St. Clair County Commission Chairman Stan Batemon was recently reelected to the National Association of Counties Board of Directors for his fifth term.

“I am pleased to have been elected by NACo members to serve on the association’s Board of Directors,” said Batemon, who also serves on the NACo Energy, Environment and Land Use Committee. “NACo is the only national organization which represents the interests of county government and I look forward to doing my part in ensuring that the voice of America’s counties is heard loud and clear in Washington, D.C. I am proud to keep St. Clair County strong by serving on the national level to keep our county out in front of our national leaders.”

Batemon said NACo’s main objective is to monitor the federal government’s actions and to be sure those actions are not detrimental toward the responsibilities counties have toward the residents they represent.

All 67 counties in Alabama and more than 2,300 counties nationwide are members of NACo.

“Each state has an association as well that monitors the state legislature,” he said. “I also serve on the Association of County Commissions of Alabama Board of Directors and am a past president of that organization.”

Batemon said he and Madison County Commission Chairman Mike Gillespie are the two NACo board members from Alabama.

The board membership is based on population.

“As board members, we bring back information on a national level to the state association,” he said. “The state association helps direct what position we take toward issues on a national level.”

Batemon said one example is the Community Development Block Grant program.

“The CDBG program provided almost all of the money toward development of public water and sewer systems, and other public infrastructure, in St. Clair County and the entire state,” he said. “CDBG is the major source of funding for those projects. On the federal level, they are always trying to cut money going to CDBG grants for counties. One big thing is monitoring that to be sure counties receive their share of overall tax dollars.”

Batemon said the CDBG program is just one example of the programs both associations monitor.

“The money to run St. Clair County is not located in St. Clair County,” he said. “The big money we use to fund our roads, water systems, economic development, law enforcement, emergency management—all that money comes out of Montgomery and Washington, D.C.”

Batemon said he believes it is imperative to not only stay in touch with the state and federal officials, but to keep pressure on the state and federal programs to give tax dollars back to local government.

“NACo is literally an entity that keeps pressure on congressmen to make sure money comes back to our county,” he said. “It is very important work. There is where the money is, and we want to make sure the pipeline stays open to get the money back to our county.”

Contact Elsie Hodnett at ehodnett@dailyhome.com.