Legislature(2013 - 2014)BARNES 124
01/22/2013 08:00 AM House COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Overview(s): Division of Community and Regional Affairs, Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
January 22, 2013
8:00 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Gabrielle LeDoux, Co-Chair
Representative Benjamin Nageak, Co-Chair
Representative Neal Foster
Representative Lora Reinbold
Representative Harriet Drummond
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Bob Herron
Representative Kurt Olson
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
OVERVIEW(S): DIVISION OF COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS,
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
SUSAN BELL, Commissioner
Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development (DCCED)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided an overview of the Division of
Community and Regional Affairs.
MELISSA TAYLOR, Deputy Director
Division of Community and Regional Affairs
Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: During overview, answered questions.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:00:58 AM
CO-CHAIR GABRIELLE LEDOUX called the House Community and
Regional Affairs Standing Committee meeting to order at 8:00
a.m. Representatives Drummond, Reinbold, Nageak, and LeDoux
were present at the call to order. Representative Foster
arrived as the meeting was in progress.
^OVERVIEW(S): DIVISION OF COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS,
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
OVERVIEW(S): DIVISION OF COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS,
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
8:01:53 AM
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX announced that the only order of business would
be an overview of the Division of Community and Regional
Affairs, Department of Commerce, Community & Economic
Development.
8:02:37 AM
SUSAN BELL, Commissioner, Department of Commerce, Community &
Economic Development (DCCED), began by directing the committee's
attention to the PowerPoint presentation from the Division of
Community and Regional Affairs (DCRA). She informed the
committee that DCCED, which consists of 13 agencies, has an
integral role with DCRA. She highlighted DCCED's overall
mission to promote strong communities and healthy economies
while protecting consumers in Alaska. Therefore, the DCCED has
a very important role in strengthening communities. She then
highlighted the importance of working toward strong communities
and healthy economies concurrently. A prime example of the
aforementioned interplay is the Red Dog Mine as many aspects of
the department were involved in the formation of the Kotzebue
Borough. In fact, the DeLong Transportation System was financed
by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority
(AIDEA), another arm of DCCED. The aforementioned illustrates
the various aspects of DCCED working together to stimulate
private sector development and the formation of the borough
ensuring that benefits, revenue, and employment opportunities
flow to the borough. She also highlighted the strong
relationship between the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA), the lead
agency on energy development, which is working aggressively with
many regions of the state and DCRA, which coordinates community
planning. The Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA), AEA, and
DCRA are involved in different aspects of power cost
equalization (PCE). The RCA sets the rate for PCE and DCRA
works with communities to ensure they are in compliance and
remain eligible for PCE. Commissioner Bell then informed the
committee that the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board ("ABC
Board"), with which DCRA has had a long relationship as
communities worked through the local alcohol options, was moved
to DCCED last year. She then explained that DCRA administers
legislative grants and other grants to communities and other
entities and the Division of Corporations, Business, &
Professional Licensing ensures that the entities requesting
grants are in good standing prior to issuance of the funds.
Commissioner Bell reiterated that there are many ways DCRA works
with other agencies as well as much hands-on work with the
communities.
8:08:43 AM
COMMISSIONER BELL then turned the committee's attention to slide
2 entitled "Division Mission and Core Services," which
highlights DCRA's mission of promoting strong communities and
healthy economies as well as efficient, accountable, and
effective local administration. She then pointed out that the
map on slide 3 specifies the 7 locations through which the 66
DCRA staff is spread across the state, and noted that every
community in the state is assigned a local government
specialist. By having staff dispersed throughout the state,
DCRA is poised to provide a lot of regional and in-community
training. Moving on to slide 5, Commissioner Bell began an
overview of local government assistance, which she considered to
be DCRA's foundation. The local government assistance provides
technical assistance to public administrators and sanitation
utilities to ensure there is an understanding of the applicable
statutes. Furthermore, local government assistance includes
training and assistance with elections, Title 29 compliance,
bulk fuel management, local option Title 4 requirements,
personnel, administrative government, and financial management.
Commissioner Bell then highlighted the legislative change of
last year in which the two bulk fuel loan programs located in
two different agencies were merged and the program
administration placed in DCRA in order to have a simplified
process in one location. The finance staff in the Division of
Economic Development administers the loans.
8:12:17 AM
CO-CHAIR NAGEAK, referring to the map on slide 3, pointed out
that there is no regional DCRA office in the North Slope. The
community of Barrow has a population of 5,000 and includes
Prudhoe Bay and seven other communities. He acknowledged that
there are problems related to fuel and the local option, but
emphasized that there is no DCRA staff in the region to help.
COMMISSIONER BELL acknowledged that there is a difference
between those staff located in a region and those who travel to
a region. To a large degree, DCRA staff located in Fairbanks
work with communities in the northern part of the state in order
to gain efficiencies in travel costs and provide in region
training when possible. She noted her appreciation of the
notion that relationships are forged and necessary ongoing
assistance is better the closer DCRA staff is to the services
provided.
8:14:46 AM
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX inquired as to how the decision to have regional
offices in the communities specified was made.
COMMISSIONER BELL, presuming that the decision evolved over
time, offered to provide the committee an answer after
consulting DCRA staff.
8:15:18 AM
REPRESENTATIVE FOSTER recalled that under the bulk fuel loan
management program the population limit is 2,000 and the dollar
limit is $750,000. He then asked whether DCRA has considered
raising those limits in order to address changes in the
populations and the price of fuel.
COMMISSIONER BELL requested that DCRA staff confirm the upper
population and dollar limits of the new program.
8:16:48 AM
MELISSA TAYLOR, Deputy Director, Division of Community and
Regional Affairs, Department of Commerce, Community & Economic
Development, offered to provide that information to the
committee.
COMMISSIONER BELL acknowledged Representative Foster's concern
that as prices have risen, the upper limit may need to be
revisited. However, she recalled that some of the fuel
assistance programs arose during the peak prices of 2008-2009.
8:17:33 AM
COMMISSIONER BELL, returning to her presentation, directed the
committee's attention to slide 6 entitled "Rural Business
Advisor (RUBA) Program." The RUBA program specifically targets
communities receiving new or upgraded sanitation systems.
Commissioner Bell noted that RUBA assistance and local
government assistance are integrated such that many of the DCRA
staff is able to deliver concurrent training. She then
emphasized that a key foundation of the RUBA program is a sound
and functioning local community. Therefore, RUBA program
indicators, such as whether [local communities] are doing
billings and holding local elections, are reviewed because if a
local community is functioning soundly in one area, it often is
in other areas. She reiterated that the RUBA program and the
Local Government Assistance technical assistance are often
delivered concurrently or by the same DCRA staff. The RUBA
program is federally funded and targets sanitation systems and
DCRA provides ongoing training to utility managers and municipal
administrators. Commissioner Bell then highlighted the
following accomplishments of RUBA: assistance to 208
communities, which resulted in 247 on-site trips to communities;
presentation of 14 32-hour courses on utility management in
seven different global hubs; and a total of 161 rural utility
managers attended [RUBA] courses. She related that she has
heard from DCRA staff and municipal clerks who have emphasized
how critical the training and ongoing assistance is.
8:19:57 AM
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX relayed that Representative Herron observed that
there appears to be a 30 percent reduction to the RUBA budget,
and asked whether that is correct.
COMMISSIONER BELL confirmed that there will be a reduction of
nearly $600,000 in federal funds for the RUBA program. In order
to makeup part of that reduction, a fund change has been
requested. Therefore, at this time the RUBA program is facing
the deletion of one position in Bethel and one position in
Kotzebue. These cuts will have a direct impact on the staffing
of the regional hubs.
8:21:20 AM
CO-CHAIR NAGEAK asked whether DCRA works closely with
incorporated boroughs and communities that have their own
regional governments.
COMMISSIONER BELL replied yes. The DCRA has a strong working
relationship with all sizes of entities in the state, but she
specified that the foundation of DCRA's work is with
municipalities and helping them adhere to Title 29 statute. In
further response, Commissioner Bell offered to provide
information regarding whether DCRA works with co-ops because it
may vary depending upon the services provided by the co-op.
8:23:06 AM
COMMISSIONER BELL, returning to the presentation, directed
attention to slides 7-8 entitled "Planning and Land Management."
She began by informing the committee that as the commissioner
she also functions as the Municipal Lands Trustee (MLT), which
holds title to more than 13,000 acres in 47 communities. She
explained that this has a connection to the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act (ANCSA) in that land needed to be set aside for
municipal functions. Therefore, a lot of technical assistance
and planning work from DCRA occurs. Other programs under
Planning and Land Management include the National Flood
Insurance program (NFIP), Alaska Coastal Community Impact
Assistance, Community Coastal Impact, and Community Aerial photo
mapping programs that are utilized by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA). The DCRA also works closely with the
Department of Military & Veteran's Affairs and is responsibile
for safety and emergency response. Furthermore, Planning and
Land Management is the point of contact for FEMA that is federal
funding, coordination, and mapping. Commissioner Bell then
highlighted the Planning and Land Management accomplishments,
including the following: completion of land disposal
transactions of existing trust land in nine different
communities during fiscal year (FY) 2012; conveyance of 613
acres of municipal trust land to the Bristol Bay Borough in the
Naknek/King Salmon area; conduction of regional and statewide
ANCSA 14(c) and site control training sessions; preparation of
digital orthophoto maps; provided community assistance to
Valdez, Haines, and Delta Junction; submittal of 59 federal
grant applications for the Coastal Impact Assistance Program
(CIAP); and oversaw the execution of 15 new CIAP grant
agreements to local governments, nonprofits, and postsecondary
educational organizations. The aforementioned illustrates the
importance of the local knowledge and relationships Planning and
Land Management has as it works with federal agencies and other
agencies in the state.
8:26:45 AM
MS. TAYLOR, in response to Co-Chair LeDoux, informed the
committee that she began her career with DCRA as a local
government specialist in Nome and thus has had the opportunity
to work with many communities. In her current role as an
operations manager, Ms. Taylor related that she primarily runs
the office in order to ensure that nothing falls through the
cracks and provides assistance to the director as needed.
8:27:31 AM
CO-CHAIR NAGEAK inquired as to how it is possible that
Commissioner Bell manages ANCSA lands in some communities.
COMMISSIONER BELL explained a specific provision of ANCSA that
set aside lands for future community needs, and thus the land
itself is held in trust for the municipality. Commissioner Bell
said that as a shareholder of Bering Strait Native Corporation
and Sitnasuak Native Corporation she understands the importance
of the land and the legal responsibilities to the shareholders.
Commissioner Bell then offered to provide an outline of the
transactions performed through this program, the process, the
training, and how the lands are held in trust in the follow-up
to the committee.
8:29:38 AM
COMMISSIONER BELL, returning to the presentation, moved on to
slide 9 entitled "Grants Management", which she characterized as
an area that reinforces DCRA's working relationship with
communities and nonprofit entities throughout the state. The
DCRA provides the grant administration and oversight for 13
different programs, including capital budget grants and
statutory and federal grants. With the large capital grants in
recent years, DCRA has had significant responsibility in terms
of ensuring that the grants are administered as intended. The
division also provides on-site monitoring and technical
assistance to grantees. Typically, the process begins with a
grant agreement in order to ensure that all parties are clear as
to what is intended. She noted that many of the grants are
reimbursable, and therefore the division seeks documentation to
ensure the process has occurred as intended by the state or
federal agency that administered the grant. Since there is the
desire for sound grant records, there is a training and
technical assistance component of the process. In FY12 the
grants section administered 1,900 grants that totaled about $1.4
billion. She then highlighted her appreciation to DCRA staff
and its administrative services staff, and the legislature for
the streamlined process for grants under $50,000, although there
is paperwork and accountability. In FY12 of the 630 new
legislative grants, 239 used the streamlined process. She
relayed that in talking with communities and nonprofits around
the state she has come to understand that this is an area in
which the streamlined process provided relief in terms of the
paperwork while maintaining accountability with the spending.
Referring to slide 10 entitled "Community Aide and
Accountability", informed the committee that the distribution of
community revenue sharing funds, payment in lieu of taxes
(PILT), National Forest receipts (NFR), and fisheries taxes are
all administered by DCRA. She highlighted that in FY12 more
than $29 million was distributed to PILT, NFR, the Fisheries
Business Tax, and the Fisheries Landing Tax program. In
recognition of increased energy costs over the last few years
there has been supplemental funding from the legislature for
community revenue sharing.
8:33:02 AM
COMMISSIONER BELL, continuing her presentation, directed
attention to slide 11 entitled "Research and Analysis." The
Research and Analysis section provides a wide array of
publications, many of which are on its web site and many of
which are reported to the legislature. This section collects,
analyzes, and publishes data on Alaska communities, including
the report on "Fuel Prices Across Alaska" and "Lien Watch". She
echoed her earlier comment regarding DCRA's holistic approach.
The Research and Analysis section maintains DCRA's databases and
web sites, including the Community Status Report (CSR) database,
the Financial Document Delivery system, the Community Photo
Library, and the Municipal Contact Directory. Moving to slide
12 entitled "State Assessor's Office," Commissioner Bell
explained that the State Assessor's Office provides technical
expertise to municipal assessors and agencies, monitors
municipalities for compliance with international assessing
standards, and prepares official full value assessments. Much
of the information produced by the State Assessor's Office is
published in the "Alaska Taxable" report. In performing its
duties, the State Assessor's Office has made [five] trips to
communities to provide on-site technical assistance and
training, completed assessment audits of procedure and
compliance in four municipalities, and completed full value
determinations for 36 municipal governments. She then turned
the committee's attention to slide 13 entitled "Local Boundary
Commission." The DCRA provides support to the Local Boundary
Commission (LBC), which is a governor-appointed body. The DCRA
provides information on procedures for incorporation,
annexation, consolidation, detachment, dissolution, or change in
status of municipalities. Many of the aforementioned procedures
are outlined in Title 29. The [DCRA] reviews petitions, makes
preliminary recommendations, provides public notice of proposed
actions, takes public comments, and finalizes decisions of the
LBC. She then highlighted the accomplishments of the LBC,
including the finalization of the City of Fairbanks annexation
of approximately 32 acres and the approval of a petition to
dissolve the City of Petersburg and incorporate a Petersburg
Borough. However, the LBC did amend the Petersburg petition to
exclude the Tracy Arm watershed. Commissioner Bell explained
that the LBC is trying to ensure that boroughs are cohesive
units that reflect the socioeconomic and economic drivers in the
community while also ensuring that boroughs have the financial
and technical ability to operate. Again, it's a holistic
approach.
8:38:00 AM
COMMISSIONER BELL moved on to slide 14 entitled "Alaska Native
Language Preservation and Advisory Council." The Alaska Native
Language Preservation and Advisory Council was established by
the legislature last year, signed into law on May 28, 2012, and
appointed members were announced during the Alaska Federation of
Natives Conference. The council is staffed and supported by
DCRA. Commissioner Bell noted that she had the pleasure of
attending part of the council's first organizational meeting in
December. She emphasized the desire to ensure the commission
has the support necessary from DCRA to perform its work.
8:39:29 AM
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX asked if the language professionals on the
commission include all languages spoken in the state.
COMMISSIONER BELL replied no. Although there are more languages
than those represented by the language professionals on the
council, the membership reflects a very good geographic
representation, skill level, and commitment. She opined that
each member is committed to the broader mission of the council.
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX then inquired as to the geographic residence of
each appointed member.
COMMISSIONER BELL specified the following: Annette Evans-Smith
is Alutiiq, Athabascan, Yupik - Anchorage; Bernadette Yaayuk
Alvanna-Stimpfle is Yupik - Nome; Delores Churchill is Haida -
Ketchikan; April Laktonen Counceller is Alutiiq - Kodiak; and
Walkie Charles is Yupik - Fairbanks. She then offered to
provide the committee with each member's academic background.
8:41:50 AM
CO-CHAIR NAGEAK pointed out that the membership of the council
doesn't include representation of Inupiaq and Siberian Yupik.
He then informed the committee that in order to help further the
preservation of his language he will be posting Inupiaq words of
the day. He then related his pleasure in being bilingual as his
first language was Inupiaq until he entered school at 6 years of
age.
8:43:38 AM
COMMISSIONER BELL remarked that it takes a full complement of
things to forward the importance of the language and culture in
the state. She mentioned that some regions have Rosetta Stone
language programs. The purpose of the council is to determine
what recommendations to the legislature would be valuable in
preserving Alaska Native languages.
8:44:25 AM
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX observed that the council membership includes a
number of Yupik speakers, but is missing representation of a
number of other languages in the state.
8:44:46 AM
COMMISSIONER BELL confirmed that she would provide the committee
with the follow-up mentioned throughout the meeting. She then
said she looked forward to working with the committee.
8:45:23 AM
REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND related her understanding that DCRA
serves many of the major roles to many small communities,
including the clerk, the planning department, the finance
department, and other major roles. She noted that she is very
impressed with the amount of services DCRA provides to the small
communities in the state. Although she questioned how the
Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council is
housed under DCRA as she thought it should perhaps be housed
under the University of Alaska system, Representative Drummond,
as a Greek American who speaks Greek, noted her appreciation for
the preservation of language and culture.
COMMISSIONER BELL reviewed DCRA's constitutional mandate in
Article 10 of the Alaska State Constitution: "An agency shall
be established in law in the executive branch of state
government to advise and assist local governments. It shall
review their activities, collect and publish local government
information, and perform other duties prescribed by law." The
division, she emphasized, tries to ensure that the capacity for
management, through the division's training and technical
assistance, is held at the local community level.
8:47:48 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD inquired as to whether DCRA has any
interaction with the Native Charter School in Anchorage.
COMMISSIONER BELL responded that it's possible there are grants
for it administered through the division. She offered to
follow-up on that. With regard to all the follow-up,
Commissioner Bell said that she would work with staff to have
that to the committee within the next 24 hours.
8:48:30 AM
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX said she enjoyed the presentation and recalled
that in the past when she represented several rural areas, her
contact with DCRA was almost always pleasant.
8:48:53 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee meeting was
adjourned at 8:50 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| DCRA Overview ppt 2013.pdf |
HCRA 1/22/2013 8:00:00 AM |
DCRA Overview |