Commissioners up their information game
LOREN BENOIT/Press Nanci Plouffe, Kootenai County’s senior business analyst, delivers stats and trends on the county’s performance indicators such as community development, economic development and parks at a meeting with Kootenai County Democrats on Friday.
Nanci Plouffe gives a presentation to Kootenai County Democrats on the county’s performance in areas such as economic development, parks and crime on Friday at the Iron Horse Restaurant. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
COEUR d’ALENE — The county’s board of commissioners has beefed up its information strategy and is now providing new data to the community.
Nanci Plouffe, a business analyst hired seven months ago for the Kootenai County commissioners, shared a plethora of information Friday as guest speaker at the Kootenai County Democrats’ weekly meeting at the Iron Horse Restaurant on Sherman Avenue.
Plouffe’s analysis of key performance indicators — data used to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of government — touched on topics related to public safety, budgets and community development.
“We want to show both the good and bad,” she said.
Some of the data compiled and presented by Plouffe revealed:
- Despite being the second-largest county by assessed valuation and the third-largest by population, Kootenai County property taxes are the lowest of the four largest counties.
- Kootenai County’s property tax levy rate is ninth-lowest when stacked against 13 local cities.
- While the county’s population has doubled since 1991 to nearly 160,000, the population has only averaged a 2 percent annual growth rate since 2010.
- Kootenai County is the 12th-safest county of 44 in Idaho in terms of violent crimes like homicide, rape, aggravated assault and robbery.
- Wages in Spokane County are 17 percent higher than in Kootenai County, but the cost of living across the state line is 15 percent higher.
The county’s website now offers pages devoted to its performance indicators. Residents can sift through the information by visiting www.kcgov.us and clicking on “Performance Indicators.”
Plouffe said residents are welcome to contact her at nplouffe@kcgov.us if they’d like to see other local statistics.
Commissioner Chris Fillios said the data will be handy when tough budget decisions must be made.
“Oftentimes we haven’t had the information to make rational decisions,” he said.
Fillios said other budget and planning challenges will still exist, however. Turnover among commissioners makes long-term planning difficult, if not nearly impossible, he said.
Attendee Tom Hearn said he found the meeting enlightening, including hearing Fillios say that the only oversight commissioners have over the six other elected county officials and those departments is with the budget.
Plouffe’s position was hotly debated by county commissioners and during campaigns for the May primary election before the position was approved last year.
Fillios and outgoing commissioner Bob Bingham supported the new position as they believe data will help with financial decisions.
Marc Eberlein, another former commissioner on the three-person board, opposed the move, saying the county faces higher priorities and the duties could have been filled with existing staff.
County Clerk Jim Brannon was also in opposition because his department was already tasked with supplying financial information to county leaders.
Plouffe said most county leaders have been receptive to sharing information with her, but she believes more strides could be made.
“I have been given complete access to the financial system, but no data behind it,” she said. “I also do not get data from the sheriff’s office.”
Plouffe said she obtains crime data from the state and FBI, which get statistics from local agencies.
“Crime data is protected by law,” she said. “To have access, you need to undergo a background check that’s extended only to employees of the sheriff’s office, and I work for the county commissioners.”
Plouffe said information sharing is a process that can take a little time.
Other data that Plouffe said she would look into gathering or posting, based on suggestions from attendees, includes suicide rates and if the legalization of marijuana would cut jail costs.
Plouffe, who served as a public safety analyst for Chula Vista Police in California for 17 years, said she also would like to correspond with other counties to see what they do to cut the cost of mandated medical care for jail inmates. She said Kootenai County is planning to spend about $1.9 million this year.
“I would like to look at things like that to try to save taxpayers money,” she said.