surface & stormwater management performance audit final report

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Surface & Storm Water Management Performance Audit Kitsap County, Washington Final Report To implement these program elements, the SSWM Program has established a number of other programs and supporting activities (See Exhibit 2 in Chapter I) that are either consistent with the legislation’s purposes or good management practices. The watershed planning element is one area where a question has been raised about using SSWM revenues to support the Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 15 watershed plan. Because it is considered a regional project that also includes cities and non-stormwater issues, a stakeholder group believes that it is inappropriate to use SSWM funding to support County staff time on the project. We did not specifically audit the WRIA 15 planning process or the timekeeping process, but the following provides a context to determine if such spending is inappropriate. • The purposes of the SSWM Program are very broad, and to the extent that WRIA 15 planning efforts relate to any of the SSWM purposes, staff time could be considered appropriate if the issues relate to watersheds affecting the County’s unincorporated residents. Key purposes are protecting life and property from storm, waste, flood or surplus surface waters; protecting water quality from siltation, contamination, and erosions; protecting aquifers; and complying with federal and state surface water management and water quality regulations and legislation. In the 1996 Value Analysis Study performed for the SSWM Program, one of the value analysis concepts was to coordinate planning and develop partnerships with the groundwater management plan, state basin assessment program, watershed action plans, and others. According to the study, such coordination would eliminate duplication and or enhance the results of all plans and programs. Key questions are whether the Board of County Commissioners still considers such planning consistent with the purpose of protecting aquifers and whether the SSWM Program would send a representative to monitor the meetings and participate even if the County was not the lead agency in this effort. • The use of SSWM funding and Community Development’s role as it relates to the WRIA 15 planning has been documented in the Department’s scope of work since 2002. Two of the objectives in the scope for watershed planning are to participate in the WRIA 15 planning process and to coordinate the different watershed planning efforts. • Not all the time of SSWM funded staff and WRIA 15 costs are paid for by SSWM fees. As lead agency for the project, the County received a grant to pay some of its costs for coordinating the planning and conducting various studies. In 2004 the costs charged to the grant totaled $161,514. Staff costs charged for salaries and benefits were $13,500, while about $147,800 was charged for consulting and professional services. In 2005 the costs charged as of the end of August were $71,107 with only about $1,800 charged to salaries and benefits. Concerning SSWM expenditures for watershed planning in 2004, salaries and benefits costs were less than budgeted at 74% and for 2005, the salaries and benefits costs are running at 86% for the year. We did not determine what the appropriate time allocation should have been. • If the discussions and watershed planning efforts affect unincorporated County residents, the fact that cities are involved in a project does not necessarily mean that SSWM funds Page 9
Surface & Storm Water Management Performance Audit Kitsap County, Washington Final Report are not being appropriately used. We were told that cities also had representatives participating in process. Watersheds cross jurisdictional boundaries, and as stated in the SSWM legislation, “cooperation among adjacent jurisdictional areas is critical to effective implementation of SSWM programs”. Conclusions and Recommendations The legislation establishing the SSWM Program’s purposes and program elements has not changed since the Program’s inception. The SSWM Program remains broad in its purposes and has developed a comprehensive set of programs and activities that address the concerns of the legislation. The planning for WRIA 15 is an activity where additional policy guidance might be useful. Because the Board of Commissioners approves the inter-local agreements with the Conservation and Health Districts, more specific policy guidance is adopted through the scopes of work approved with the agreements. These more specific policies and guidelines can change as the scopes of work change. In contrast, the scopes of work for Public Works and Community Development do not go through a formal process to be approved by the Board of Commissioners. We recommend the following: • The SSWM Program scopes of work for County departments should be reviewed and adopted as part of the Board of Commissioner’s budget process. • To resolve the appropriateness of the funding used to support the WRIA 15 planning, Community Development should show specifically how such planning relates to the purposes of the SSWM Program and unincorporated residents, how much estimated time is needed to fulfill any programmatic and monitoring role, and how much estimated time is needed to administer and coordinate the planning effort. • If grant funds are not able to cover the WRIA 15 administrative costs, the County should identify other funding sources (including funding from other jurisdictions) that may be more appropriate than SSWM funding. If the County’s SSWM Program participates, it should only, however, bear its fair share of the administrative costs. Page 10
Page 1 and 2: Kitsap County SURFACE & STORMWATER
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APPENDIX A
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Focus Projects Bidding Results Proj
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Required Versus Discretionary Progr
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APPENDIX C
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Washington County, Oregon Review of
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Washington County, Oregon Review of
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2005-2010 Financial Forecast Summar
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