The National Association of Counties (NACo) recently held its Annual Conference in Tarrant County, Texas.  The conference was the organization’s 78th and was marked with educational sessions on hot topics in the health, law enforcement, and environmental fields, along with leadership and management training.

At Maryland’s Caucus Breakfast, hosted by Nationwide Retirement Solutions, elected officials and staff from Maryland counties in attendance heard a presentation on energy efficiency tracking and received visits from the four candidates running for NACo 2nd Vice President.  Brian Bell, Vice President of Strategy for FacilityDude, a partner of SchoolDude, described the economic and environmental incentives for keeping track of energy expenditures, discovering holes, and finding savings solutions. Following the discussion, Maryland decided to support Sallie Clark, of El Paso County Colorado for NACo 2nd Vice President.  Sallie won her election on Monday.

MACo submitted Baltimore City Councilwoman as its appointment to the NACo Board for 2013-2014.  For the past year, Councilwoman Holton has served as President of NACo’s Northeast County Caucus and as Chair of NACo’s Large Urban County Caucus.  The Councilwoman has also had an active role in NACo’s advocacy to maintain the tax-exempt on municipal bonds.  In speaking with the Northeast County Caucus membership at the Annual Conference, the Councilwoman highlighted the particular impact that a change in the tax exemption on counties in the northeast, where municipal bonds are used to maintain and upgrade aging infrastructure, including schools and roads.

At the meeting of the Northeast County Caucus, Dr. Emilia Istrate of NACo presented her research on the municipal bond issue.  Dr. Istrate presented national and regional data on the issue from her report, Municipal Bonds Build America.  In her report, she estimated that a 28% cap on the municipal bond tax exemption would have cost Maryland $2B in interest if it was in place over the past ten years.

For more information regarding NACo’s Annual Conference, click here.