Planner presents budget on Day 2

Kootenai County’s newly hired planning and building director spent his second day on the job pitching a budget for a department where he hardly knows everyone’s name, much less specific financial needs.

“I was thrown right into the fire,” Scott Clark said Monday morning after spending 11/2 hours with the Kootenai County Commission going nearly line-by-line over the budget proposal that contains the money to run the high-profile office for the next year.

Luckily for Clark it wasn’t his first county budget presentation, and former interim Planning Director Cheri Howell gave the overview and answered the bulk of the commission’s questions.

“It’s a familiar process,” Clark said, adding that the reality is the same as in most counties where the needs or wants are much greater than the available cash.

And that was the exact message Clark and Howell received from the County Commission, which balked at several requests, including $350,000 to hire a consultant and undertake a complete rewrite of county zoning laws that date back to 1973.

County Finance Director David McDowell said all departments combined are requesting about $7 million more than the current $63.5 million budget. He expects only about $1 million extra to cover any new programs, staff or equipment.

All county departments are presenting proposed budgets for fiscal year 2008, which begins Oct. 1.

In the next couple of months the commission will whittle down the requests and publish a tentative budget in early August. In September the county will have a public hearing.

Commission Chairman Rick Currie called the $350,000 request a “killer” and wants the department to check with consultants and present a “more realistic figure.”

Howell said that Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene recently revamped their land classification laws. Post Falls will pay $350,000 for its 18-month overhaul, she said.

Howell imagines the process to be just as intensive and comprehensive as the county’s ongoing rewrite of the growth plan, which is the foundation of all land-use decisions.

Howell said the county must continue to update its long-range planning goals and will have hefty consulting costs in the next five years. She said the county can no longer “Band-Aid” the outdated rules.

Other major requests for the department are for a full-time civil engineer and another code-enforcement officer.

Hiring a civil engineer would cost about $79,000 annually and save the county private consultant costs, she said. The county contracts with consultants because there isn’t a licensed engineer on staff to review everything from housing developments to wetlands plans.

Howell said the county has the choice of spending $100,000 on private consultants or hiring an engineer.

The public also is demanding better enforcement of county laws, from junk cars on empty lots to erosion and runoff problems that send mud into Lake Coeur d’Alene and nearby streams.

Howell proposed hiring a third code-enforcement officer to help deal with the 600 active violations that the county is processing. That position would cost about $47,000 annually.

She said building inspections are a top priority for the county, and staff members are so busy they can’t concentrate on code violations.

The department also is asking for more money for training and conferences, items that were mostly cut from this year’s budget.

In one of his few comments during the presentation, Clark said that continuing education is important and helps reduce liability.

“One lawsuit pays for a lot of training,” Clark said. “I would strongly encourage you to continue that.”

Clark’s first day on the job was May 1, which mostly consisted of tours and introductions. He then returned to Moses Lake to finish some last-minute details as Grant County’s top planner and start the process of moving his family.

So Monday was only Day 2. Clark is only spending two days a week in Kootenai County until May 22, when he hopes to begin full time.

His first impression is that the department has a good staff and that he has lots to learn. He said he doesn’t yet have a priority list.

“There are a lot of things going on, and I’m going to have to work hard to get up to speed,” he said.