2005 Report to the Community Katy Singlaub, County Manager Thank you all for being here today to celebrate our progress and share in our challenges and vision for the future of our great region.
The Board of County Commissioners, professional staff, and volunteers of Washoe County recognize that good government is a partnership between citizens and those who serve them. We recognize that we are accountable to you each and every day, not only for doing the right things, but for doing things right. We take very seriously our duty to be effective and innovative stewards of the public’s trust and the public’s resources.
Our job is to produce the Results that Matter to you in the most cost-effective way possible. As you will hear in the results that we are about to report, we believe that you will agree, we continuously strive to do that, and to do it better and smarter every week, every month, and every year.
It has been my privilege to work for Washoe County for more than 12 years of my life, and to serve as your County Manager for the past 8 years. Each year that I have prepared this report to you, the
1
owners of this government, I have been truly overwhelmed by the excellence of the dedicated elected officials, professional staff, and volunteers who serve you. As many of you know, I am honored to have been elected the national Chairman of the Board of the Innovation Groups, which represent the best and brightest local governments in America. Based on that experience, I can tell you without hesitation that here in Washoe County, you are served by some of the most dedicated, unselfish, talented and forwardthinking public servants anywhere in the U.S. Of course our government is not perfect, not without our mistakes and failings, but we are accountable, open and always monitoring our own performance, and we accept unequivocal, complete responsibility to serve you with passion, integrity and commitment to the results that matter to you.
Herewith is our report to you for the 2005 year of service and the highlights of the results we have achieved.
First the overview:
Our population grew 3.5% to 383,453 as of July 1, 2005—the last certified population by the State Demographer. Importantly, this represents a 54% growth in population in Washoe County since
2
1990. Our 3.5% growth rate compares with population growth of 1% for the U.S. and 4.8% in the Las Vegas Metro area for 2004. The Consumer Price Index for our county grew 3.4% from December 2004 to 2005. These two measures combined determine the budget growth we will allow for the 2006-2007 fiscal year—a total of no more than 6.9%.
Our total budget for the current fiscal year is $684 million, with $336 million in the General Fund. Our staffing complement of 2,889 employees makes us one of the five largest employers in Washoe County. This year, we lowered the number of employees per capita again for the third straight year, and for the eighth consecutive year, we have held growth in our operating budget to the combined rates of growth of CPI and population.
Our tax rate has remained unchanged at $1.3917 per $100 of assessed value, despite the fact that State law would have allowed us to impose an additional 31.5 cents of tax rate that we have not imposed. Of our tax rate, only 90.81 cents is for all the operations of County government—the rest is restricted by the Legislature, by voter overrides, or by debt covenants. As confirmed by a detailed accounting study of every service provided by Washoe County, 82% of our budget goes to regional services such as juvenile
3
services, child protection and adoptions, criminal justice, the consolidated jail, libraries, parks and open space, elections, senior services, the coroner’s office, the recorder, public administrator, clerk and public guardian, among others, which we provide for all residents of Washoe County. About 18% of our budget goes to serve residents of the unincorporated areas, and the previously mentioned detailed study shows that unincorporated area residents more than fully fund the local services provided to them because of their higher average property values and therefore higher property taxes paid.
Property taxes support about 37% of our budget, while consolidated taxes, including sales taxes, support 39% of the budget. Prior year savings support about 13.8% of the budget, and we have used savings to help fund a variety of services, including the Jan Evans Juvenile Justice Center and the Regional Animal Shelter.
On the expenditure side, about 43% of our budget goes to Public Safety and the Justice system; 18% goes to General Government including elections, the assessor, treasurer and other constitutionally required functions, and all support services such as technology; 6% goes to culture and recreation, including our
4
award-winning library and park services; and about 4% goes to Welfare, child protection, and social services to needy families.
Our budget for 2005-2006 included significant, smart investments to serve you better. Among them include the following: $36 million in current year funding for land acquisitions and project engineering studies for the Truckee River Flood Project; design costs for the Regional Jail expansion which will break ground this spring; consolidation of regional animal control services under Washoe County; completion of the Regional Animal Shelter; resource sharing with the cities for road maintenance; additional Sheriff’s Office staffing and civilian Community Service Officers to enhance crime prevention and patrol services; more than a quarter of a million dollars this year alone to support services to the homeless; expanded library hours as requested by the public; $4 million in road and street overlay projects; more than $5.5 million in technology investments including public wifi in these Chambers; automation of our permitting processes; and increased services for seniors and youth—reported as your highest priority for increased funding in our citizen budget surveys—including 10 new Child Protective Services staff members, a full-time psychologist for youth in custody at the Jan Evans Juvenile Justice Center, and a full-time Registered Nurse to enhance medical care
5
management for elderly wards for whom the County is the courtappointed Guardian.
We strive to keep our focus on achieving results in the adopted priorities for Washoe County, and to that end, I will report highlights of our accomplishments by priority.
Under Improving Public Safety, Security and Health, we achieved the following results: We established the Joint Truckee River Flood Project Coordinating Committee with the cities of Reno and Sparks and the University of Nevada, Reno to oversee the flood project for the 50-mile Truckee River corridor to Pyramid Lake; we hired a new Flood Project Director Naomi Duerr; we completed implementation and training on the Flood Early Warning System; and we have either purchased or have purchase agreements in place for 132 acres of critical floodplain land for $41 million. We are on schedule for starting construction of the comprehensive Flood Project in 2008, and will start work on $2 million of immediate action projects this year. We sponsored a regional Town Hall meeting last June to focus on neighborhood issues affecting all citizens, wherever
6
they live, such as graffiti, gangs and traffic concerns. A follow-up regionwide summit on graffiti is planned for March 18 at the request of Commissioner Bonnie Weber. The major crime rate per 1,000 population in Washoe County remained almost unchanged at 16.4, down 8% from the high of 17.9 in 2003. Despite the stable crime rate, however, our average daily population in the regional jail was at 1,087 for the year, while the population rose to 1,147 in January 2006, a 12% increase over January 2005. In the same period, individuals in custody who were in alternatives to incarceration increased to 627, from 596 last year at this time. The jail continues to run at capacity, while officials from all segments of the criminal justice system meet monthly to address issues such as continuances that may keep people in jail longer than they absolutely need to be. Higher occupancy in the jail is partially driven by longer lengths of stay, reflecting a higher proportion of more serious offenders being housed in our jail. Meanwhile, we are working to open a 264-bed jail expansion next spring. Until then, the Chief Judge of the District Court, by agreement with all parties in the criminal justice system, and as a result of legislation Washoe County put forward in 2003, authorizes early release of non-violent offenders who
7
have successfully completed the intent of their sentences. Construction of the jail expansion will be funded from a dedicated 1.5 cent property tax implemented by the Board of County Commissioners in 2003 in anticipation of the need for the planned expansion. An addition $2.3 million in operating costs for the increased staffing needed for the jail expansion will come from available new resources, as well as savings. We continue to aggressively monitor the population of the jail daily, and work to insure that only those who need to be incarcerated are, and only for the time necessary. While many jurisdictions take weeks to arraign an individual, for example, resulting in weeks of unnecessary jail stay, often loss of employment for the offenders and loss of financial support to their families, our region works to insure that all individuals are arraigned with 72 hours and seen by a court services staff member within 24 hours, to see if they qualify for release or supervision, saving millions of dollars each year for taxpayers. In addition, we established a new Alternative Sentencing Department this year to provide intensive supervision of defendants’ compliance with Justice and Municipal Court orders. This heightened level of supervision reduces the likelihood of re-offending and coordinates the tools,
8
resources, and partnerships needed for successful rehabilitation of these individuals. Combined with the successful and pioneering Drug Court, Mental Health Court, and other specialty court services, we are working to make every effort to re-integrate offenders as productive members of society wherever possible. In our Emergency Preparedness efforts, we held emergency planning exercises from tabletop and functional exercises to full-scale regional drills. County Commissioners as well as all key staff have now received training in the national Incident Command System. We also completed a thorough Hazard Assessment of our infrastructure and procedures for the Homeland Security Commission, and partly as a result of Washoe County funding a new full-time position to manage Emergency Preparedness grants, our region has received almost $6 million in Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security grants in the past two years. An audit of our Homeland Security grants showed that our level of accountability for these funds is outstanding, and funds are being appropriately allocated and spent on the most critical emergency planning needs. We started the 2005 year with a Regional Snow Emergency that lasted several weeks and cost local taxpayers more than
9
$3 million, and we ended the year with a flood that resulted in similar costs for response and recovery, affecting more than 2,200 parcels in Washoe County and covering 7 square miles. We have used both emergencies to strengthen our regional cooperation, preparation, risk reduction, and mitigation efforts, and we will use what we have learned when our region sends 90 local emergency responders to Emmitsburg, Maryland for a full-scale FEMA exercise titled “High Water Mark” April 2-7 this spring.
Citizens in our statistically significant random sample surveys consistently tell us that effectively managing our natural resources, including water, are the most important services that Washoe County provides. Under our priority of Preserving and Enhancing our Quality of Life, some of our major accomplishments are highlighted in the following. Washoe County completed our fifth consecutive year of recognition as the #1 Local Government in the U.S. for Waste Reduction and recycling by the U.S. EPA. We save an estimated $700,000 per year through re-refining our used oil, reusing office supplies, furniture and equipment, using biodegradable food storage and food service supplies at the jail, and recapping truck and bus tires, among other efforts.
10
A new program for recycling and reusing batteries is also being implemented, following an employee suggestion. We continue to have the highest rate in the State for using reclaimed water for safe irrigation of golf courses, landscaping and other appropriate uses, and we expanded artificial aquifer recharge programs this year in the north and south valleys, getting the most of every acre foot of water we can. In addition, we now have a fleet of 200 alternative fuel vehicles, reducing our energy utilization and our costs to taxpayers. We completed a $1.35 million erosion control project in Incline Village that reduces sediment and run-off pollution flowing into Lake Tahoe. This is the latest of 20 water quality projects for Lake Tahoe that Washoe County has completed. Protecting our watershed is a critical priority of Washoe County…by treating eroding slopes and roadside ditches that feed streams and creeks, we help protect our region’s main drinking water supply. In addition, earlier in 2005, our Ponderosa Subdivision water quality improvement project in Incline Village received the American Public Works Association Project of the Year in the Environmental Category. This project alone saves 20 truckloads of soil from getting into the Lake each year, and
11
was an outstanding example of partnership between Washoe County and the US Forest Service, the State of Nevada, the TRPA, and the Lake Tahoe Bond Act. Groundwater supplies in Spanish Springs received a $4 million boost from the State as a result of legislation sponsored by Sen. Maurice Washington and Assemblyman John Marvel. Along with $3 million in federal support, these funds are being used to make sewer connections more affordable for Spanish Springs residents whose septic systems are failing and contributing to groundwater contamination. In environmental restoration efforts, Commissioners provided funding and support for the Truckee River restoration efforts at the McCarran Ranch. This restoration project led by the Nature Conservancy on the 305-acre McCarran Ranch in the east Truckee River Canyon, is restoring natural vegetation, meanders, and habitat for endangered fish, while it improves the river’s ability to manage flood flows naturally. During the recent New Year’s Flood, this project performed exceptionally well, and slowed flood flows while keeping banks from eroding. The County also began construction this year on the Longley Lane Water Treatment facility, which will treat more than 4
12
million gallons of water per day, reducing demand on Truckee River water and cost-effectively meeting federal drinking water standards for arsenic removal. Commissioners approved another $2 million in water supply improvement projects in Spanish Springs and the Mt. Rose area paid for entirely by water utility hook-up fees. These projects will provide quality drinking water to residents whose private wells have failed due to drought, the impacts of other wells, and groundwater contamination. On the recreational side of quality of life, we completed construction of the award-winning Melio Gaspari water park at Lazy 5 Regional Park to the delight of area children, providing a low-cost, high-efficiency recreational asset for Spanish Springs residents, saving them vehicle trips into the metro area. The Annexation Program Settlement Agreement was endorsed by the County Commission and other local governments this year. This settlement outlines where and how growth should occur over the next 25 years, and mandates that plans and funding be in place for roads, schools, public services, and natural resources such as water, before new development is approved. The settlement
13
provides some 28,000 acres for the spheres of influence of Reno and Sparks for possible future development. In other planning achievements, the Spanish Springs Area Plan developed through hundreds of hours of effort by citizen volunteers and professional staff of Washoe County, was honored by the Nevada Chapter of the American Planning Association as the Outstanding Plan of the Year. We are grateful to all those who worked so hard to reach a successful consensus vision for the Spanish Springs Valley that was supported by residents and developers alike. Working with the Regional Transportation Commission, Washoe County is also striving to set an example of reducing vehicle trips and impacting traffic congestion. An employeeled effort is developing incentives for employees to take alternative transportation while at work and getting to and from work. In addition, County residents and County employees recently won the regional competition among local governments by collecting more than 4 tons of phone books for recycling, resulting in a donation of dozens of trees for Washoe County Parks from SBC. And to show their community pride, Washoe County employees donated more than $90,000 to the United Way, the largest campaign ever by Washoe County employees.
14
A working group of representatives from Washoe County, the US Forest Service, the Incline Village General Improvement District, State Public Lands, the TRPA, the Tahoe Trails Association, and the owners of the 777-acre Incline Lakes has crossed the first hurdle in public acquisition of this rare treasure in the high Sierra overlooking lake Tahoe—approval for funding under the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act. When completed, this will be a stunning jewel in our public lands, and will be operated and managed by Washoe County, by agreement with the US Forest Service, for the benefit of all the public. In September, the County Commission also voted to support public acquisition of the final 300 acres of the Casey Ranch in Washoe Valley, which, when completed, will forever protect the pristine wetlands and grazing lands from development that could have one day extended our metro area without break all the way to Carson City. In March, the County hosted a Town Hall Meeting to solicit public input on the possible sales and future acquisition of public lands in Washoe County. Working with representatives from local, state, and federal agencies, we are currently preparing GIS maps of possible areas for sale or acquisition, which will be publicized for public review this
15
spring. Work also continues with partner agencies on a bike and pedestrian path that one day will hopefully circle Lake Tahoe as an outstanding tourism (and Locals!) amenity. Finally, Commissioners this year approved grants providing more than $200,000 to private non-profit agencies working to address the needs of homeless people. This is in addition to the $2.8 million in similar contributions already provided by Washoe County over the years, and is over and above the direct and indirect services provided by Washoe County for food, shelter, and medical assistance to needy families and children through our Social Services department. In addition, several Washoe County staff members provide support to the community-wide task force working to end homelessness.
Under the heading of Improving Regional Collaboration, many significant achievements occurred this year. We successfully completed the full consolidation of Regional Animal Services under Washoe County as approved by voters. The new 63,000 square foot Regional Animal Shelter facility being constructed by Washoe County and shared with funding partner the Nevada Humane Society will begin housing animals this week. Volunteers and rescue groups
16
will assist us in placing in excess of 1500 animals per year through this facility. We completed the Regional Snow Emergency Response Plan with our partner local governments, and have prepared GISbased regional snow removal route maps for coordinated plowing of priority routes. This will enhance the region’s response times for future events, and reduce costs to taxpayers. In May, Washoe County adopted a regional resource-sharing agreement for road maintenance services with the cities of Reno and Sparks, implementing one of the last of 33 recommendations from the Lorick Study, which identified about $3.2 million in efficiency savings. The agreement has been utilized throughout the year to share equipment, supplies, and crews to reduce costs and improve service to taxpayers. In addition, the Golden View/Pyramid Highway traffic safety projected was completed to add a stoplight through an innovative partnership between the County, the Nevada Dept. of Transportation, and the Summit Christian Church. A similar public/private partnership led to a muchneeded pedestrian-activated crossing signal in Incline Village, which Commission Chairman Bob Larkin will tell you more about.
17
In another important regional collaboration, a working group of officials from the City of Reno Municipal Court and Washoe County continue efforts to consolidate the Reno Municipal Court and the County’s Reno Justice Court to improve efficiency and service to the public. Following approval by the City Council and the County Commission, this will go to the 2007 Legislature. The future consolidation will be greatly facilitated by the construction of the Mills Lane Justice Center, a joint project of the City and the County that will be completed this spring, physically joining the Municipal Court to the Justice Court in downtown Reno, shared with the District Attorney’s Offices. The Reno Rodeo Foundation and the Perry DiLoreto Team Roping Project brought us closer to a dream this year by presenting us with a check for $900,000 in donated funds in support of our partnership to construct a Kids Kampus Activity Center for the children in emergency shelter care at our Kids Kottage and at our McGee Center. In our efforts to strengthen collaboration across county lines, we supported a boundary line adjustment with Lyon County to the east that allows about 2,000 acres of eastern Washoe County land planned for residential development to be annexed into Lyon County so it can be served by Lyon
18
County and the town of Fernley, reducing the cost of service and maintaining the character of that community as a unified place. And in support of the City of Sparks, we contributed $19,000 toward the Sparks Centennial celebration and the construction of the centennial Lighthouse, and we contributed staff and funding to develop a cooperative plan with Sparks for the East Truckee River Canyon area, which by agreement will go into the Sparks Sphere of Influence. Working with officials from the Washoe County School District, we secured approval for a pioneering plan to consolidate staff training days so that schools could be closed for use by voters on General Election days, which will significantly improve services to voters and increase privacy and efficiency of voting. We will be the first County in Nevada to do so. In all, dozens of recommendations for improvement in our election process are being implemented, with a goal of increased voter turnout, and every voter being able to vote within 30 minutes, and as before, results being tallied safely, thoroughly, accurately, and reliably within three hours of the closing of the polls.
19
Under Supporting a Health Economy, we have the following information to share. EDAWN reports a 100% increase in the number of new companies that moved to or are expanding in Northern Nevada over the previous year, creating $267 million in new economic activity, with 2,019 new jobs—a 38% increase over last year. Washoe County Commission Chairman Bob Larkin and myself serve on the EDAWN Target 2010 Steering Committee, and exciting regional effort to guide the future strategic direction of the regional economy. Washoe County’s Regional Economic Forecast, provided by Global Insight, the successor to the Wharton Economic Forecasting group, notes that job growth in Washoe County, at 3.8%, was stronger than the U.S., led by the construction industry, with the number of building permits issued in the Reno metropolitan statistical area (MSA) increasing 10.4% year to date over the prior year. Travel to Reno-Sparks, however, was down by 9.3% in the second quarter of 2005 vs. the same period in 2004, primarily due to the absence of a bowling tournament.
20
Per capita income for the most recently reported period was the 17th highest in the entire U.S., and was 21% higher than the national average at $38,155 vs. $31,472 for the U.S. Average weekly wage in Washoe County for the most recently reported period in 2005, however, at $705 was lower than both Clark County at $718, and the U.S. at $775. While Washoe County remains an affordable alternative to California, with our median home price at $353,250 vs. $494,000 in LA County, $610,000 in Orange County, and $721,000 in San Francisco, median home prices increased 22% in the third quarter of 2005 over 2004, and at $353,250, the median home is far beyond the reach of many working families, and much higher than other areas of the U.S. besides California. These three statistics combined-- high per capita income, low average weekly wage and high housing costs--paint a picture of a population that is increasingly divergent, with retirees and people with high disposable incomes migrating to the area, potentially driving up housing prices for the working families who make up a significant portion of the population.
21
In support of a strong local economy, Washoe County has continued preparations for approving new Sales Tax Anticipated Revenue Bonds (STAR bonds) for projects in the City of Reno for Cabela’s and the City of Sparks for the Legends Center at the Sparks Marina. These bonds are not general obligations of the County and will help support the infrastructure investments needed to serve these upscale tourist destination retail centers, which are expected to bring tens of millions of dollars annually in new sales tax revenues to the region. We also continued work with local officials and the Pacific Coast Baseball League on plans to bring a AAA baseball team to our region and build a stadium using the 2% car rental tax on visitors without General Fund support. Washoe County also approved $11.2 million in Economic Development Bonds for Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village to assist them in financing the Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences, which is a collaboration of the Desert Research Institute, the University of California at Davis, the Rand Corporation, and Sierra Nevada College. Not a general obligation of the County, these bonds provide a low-
22
cost financing opportunity when there is an identified public benefit. SNC was named one of the top 100 colleges in the US for training entrepreneurs by Entrepreneur Magazine, and was named second in the nation by U.S. News and World Report magazine. The number of businesses licensed in unincorporated Washoe County increased by 18% from 2004 to 2005, and the number of final subdivision lots recorded in the unincorporated area almost doubled, from just over 400 in 2004 to more than 800 in 2005, but the 2005 number is more consistent with prior years. These lots will be constructed over several years pursuant to the new annexation settlement agreement, which forecasts an increase in the unincorporated area population served from 106,000 in 2005 to 161,000 by 2030, and a total Washoe County population in 2030 of 669,000. As previously mentioned, the new settlement agreement mandates that infrastructure and resources must be identified and funded in advance of the new development that will be needed.
23
Under the topic of Improving Government Efficiency and Financial Stability, while our population grew by 54% since 1990, our growth in general fund expenditures per capita grew only about half that, due to our emphasis on efficiency. As previously noted, we have reduced the number of employees per capita steadily over the past three years, and we have accelerated our investments in technology. With our goal of being one of the best-run local governments in America, we continuously benchmark ourselves against our previous results, as well as the results achieved by the best-performing governments in America. This year, Washoe County was nationally recognized along with Truckee Meadows Tomorrow for our work in linking community quality of life indicators with government performance measures in a book titled Results That Matter: Improving Communities by Engaging Citizens, Measuring Performance, and Getting Things Done. In addition, we have been asked by the International City/County Management Association to be one of 10 jurisdictions nationwide to participate in a demonstration project to take government accountability and performance reporting to the next level of community impact.
24
We spent the past year preparing a Technology Strategic Plan that will guide $10.5 million in future technology investments over several years that will automate and streamline services to citizens, including customer response management, public safety and crime prevention, tax payment and treasury management, social services, library and information services, and employment functions. We also audited the performance of our enterprise-wide financial information system, which was installed in 2004, and found that the system had significantly improved financial management and controls, reduced duplication, and improved the security of our financial processes. As we have done for several years, Washoe County hosted an All-Governments auction of surplus equipment in May, which returned $569,000 to area governments, one of the best outcomes in the history of this program. We also continued our program of donating usable, retired Washoe County desktop computers to charitable organizations. We launched a new program for managing a portion of the County’s $375 million investment portfolio through
25
a professional, nationally recognized public financial management firm. Investment income continues to improve, and accountability and transparency of transactions has been enhanced. In the first few months of the new program, $8.5 million in investment income had been recorded. These funds are distributed to all local government entities for which Washoe County invests, including the School District, RTC, Fire Districts, and, to a lesser extent, the cities. County employees improved productivity in 2005 and reduced their average annual use of sick leave by 5%. Our Building and Safety Department received upgraded ratings for the effectiveness of their residential and commercial codes and inspections from ISO, the International Standards Organization, to possibly the highest ratings of any building department in northern Nevada (ratings of 3 and 2, with 1 being the highest possible out of 10). This leads to better insurance rates and lower insurance costs for the residents we serve. The number of building permits we issues in 2005 rose by 4.6% from 2004, to 5,342, with a total construction value of more than $365,000,000.
26
Our Comptroller’s Office received the Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting for the 23rd year in a row, and employees in the Comptroller’s Office identified cost-saving suggestions, resulting in savings of more than $400,000 annually. This is additional to the more than $2 million annual savings already returned through the employee suggestion program. In one indication of the strong housing market, the County Recorder’s Office collected $34,312,364 in Real Property Transfer Taxes, most of which is returned to the State Department of Taxation, and recorded 275,082 documents last year. In addition, due to new legislation, the Recorder’s staff had to remove 5.5 million images from documents on the website because they contained personal information. This new legislative mandate affecting all public records in the State may cost the County more than $15 million to comply with.
In our quest for Excellent Public Services, we have the following to report:
27
We completed construction of two new libraries in Incline Village and Spanish Springs, and saw significant increases in the use of libraries in these areas. Our award-winning new television show “Open Arms” featuring Washoe County Social Worker and former Miss Nevada Theresa Benitez helped us to find permanent, loving adoptive homes for more than 300 children since we took over responsibility for adoptions from the State in 2003. Substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect were down approximately 8% from 2004, and we hope to be able to continue that trend through our community outreach partnerships and family resource efforts. More than 100 Washoe County children are still waiting for loving, adoptive “forever families.” We received word in March that Washoe County was named a National Acts of Caring award winner for two of our programs by the National Association of Counties for the Library’s Gold Spinners Booksale Volunteers program and for our Sheriff’s office CERT program (Community Emergency Response Team). Since that time, the CERT volunteers have provided hundreds of additional hours of service during floods and other emergencies, freeing professional public service responders to do their jobs.
28
We completed a needs assessment for seniors in Incline Village and found that their top issues of concern are health, safety, socialization, education, recreation, and financial security. We also learned that 85% of Incline seniors use computers in their homes. Incline was one of 4 locations countywide where we installed information and referral computer kiosks for senior services, which when combined with telephone, our website, and other information sources generate 3,000 consumer inquiries on senior issues which we respond to each month. We are currently completing a similar survey of Senior Needs in the rest of the County, in support of our comprehensive Strategic Plan for Seniors being completed under the oversight of an interagency regional steering committee. In addition, one of our Social Workers in Senior Services, Trish Beaupre, became the first nationally certified professional information and referral specialist for seniors in the State of Nevada. We have also actively participated in the Statewide launch of the new 2-1-1 telephone referral hotline, and we’ve added 2 bilingual staff members to assist the increasing population of Spanishspeaking seniors who are at risk for health and other crises. We have also established a new program providing legal representation for elderly wards of the county, have expanded
29
wellness programs for seniors, and are now providing mental health services for eligible seniors in their homes and at our Senior Centers. Finally, our Senior Services Director, Marietta Bobba, was selected as a delegate to the White House Conference on Aging held this fall. The County Clerk’s Office expanded public service by establishing a new outreach program to 4th and 5th graders to teach them about the historic County Courthouse and the history of County government. The Clerk’s Office also created a new public records viewing area with 2 computers and a public work area for customers who want to research County records maintained by the Clerk, such as marriage applications and business notices.
The last strategic priority adopted by the County Commission is to Develop our Workforce, and we have had several major accomplishments in that priority this year. Our new Wellness Program was approved by the County Commission, and is focused on improving the health status of the 20% of our employees whose health is most troublesome for them, while strengthening the health habits of all employees. Not only will the program reward employees for
30
feeling better, it will reduce health benefit costs, one of the fastest growing elements of our budget, like most employers. We worked with a community Diversity Advisory Committee representing about 15 local agencies involved in diversity, and adopted a Diversity Action Plan. Our Human Resources staff won Northern Nevada Human Resources Association awards for our Workforce Development Planning Guide and Model, and for our consolidated recruitments with the cities. With our community volunteer-led Internal Audit Committee, we established the first-ever confidential fraud and abuse hotline for employees to report suspected incidents to a private, third-party resource called MySafeWorkplace, which will independently trigger research on any reports. We created outstanding new in-house training and certification programs for team members in leadership positions, support staff, and technical and professional independent contributors to enhance the effectiveness of our workforce and to expand their promotional opportunities. With about 30% of our County workforce reaching retirement age within the next three years, we experienced a 44% increase in positions filled over the preceding six months. This has led to our stepping up recruitment of non-
31
traditional workers including older workers, minorities, and an active internship and youth outreach, as well as launching a new on-line recruitment and selection system to reach young candidates, which will go live on a pilot basis on Feb. 28th for seasonal Parks jobs.
We recognize that in addition to celebrating our achievement, we also must pay attention to the challenges on the horizon. These challenges will severely test our talents and our ability to come together for the results we need to insure a bright future for our region.
Some of the challenges we must face together include the following: The cost of housing for working families and young people, combined with low average weekly wages. The community-wide decline in the percentage of 25-44 year-olds—who are the majority of the nation’s workforce-as a portion of our local population. Our average age in Washoe County has risen to 38, which is above the national average. Energy costs and health insurance costs that consume an ever greater percentage of our budget.
32
Balancing revenue limits, including property tax caps and initiatives to restrict local government’s decision-making on spending priorities, with continued strong growth in population and service demands. Average educational attainment for our Washoe County residents that significantly lags behind the U.S. average. That means that desirable, high wage companies may not be able to find the educated and trained workforce that they need, and they may choose to take their jobs elsewhere. We all must care about these challenges, and work to address them together.
While we remain mindful of the challenges our region faces, our Washoe County team focuses on the long list of critical goals we have undertaken for 2006: Our national Government Performance Accountability demonstration project with ICMA and an overall High Performance Organization initiative, which will link all our performance measurement, strategic planning, budgeting, employee development, and teamwork programs to focus on results.
33
Pursuing national accreditation for ALL of our departments that have a professional accreditation program for their function. Flood Project readiness for Congressional authorization in 2007, and implementation of immediate flood protection projects. Affordable, attainable housing for the region’s workforce. Successful implementation of Election 2006 with increased voter turnout. Completion of a Public Lands Plan and proposed federal legislation for a Washoe County Public Lands Bill to identify future acquisitions as well as releases of appropriate lands for affordable housing and other appropriate development. Approval for a consolidated regional water resource entity that represents all stakeholders, stabilizing our water rights market and dramatically improving conservation. Implementation of integrated technology for customer response management to improve response times and efficiency of our responses, as well as continued expansion of e-government.
34
Continued innovations in energy conservation, green building, and alternative energy. Upgrading of our County bond rating, as suggested by Standard and Poor’s in their most recent review of our financial management. Expansion of citizen participation and citizen leadership opportunities. Pursuit of further cost-effective regional service consolidations and collaborations with other governments as directed by the Board of County Commissioners. Continued expansion of our efforts to serve young people, seniors, and neighborhoods even better.
Congratulations to all of you for an outstanding year of results that matter. And thank you for caring enough to join us for this report—your support is deeply appreciated. Thank you most of all for giving us the opportunity to serve you—there is truly nothing we would rather do.
And now, Commission Chairman Bob Larkin will share the County Commission’s perspectives.
35
36