WASHINGTON COUNTY PLANNING DEPARTMENT

FISCAL YEAR END REPORT

JULY 1^ST  2008 – JUNE 30^TH 2009

                                                                        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, 2008 – June 30, 2009

The Washington County Planning Department consists of three full-time employees: planning 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, Planning Commission, and E-911 System. 

BUILDING INSPECTION

The Building Inspector is the only personnel cost in the building inspection budget as expended.   Wages comprise 75%, mileage 20%, with phone, uniforms, professional dues, printing & publishing, and office supplies accounting for the remainder of the budget.

PLANNING COMMISSION

The Planning Commission budget includes 100% of the Planning Administrator’s and Planning Assistant’s wages.  As expended, that personnel cost comprises 91% of the budget with postage, phone, mileage, printing & publishing, and office supplies encompassing the remaining 9%.

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 Department’s 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, maps & addressing, mileage allowance for the E-911 Coordinator (Planning Administrator), and phone.  These line item amounts are approximately 3% 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 2008-09, there were 718 permits issued (excluding voided permits)  categorized as follows:

 For classification 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 and repair, 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 buildings, signs 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 2008-09.  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 2008-09, the Department collected $ 1,448.00 in fines for 13 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.

PLANNING & ZONING

For fiscal year 2008-09 there were a total of 114 planning requests.  Included in this number are 11 administrative adjustments that are approved without Planning Commission or County Supervisor action (per the Zoning Regulations). 

EROSION CONTROL

 In September 2007, the County employed the professional engineering services of JEO Consulting Group.

 In July, 2008 the County adopted Resolution 2008-24 which established fees for the review of drainage studies and erosion control plans as relates to subdivision development.

Resolution 2008-25, adopted at the same time, created a process and fee structure for erosion control on lots in platted, named subdivisions.

 The $800 erosion control fee applies to any residential structures, including manufactured, modular, stick built and relocated homes and also accessory buildings (barns, sheds, pole buildings, etc) exceeding 576 square feet in size.

For fiscal year 2008, there were 5 erosion control permits (all homes) issued under the requirements of Resolution 2008-25.

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.

E-911 ADMINISTRATION

Washington County entered the E-911 program in 1997.  The Official E-911 and Highway Maps have been printed four times:  1998, 1999, 2002, and 2005.  The current price of the map is $5.00. 

 Although sales account for a portion of the map distribution, a significant number of maps are “given away.”  These free maps are provided to other County departments (Sheriff,

Highway, etc), all the volunteer fire and rescue departments, other non-profit agencies, etc.  

 Maps are available for purchase at the Courthouse and Blair City Hall.  County businesses are also given the option of purchasing maps in quantity (over 5) at a reduced price, which they can sell for $5.00 at a profit.

In the fall of 2005, two-thousand copies of the 2005-2006 maps were printed.  It is anticipated that a 2009-2010 map will be printed in fiscal year 2009-2010.

In fiscal year 2008-09, 39 maps were sold.

                 If you have any questions, please

                 mailto:planning@washingtoncountyne.org

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