WASHINGTON COUNTY PLANNING DEPARTMENT

FISCAL YEAR END REPORT

JULY 1ST  2006 – JUNE 30TH 2007

 

                                            

                                                                       WASHINGTON COUNTY PLANNING DEPARTMENT

1555 Colfax Street

Blair, NE  68008

planning@washingtoncountyne.org

402-426-6872

fax:  402-426-6843

Web Page www.washcoplanning.org

 

 

 

 Doug Cook (Planning Administrator), Barb Brazelton (Assistant),

Kris Robinson (Building Inspector)

Washington County Planning Department

Fiscal Year End Report

July 1, 2006 – June 30, 2007

 

 

                                           The Washington County Planning Department consists of three full-time employees:

                                           administrative assistant, building inspector and planning administrator.  The Department

                                           is responsible for three separate, and distinct, functions.  These are: building permits and

                                           inspections; planning and zoning; and administration of the County’s E-911 program.

 

                                                  BUDGETS        -       EXPENSES

 

                                           The Department operates under three budgets: Building Inspection (609), Planning

                                           Commission (608), and E-911 System (600). 

 

                                                      BUILDING INSPECTION

 

                                           The Building Inspector is the only personnel cost in the building inspection budget. 

                                           Wages comprise 73%, mileage 22%, with phone, professional dues, printing &

                                           publishing, and office supplies comprising the remainder of the budget.

 

                                           The following chart details the building inspection budget for the past seven fiscal years:

 

                                          

                                                      PLANNING COMMISSION

                                            The Planning Commission budget includes 100% of the Planning Administrator’s and

                                            Administrative Assistant’s wages.  That personnel cost comprises 87% of the budget with

                                            postage, phone, mileage, printing & publishing, and office supplies encompassing the

                                            remaining 13%.

 

                                            The following chart details the Planning Commission budget for the past seven fiscal

                                            years:

 

                                           

                                                                             E-911 

                                           The E-911 program and budget is shared with the County Sheriff’s Office, with the

                                           Planning Department performing administrative functions and the Sheriff’s Office in

                                           charge of E-911 operations. The Departments administrative responsibilities are: E-911

                                           mapping, address assignment, resident marker creation and physical placement, sign

                                           (resident marker & intersection signs) inventory, and Master Street Address Guide

                                           (MSAG) maintenance.

 

                                           The following line item categories in the E-911 budget are classified as administrative: 

                                           signs & posts ($3,500), maps & addressing($6,000), mileage allowance for the E-911

                                           Coordinator (Planning Administrator) ($900), and phone ($100).  These line item amounts

                                           are approximately 4% of the total E-911 budget.

 

                                                       BUDGETS       -        REVENUES 

                                           On the revenue side, the following chart displays the total revenue collected from building

                                           permits and planning fees beginning with the 1992-93 fiscal year: 

 

                                              

 

                                                               BUILDING PERMITS

                                           Building permit records are somewhat scarce prior to the early 1990’s, so for comparison

                                           purposes the earliest reference will be the 1992-93 fiscal year.

 

                                           The following statistics also reflect that since September 2000 the County Planning

                                           Department performs all building inspection services for the Village of Arlington, along

                                           with being a second application site for construction activity within the Village and its

                                           one-mile extraterritorial area.  In February 2001, these same services became effective for

                                           the Village of Washington and in April 2005 the City of Fort Calhoun contracted with the

                                           County for the same.

 

                                           For fiscal year 2006-07, there were 708 permits issued (excluding voided permits) 

                                           categorized as follows:

                               

                                          

Accessory Building  

54

     Plumbing - Miscellaneous

70

Accessory Building Repair

1

     Move-In House

0

Accessory Building Addition

4

     Patio/Porch

4

Attached Garage

4

     Remodel Church

0

Commercial

2

     Residential Addition

27

Deck

40

     Residential Remodel

34

Demolition

0

     Roof

20

Detached Garage

13

     Roof, Siding

5

Flood Plain Development Permit

3

     Septic

61

Foundation

2

     Single Family Residence

36

Grain Bin

11

     Siding

8

Hog Confinement

2

     Sign

2

Manufactured Home

1

     Swimming Pool

7

 Miscellaneous

4

     Townhouse

0

Electrical - Miscellaneous

195

     Void

15

Mechanical - Miscellaneous

98

 

 

 

For simplicity purposes, some permit “types” have been combined in the following pie

chart and graph (refer to the footnotes).

 

Footnotes:

 

1.                  Accessory buildings, accessory building additions, gazebos, grain bins

2.                  Attached and detached garages

3.                  Single-family residences, moved-in homes, duplexes & manufactured

            homes

4.                  Decks, patios, porches, swimming pools

5.                  Miscellaneous accessory permits: electrical, mechanical, plumbing and

            septic

6.                  Residential additions and remodels

7.                  Roofing, foundation, commercial, demolition, flood plain, hog

            confinements, miscellaneous building and voided permits

                                                      

 

                                                    

                                                    The following chart details the “number of permits issued” since the 1993-94 fiscal

                                                    year: 

                                                   

                                                    The chart below shows the number of new home permits from fiscal year 1993-94 through

                                                    2006-07.  Included in this category are new stick-built homes (single & duplex), moved-in

                                                    homes, modular homes and double-wide manufactured homes.

                                                   

                                                   Information gathered at the time a permit is applied-for is the valuation of the proposed

                                                   construction activity.  Valuation is not obtained for miscellaneous permits (electrical,

                                                   mechanical, plumbing and septic).  The chart below does not include the valuation of

                                                   flood plain development permits.  Since January 1, 2001, valuation determination has

                                                   been obtained through a nationally recognized formula (prior to then the applicant

                                                   supplied valuation amount).

                                                    

                                                  As some construction takes place prior to a building permit being applied-for, the

                                                  Department does have the authority to use fines to encourage the “timely” application of

                                                  building permit requests.  Per the County’s Building Code, fines are assessed as double

                                                  the cost of the application fee.

 

                                                  In fiscal year 2006-07, the Department collected $ 789.00 in fines for 19 permits 

                                                     

                                                   Related to the number of permits issued is the number of inspections performed by the

                                                   Building Inspector.  Built into the fee structure of a building permit is the cost of

                                                   inspections.  The Department makes a concerted effort to see that all construction projects

                                                   receive the required inspections and are completed on a timely basis (within 2 years of the

                                                   permit issuance date).

 

                                                   In explaining the graph and chart below:

                                                   * Status checks refer to the Building Inspector stopping at either a “permitted” or “un-

                                                     permitted” site to determine the status of a construction project.

                                                   * A job site conference occurs when the Building Inspector will meet at a project site to

                                                     discuss a particular matter, such as a specific problem or answer a question. 

                                                   * Miscellaneous finals mean all finals other than house finals (accessory buildings,

                                                     septics, new furnaces, etc.)

                                                   * Miscellaneous inspection refers to such inspections as framing, electrical rough-in,

                                                     footings, etc.

 

        JUL

    AUG

SEP

    OCT

 NOV

DEC

JAN

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

        JUN

      TOTALS

House Finals

5

7

4

7

6

5

6

6

4

2

8

   3

63

Status Checks

7

14

8

8

11

0

11

2

7

13

13

  33

127

Job Site Conf.

3

2

5

4

4

1

2

2

5

1

1

   2

32

Misc. Finals

30

37

30

 64

 53

 21

25

 20

 54

38

 52

   51

475

Misc. Insp

71

87

72

 90

 70

 46

38

 25

 53

76

 83

71

782

TOTALS

116

147

119

173

144

 73

82

 55

123

130

 157

160

1,479

                                                   

 

                                                           PLANNING & ZONING

                                                 For fiscal year 2006-07 there were a total of 94 planning requests.  Included in this

                                                 number are 21 administrative adjustments that are approved without Planning

                                                 Commission or County Supervisor action (per the Zoning Regulations). 

                                                   

                                                  In some cases, when a property is split or subdivided, there is a Greenbelt recapture.  This

                                                  allows the County to go back three years and collect, or “recapture”, the difference

                                                  between the “non-Greenbelted” tax rate and the “Greenbelted” tax rate.  Greenbelt

                                                  recapture occurs with the subdivision, replatting and lot splitting of property.  Whether or

                                                  not there is a “recapture” is determined by the County Assessor’s Office.  Greenbelt

                                                  amounts are determined by the County Treasurer’s Office.  The Treasurer does not sign

                                                  the associated plat until payment has been verified.  In fiscal year 2006-07 Greenbelt

                                                  recapture occurred on 5 properties, with platted residential subdivisions accounting for

                                                  98% of the total amount of $29,321 collected.

 

2006/2007

 

 

 

Circle K Acres Sub

$4,440

Clearwater Creek Sub Phase II

$4,457

Glen Oaks Sub

$19,931

Rhoades Lot Split

$60

Wofford Lot Split

$433

 

 

 

                                                      

                                                   The following chart details County unincorporated area subdivisions with occupancy rates

                                                   of 90% or less.  A home is assumed to be occupied (percent occupied) once an

                                                   E-911 address has been assigned.

 

 

SUB-

NUMBER

NUMBER

PERCENT

YEAR

LEGAL

DIVISION

OF LOTS

OF HOMES

OCCUPIED

PLATTED

DESCRIP

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allen Hills

63

35

56%

1996

 18-17-12

Bur-Ridge

23

7

30%

1982

 31-18-12

Circle K Acres

5

0

0%

2007

25-17-11

Clearwater Creek + Phase II

23

1

4%

2005

 10-17-12

Cooper Woods

19

8

42%

2000

 2-17-11

Cottonwood Creek

65

0

0%

2005

18,19-17-12

Crest Ridge

32

13

41%

2000

 13-17-11

Eagle View

40

36

90%

1996

 19-17-12

Elkhorn Oaks

3

1

33%

2002

 28-18-9

Glen Oaks

50

0

0%

2006

8,9-17-12

Heidi Hollo

25

20

80%

1992

 12-17-11

Heidi Hollo West

52

29

56%

1996

 12-17-11

Highway 133 Hilltop

2

1

50%

2006

 2-17-11

Lakeland Estates

519

302

58%

1970

 13-17-11

Lakeview Estates #2

8

5

63%

1977

 12-17-11

Longview Estates

9