Public Administration Commons^™

Hot Topic: Growth Plan Policy Requires Joint Development Board, Don Darden

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

As part of the urban growth planning process, Tennessee Code Annotated (T.C.A.) 6-58-114 requires each county to establish a Joint Economic and Community Development Board by interlocal agreement. Cities need to be aware that forming a Joint Economic and Community Development Board is part of the growth plan process. Certain grants will be unavailable to counties and cities if a board is not established by July 1, 2001.

Hot Topic: Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act Of 1996: You Must Comply, One Way Or Another, Richard Stokes

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) amended the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act), the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide, among other things, improved portability and continuity of health insurance coverage.

Hot Topic: Fair Credit Reporting Act, Richard Stokes

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

The Fair Credit Reporting Act is designed primarily to protect the privacy of consumer report information and to guarantee that the information supplied by consumer reporting agencies is as accurate as possible. The amendments to the Fair Credit Reporting Act make numerous and significant changes to using consumer credit information and restrict an employer's ability to obtain background information without the consent of the individual, whether he or she is an applicant or employee.

City Manager Recruitment Guide (1999), Warren Nevad

MTAS Publications: Full Publications

The purpose of this project is to examine and assess MTAS management's recent roles in the selection process for a city manager. As a result of this research, a brief guide is provided herein to assist MTAS consultants with future city management selection projects.

Hot Topic: Public Acts Affecting Cities, Dennis Huffer

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

The 1999 Tennessee General Assembly passed into law several acts that affect Tennessee municipalities. This Hot Topic summarizes some of these acts.

Hot Topic: Requirements Of Fingerprint Law, Rex Barton

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

The Fingerprint Law was originally passed in the 1997 legislative session. The original law mandated that local law enforcement agencies (1) Fingerprint every person arrested and forward the fingerprint cards to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), and (2) Maintain at least an 85 percent retention rate. (This means that the TBI should not reject more than 15 percent of the fingerprint cards due to poor quality.)

Hot Topic: Y2k Preparedness Planning, Don Darden

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

This Hot Topic discusses a law passed by the Tennessee General Assembly that provides a five-year immunity to local governments for any Y2K computer failures, provided that the municipalities have adopted a Y2K preparedness plan. Included is a sample Y2K preparedness plan.

Hot Topic: The 1998/99 Mtas Salary And Fringe Benefit Survey, Richard Stokes

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

The MTAS annual salary and fringe benefit survey for 1998/99 is complete and shows salary increases for city employees grew at a rate slower than 1997/98. This report contains a summary of the findings as well as a means to request specific information.

Hot Topic: Changes In Federal And State Reimbursement Rates For Travel, Mtas

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

For those cities that elected to reimburse for travel using the federal reimbursement rates, the federal government decreased the vehicle-cents-per-mile reimbursement rate for 1999 to 31 cents per mile. This decrease became effective on April 1, 1999. Any mileage allowances paid to an employee before April 1, 1999, for mileage expenses incurred prior to April 1, 1999, still qualified for the previous rate of 32.5 cents per mile.

Hot Topic: Personnel Issues That Made The News, Richard Stokes

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

The following Hot Topic summarizes pertinent information, key legislation, and Supreme Court rulings that took place during 1998.

Helping Cities For Half A Century: A History Of The Municipal Technical Advisory Service, 1949-1999, Rob Parkinson

MTAS History

This history of the Municipal Technical Advisory Service looks to examine several aspects of the organization’s first 50 years; more specifically in several areas: the historical context out of which MTAS operated, the bureaucratic or structural changes that have come over 50 years, the people who shaped and breathed life into the organization, and the specific issues and problems MTAS consultants were called on to help Tennessee cities with. These topics fit together to give the reader a larger view of what the Municipal Technical Advisory Service has accomplished since 1949 and what the future holds for the next 50 …

Municipal Technical Advisory Service 50th Anniversary Packet, Rob Parkinson

MTAS History

Includes a year-long series of articles celebrating MTAS's 50th anniversary in 1999.

Tennessee Public Acts 1999: Summaries Of Interest To Municipal Officials, Dennis Huffer

MTAS Publications: Full Publications

Summarizes the year's public acts and provides date they become effective.

Users of this publication are cautioned that much judgment is involved in determining which Public Acts to summarize and how to summarize them. Before taking action or giving advice based upon any Public Act summarized here, one should consult the act itself and not rely on the summary.

Finding Money Iii For Municipal Water, Wastewater, And Solid Waste Projects In Tennessee, Sharon Rollins

MTAS Publications: Full Publications

This document is an overview of various financing programs available to Tennessee's local governments for water, wastewater, solid waste, and other project needs.