the wide range of opinions about the proposed $3M expansion of the town water and sewage system. The town’s treasurer was proposing to finance the expansion with 20 year bond issue. The bonds would carry an interest rate of 5% meaning that the town was looking at large debt service obligation. Approval of the expansion was by no means certain
Background
The town of Levinton was located on the Pacific coast of California, some 200 miles north of LA. It had been incorporated In 1800s, during the time of California’s gold rush, when it was popular with miners who had “struck it rich” in the hills to its east. Over the years it had grown and matured, and now was home to some 2000 permanent residents. About 30 new homes had been built each year over the past several years, mainly by retirees or people who wanted to leave LA and live simpler life. Many of these people purchased a local business and tried to make a go of it, or they started their own business, usually as professionals (stock brokers, accountants, lawyers)
Levinton was a popular summer vacation spot, but the citizens, via their Board of Selectmen (3 people elected to staggered 3-year terms), had always voted to maintain the town’s small village feel by not allowing expansion in the number of tourist facilities (hotels &inns, beach parking, beach concession stands). As a result, the town had sleeping accommodations for only about 500 tourists at any one time, although due to vacation schedules and lengths, some 4000 people spent more or all of their summer vacations in Levinton each year. The town Manager estimated that another 2000-3000 people were “ day visitors” during the summer.
The Municipal services department
For over 20 years, the town’s water and sewer system had been operated by the Municipal service department. As Exhibit 1 indicates, from 2007 to 2009, the department had incurred sizable operating deficits. A deficit meant that the general tax revenues budgeted for the department ($0.5 of the general property tax) were insufficient. And tax revenues had to be diverted from other uses to eliminate the deficit, which had angered some residents. In 2009, the Board of Select men had told the town Manager to see to it that the department ran a surplus or incurred only a small deficit. The department had incurred a small deficit in 2010 and was forecasting a surplus in its 2011 budget
Water and Sewer Units and Fees
Initiation fees for “tapping into” the system, as well as ongoing usage fees for water and sewer consumption, were based on estimated rather than actual use. Estimated consumption was a function of the number of “units” in a building, which depended on the building’s size and design. For ex, building with many bathrooms, saunas, whirlpool tubs, wet bars, ice machines, extra sinks, outdoor spigots, and so forth had more units than buildings designed more ...
This is the CCFC's Analysis of Franklin County's current budget. It has been prepared and shared with the County Commissioners with an email request that the Commissioners reduce their budget by 3%.
We are facing some very difficult budget choices and challenges for Massachusetts for Fiscal Year 2011 (July 2010 - July 2011). Governor Patrick and his administration are holding a series of hearings and forums around the state to get input and ideas from citizens where this presentation is included. To learn more about the hearings and forums, visit www.mass.gov/governor/forums
If you weren't able to make a hearing or forum or want to be prepared before you attend one, this presentation is about 9 minutes long and will give you a basic overview of the budget situation. Please review it, then visit our blog at www.mass.gov/blog/engage to comment and share your ideas.
Transportation Directions: Where Are We Heading? (Jack Basso) - ULI Fall Meet...Virtual ULI
Authorization of the next surface transportation bill has
languished in Congress. Learn about prospects for a
breakthrough and how states are dealing with continued
uncertainty and planning for a future with diminished federal
resources.
If you would like to have an ALC Representative attend your event please complete this form. Submission instructions can be found on the bottom of the form.
An astonishing, first-of-its-kind, report by the NYT assessing damage in Ukraine. Even if the war ends tomorrow, in many places there will be nothing to go back to.
हम आग्रह करते हैं कि जो भी सत्ता में आए, वह संविधान का पालन करे, उसकी रक्षा करे और उसे बनाए रखे।" प्रस्ताव में कुल तीन प्रमुख हस्तक्षेप और उनके तंत्र भी प्रस्तुत किए गए। पहला हस्तक्षेप स्वतंत्र मीडिया को प्रोत्साहित करके, वास्तविकता पर आधारित काउंटर नैरेटिव का निर्माण करके और सत्तारूढ़ सरकार द्वारा नियोजित मनोवैज्ञानिक हेरफेर की रणनीति का मुकाबला करके लोगों द्वारा निर्धारित कथा को बनाए रखना और उस पर कार्यकरना था।
31052024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
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In a May 9, 2024 paper, Juri Opitz from the University of Zurich, along with Shira Wein and Nathan Schneider form Georgetown University, discussed the importance of linguistic expertise in natural language processing (NLP) in an era dominated by large language models (LLMs).
The authors explained that while machine translation (MT) previously relied heavily on linguists, the landscape has shifted. “Linguistics is no longer front and center in the way we build NLP systems,” they said. With the emergence of LLMs, which can generate fluent text without the need for specialized modules to handle grammar or semantic coherence, the need for linguistic expertise in NLP is being questioned.
01062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
03062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
‘वोटर्स विल मस्ट प्रीवेल’ (मतदाताओं को जीतना होगा) अभियान द्वारा जारी हेल्पलाइन नंबर, 4 जून को सुबह 7 बजे से दोपहर 12 बजे तक मतगणना प्रक्रिया में कहीं भी किसी भी तरह के उल्लंघन की रिपोर्ट करने के लिए खुला रहेगा।
1. 1
Lincoln County’s delicate fiscal condition
by Jerry Okonski, Libby, Montana
December 22, 2014
Federal resource policy has prevented Lincoln County from improving the health and productivity of our forest patrimony
to any meaningful degree. Our dilemma is replicated in many rural, forested counties throughout the West.
To illustrate this fact, the dark sloping line in Graph 1 shows the money generated for Lincoln County via the US Forest
Service’s 25% Fund over the past two decades, between 1994 and 2013.
Starting at a high point in 1994 (around $4.5 million), the line rapidly declines until 2008. After 2008, it stays relatively
level -- it is not zero but it’s close to the bottom. What is the significance of this graph?
Since 2008, the Kootenai Forest – the forest mecca of Montana – has generated very little revenue for the 25% Fund –
only about $330,000 annually. It is a realistic indicator of the lack of economic activity in providing goods and services
from the Kootenai Forest, the principal reason it was created by presidential edict over 100 years ago.
This kind of performance does not reflect some mysterious biological limit of the forest. It represents an unresponsive
management model that puts many rural, forested communities at a fiscal brink.
The warning signs were flashing. The negative fiscal trajectory for the County has been there for many years. In a
County with such a large proportion of federal forest, a close working relationship between the U.S. Forest Service and
County is of utmost importance. The County is our common framework for providing the public goods and services we
depend upon.
The US Forest Service slogan “Serving the People and Caring for the Land” is a simple, powerful statement of mission,
but, who are the people being served? They do not seem to be the citizens of Lincoln County or the State of Montana or --
--- one can even argue --- the United States of America.
The second graph is an illustration of the Lincoln County Road Budget, which underpins a critical service provided by
the county, since we are rural and have many County roads and bridges that require regular maintenance. Between 2008
and 2013 the annual budget varied from a high of $5.3 million to the current $3.8 million.
Typical of the wide swings in federal policy, harvesting of timber on the Kootenai Forest was drastically reduced over the
last two decades. The dwindling income from the 25% Fund was not going to sustain public goods and services provided
by the County.
2. 2
The County then had two options: 1) accept the 25% Fund income or 2) accept the legislated “Secure Schools Subsidy”.
Since the “Secure Schools Subsidy” was greater than the 25% Fund, the County accepted the subsidy. The lowest level
on the graph shows the proportion of the 25% Fund relative to the amount received from “Secure Schools Subsidy”. As
one can observe the 25% Fund has been consistently low. The area labeled the “Secured Schools Subsidy” provided
significantly more funding to make up for the lost 25% Fund revenue. Of course it had to come to an end. It was not
renewed within the latest, although grossly misnamed, National Defense Authorization Act.
The highest level is labeled “Raiding the cash reserve and other accounts”. It represents “robbing the piggy bank” over
the next few years to make up the difference to meet the Road Budget, because the future revenue stream looks bleak.
These are withdrawals from the dwindling cash balance in the Road Fund as well as other creative shuffling of monies
within various other accounts.
This is a discouraging snapshot stemming from an embarrassingly low revenue from the 25% Fund, elimination of the
Secure Schools subsidy, and having to plunder the principal and interest of the cash balance in the Road Fund.
According to the County Commission there is no available money for equipment replacement, major bridge repair or
replacement. Further curtailment of road maintenance and safety services has become an imminent possibility.
As the pie slices become narrower, determination of where the available resources should be allocated will cause greater
controversy amongst us. Some of the conflicts over the past year were brought about by very limited revenues and the
consequent reduction of services. The Commissioners will have very difficult choices to make in the months and years
ahead. A rough calculation shows that after four years, these funds will be totally depleted.
Then what? Most of the options mooted so far have already proven to be unrealistic – and are even more so given the
current state of fiscal affairs.
1) Continue to wait for high tech industry to locate in Lincoln County;
2) Wait another two decades for a “recreation boom” to happen;
3) Receive a continuous no-strings-attached donation from a wealthy philanthropist;
4) Keep traveling on the current trajectory; increase the tax burden significantly and arrive in uncharted territory;
5) Plead with a broke Uncle Sam (or Uncle Sugar?) to borrow more money from creditors, then add that amount to our
country’s unbelievable $18 trillion mortgage (what about the $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities?).
3. 3
Lincoln County’s dire fiscal straits are closely intertwined with a faulty federal forest policy. Fundamentally, our
County’s forest assets have turned from a blessing into a curse. From central authority to the pure market approach,
Lincoln County has been caught in the middle. Now we urgently need an inclusive framework with an improved way to
“Serve the People and Care for the Land”.
A practical and immediate way out of the mire is to utilize the resource at our disposal – the Kootenai Forest – by reviving
the missing economic engine, getting it up and running at a pace to produce goods and services from which the County
receives enough revenue to maintain its solvency well within the biological capacity of the forest. We need responsive
stewardship that provides a long-term solution for the people of Lincoln County, anchored to the forest environment we
respect and appreciate.