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Key to different government: Not just efficiency, but cost

by MADISON HARDY
Staff Writer | July 30, 2021 1:07 AM

COEUR d'ALENE — Department heads agreed Wednesday that changing the county structure would impact costs more than efficiency during an interview with the Optional Forms of Government commission. 

Through a series of interviews and data collection, the study commission is tasked with evaluating if current county operations best serve constituents — or if it's time for a change. 

This week, in an interview with Clerk Jim Brannon, the elected official affirmed his duties and commitment to taxpayers. Brannon said he had developed essential relationships with legislators and agencies that aid his endeavors. 

“I’m proud to have those relationships where I can call someone and say, ‘If you do this, you’re going to hurt the counties,” Brannon told the commission. “I have an equal seat at the board to defend the best interest of the taxpayer.”

When he first took the job, Brannon's relationship with other elected officers was strained, he said. Today those pains are gone through constructive conversation. 

“It just becomes, to me, that you have to work together as a team,” Brannon said. 

Phil Ward, a study commission member, asked Brannon and Deputy Clerk Jennifer Locke their thoughts about an intermediary administrator — county manager or executive — and if adding that position would aid in bridging those conversations. 

“The simple answer for me is that the continued growth of government costs everybody more money,” Brannon said. 

Touching on a discussion point made recently by Kootenai County Republican Central Committee Chairman Brent Regan during his interview with the commission, Locke pointed out how Ada County has a chief operating officer position that could fill that role. 

“I would think that when we look at the board of county commissioners here, they have five staff members,” Brannon said. “Ada County has six, and they are two and a half times the size we are. I think maybe looking internally for efficiency.”

Now in the final hours of budget season, County Finance Director Dena Darrow said the board and departments have to define priorities in spending based on “one pie of resources.” The county is more limited in how much money is used, she said, as the amount of revenue from taxes, fees and fines are all statutorily defined. 

“We have a small scope of revenue that we can use to perform the mandated services that we provide. We can’t choose not to do a service if it isn’t profitable,” Darrow said. 

“We can’t create more pies,” she continued. “That’s the biggest thing — we can’t choose what we do, and we only have so much money.” 

Government budget processes may not be “the most effective way” to decide amenities, but Darrow said it is directly linked to taxpayers. From her perspective, she sees the system as a suitable control mechanism because of the pressure of taxpayer opinion when the official goes up for re-election. 

“By statute, every elected official is personally liable if they overspend their budget, so everybody is very motivated to be clear about what’s needed,” Darrow said. 

Darrow said she doesn’t know how that would be altered if elected officials become hired. 

A concern that changing the county government structure could present added costs to taxpayers has frequently been raised in the study interviews. Study commissioner Kurt Andersen asked Darrow if an increase in the expenses could be expected to be higher based on qualifications of new hires. 

While Darrow couldn’t give a definite answer, she said it would be reasonable to assume “if you’re going to bring in professional people, you have to pay the private-sector wages.” 

“The question then becomes, is our tiny pie of money going to be enough?” Darrow said. 

What was more on Locke’s mind was how having five part-time commissioners and an administrator would impact operations.

“Personally, I would want to be able to talk to a commissioner and explain why this is beneficial to our department, why it’s beneficial to the taxpayers directly, and that will require more time for us as department heads,” Locke said. 

“Does it improve the operation? I don’t know. Is it going to cost more money? Yes,” she said.