It all adds up to waste

Absorb the numbers and draw your own conclusions.

As this newspaper and letter writers have shown, Kootenai County's Building and Planning Department has seen a decrease in permit activity but has chosen not to reduce staff correspondingly.

Make of that what you will. In our view, it is at the very least irresponsible management and at most leads one to wonder in what other ways the county may be wasting tax dollars or condoning inefficiencies.

Let's review some numbers.

In the published accounting period, the county's staff of 32 handled 1,451 building permits. In fairness, the county is spread out over a relatively large area, so allowances should be made for time and travel. The county also issues some permits that other entities do not.

However, also in the name of fairness, the county doesn't deal with the volume or complexity of permits that a city like Coeur d'Alene does. Cities tend to see higher percentages of commercial and industrial permits than does the county, because cities offer the services those businesses need. A new manufacturing center or condo tower in the city would of course require far more staff involvement than, say, a pole barn or porch extension in the county.

Now compare the county's staffing and number of permits with area cities:

Coeur d'Alene, 17 staff, 1,771 permits

Post Falls, 9 staff, 1,058 permits

Hayden, 7 staff, 350 permits

Rathdrum, 4 staff, 149 permits

The county staff of 32 issued 1,451 permits, yet at the same time, the cities with combined staff of 37 issued 3,274. That's 225 percent more permits by the cities with less than 20 percent more staff.

No, that doesn't add up.

With the arrested development of a modified comprehensive plan, an inability to make necessary improvements to the county jail, and now, mounting evidence leading to questions about how seriously or competently the county is managing its resources, we suggest yet again that all of these areas would benefit from having a highly qualified county administrator in place. It's a job Kootenai County can no longer afford to live without.