County takes commendable step

If you have a $61 million operation - even though it's the government - shouldn't it be run like a business?

Flathead County government is such an operation. It has more than 500 people in 29 departments and an annual budget of $61 million, of which $23.4 million comes from taxpayers.

County officials, laudably, are taking steps to make the county operate more like a business, in order to lessen waste and inefficiency.

One step is to make both elected officials and department heads more accountable for how they and their departments perform. To this end, departments would have to create their own business plans and report how well they meet their goals.

Another element is the county's capital improvement plan, which maps out $23 million in capital expenditures during the next five years. These expenses range from radios for the Sheriff's Office to computer equipment to landfill expansion.

This $23 million outlay doesn't include some other big-ticket projects such as a new library or jail expansion or set aside money for gravel road maintenance and pavement overlays - but those needs will be addressed through other avenues.

The county may not get everything accomplished it would like, but the initial capital improvement blueprint is designed to help the county plan for the future and focus on what it can achieve.

That's precisely what a business does and, commendably, is the direction Flathead County is headed.

The county also is in the middle of important work on subdivision regulations that will affect growth in the Flathead for years to come.

A new set of regulations is up for public comment over the next few weeks, and will be the subject of a planning board workshop on Wednesday and a formal public hearing on March 28.

The revisions are needed because state law requires subdivision regulations to be in compliance with a county's growth policy. The commissioners are expected to adopt the new Flathead County growth policy on March 19, so in order to prevent a moratorium on subdivision regulations, the new rules must be adopted quickly.

The revised rules require increased analysis by developers of various impacts of their proposals, as well as imposing stricter paving requirements and expanding public notice.

Copies of the new and old regulations can be found on the Internet at www.co.flathead.mt.us/fcpz/index.html

It is important, as always, for people worried about growth issues in the Flathead to educate themselves about the issues, and let the commissioners know what they want.