Counties need stability

By Bryan Desloge

Tribune News Service

The ink is barely dry on an agreement to keep the federal government open, and the talk of Washington is already about another shutdown at the end of the fiscal year in September.

With unpredictable federal governance taking its toll on county governments, it should be noted a shutdown won’t stop county hospitals from opening. Emergency rooms will treat the sick and injured. Sheriffs will be on patrol. Jails will receive anyone they bring in.

Courthouses and other county facilities will open and register people to vote, grant marriage licenses, lend books, recycle trash and pave roads.

Because whatever happens on Capitol Hill, counties will remain open for business, delivering services – many of them mandated by state and federal laws – to residents, businesses and communities. Counties, responsible for so many programs and critical services citizens rely upon, cannot afford to shut down.

Counties support 1,000 hospitals, 1,900 local health departments and 750 behavioral health centers. Counties operate nine out of every 10 local jails. Counties also own and maintain 45 percent – the biggest share – of America’s road miles, 40 percent of all public bridges and almost one third of the nation’s public transportation systems and airports.

Counties deliver services under considerable financial constraints. Forty-five states impose limitations on counties’ ability to tax and generate revenue, yet counties find ways to make ends meet, often through partnerships.

Major challenges

Our nation faces major challenges – poverty, unemployment, health care, infrastructure, the opioid crisis – and local governments need a reliable federal partner to address them.

What we don’t need is government by continuing resolutions and bills that lurch from crisis to crisis.

Despite counties’ best efforts, the unique federal, state and local partnership all but guarantees a federal government shutdown or short-term fixes will cause significant disruption at the local level. Some services will be scaled back or stopped altogether, employees and contractors could be laid off, and projects residents have requested will be delayed.

Many counties are already facing drastic cuts because Congress has failed to reauthorize and fully fund the Payments in Lieu of Taxes and Secure Rural Schools programs, which compensate counties for nontaxable federal land within their boundaries.

With a shutdown, national parks and other federal cultural resources will close, depriving counties of tourist activity and the revenue that comes with it. Community Development Block Grant funding would cease except in cases that would threaten public safety. The same is also true for affordable housing grants. Funding for needy families would also stop, usually backfilled, but not always, by county appropriations and local taxpayers.

The role of government is to create the conditions for safe, healthy, vibrant and economically competitive communities. If we want to spur the economy, we need a more predictable policy environment from our federal partners for counties, businesses and the public to make informed decisions and move our country forward.

Federal government shutdowns and continual governing by continuing resolution erode the public’s faith in all levels of government and hinder our ability to deliver results at the local level.

Bryan Desloge is the president of the National Association of Counties and a Leon County, Fla., commissioner.