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34 <br /> � R <br /> • Support legislation that increases the informal bid limit of$1.2 million for NCDOT projects. <br /> Current law permits local NCDOT divisions to approve projects that are less than $1.2 million in <br /> scope instead of completing the more lengthy and cumbersome formal bidding process. Board of <br /> Transportation approval is still required,but this informal bid limit does help to streamline and <br /> expedite the building process. The $1.2 million cap was established several years ago and has not <br /> been adjusted to compensate for increased construction costs involved in road construction. <br /> IGR-8: Oppose collective bargaining for public employees. <br /> Oppose legislation to authorize local governments to enter into collective bargaining agreements <br /> with public employees, or to mandate dues check-off programs. Salaries and benefits for public <br /> sector employees remain strong in North Carolina because different jurisdictions are competing <br /> over the same highly skilled and specialized employees, such as police, firefighters, emergency <br /> medical personnel and public school teachers. Lifting the state's ban on collective bargaining <br /> would require every county in the state to negotiate for salaries and benefits with groups <br /> representing local teachers, firefighters, sheriff's deputies, EMS employees and others that are <br /> unionized. Collective bargaining for public employees would neither improve county <br /> government efficiency nor result in improved services to citizens. The likelihood is that <br /> collective bargaining would increase operational costs for county governments, would create an <br /> adversarial relationship between management and employees, and would create two classes of <br /> employees—those in unions and those not in unions. <br /> IGR-9: Support maintaining local control of the NC ABC System and preservation of local ABC <br /> revenues. <br /> Support legislation to protect local control of the local ABC system, including all local revenue <br /> streams generated through local ABC store operations. Given the state's dire budget situation, <br /> legislative leaders have considered privatizing all or parts of the state's system of alcoholic <br /> beverage control to generate significant amounts of cash in the short term. Many counties <br /> recognize ABC revenues in their budgets. The loss of these revenues would create holes in <br /> county budgets. In addition, cities and counties are better suited to make decisions about <br /> alcoholic beverage distribution, including where to locate stores and whether to merge with other <br /> systems. <br /> IGR-10: Support release of Help America Vote Act(HA VA)funds to assist counties with election <br /> costs. <br /> Support legislation that provides the state maintenance-of-effort match to draw down the$4 <br /> million in remaining federal HAVA funds. Counties use various county, state, and federal funds <br /> to operate election services. Taking advantage of Help America Vote Act(HAVA) funds would <br /> be very beneficial to ease funding pressures at the county level. <br />