Douglas County unveils "QUICK WINS" from Implementation of Priority Based Budgeting

On March 11th, Douglas County, NV unveiled their first annual "Financial State of the County" presentation. Fresh off the County's recent bond rating upgrade (thanks in part to the implementation of Priority Based Budgeting), the County has also been successful in implementing significant cost saving changes. These Priority Based Budgeting Outcomes To Date include:

• Elimination of Home Occupation Permits
• Elimination of Notary Services
• Reorganization of Finance Department
• Evaluating other department reorganizations
• Review of DMV Services at Lake Tahoe
• Evaluating Utility Billing Improvements

Additionally, these Outcomes have produced the following Solutions to Financial Stability:

• Reduced and stabilized personnel costs
• Stabilized revenues through shift of existing property taxes from other taxing units
• Implemented regional partnerships, consolidation and privatization
• Shifting property taxes to road maintenance
• Focusing on priorities to ensure highest value to tax payers

Lastly, Douglas County has achieved a breakthrough in Priority Based Budgeting by being able to clearly articulate "what they see" through the "new lens"of the PBB model. They organized this vision around four key policy areas that were particularly insightful to them:

1. Invest in priorities as established by Board and public            
2. Continually improve efficiency and cost-effective services
3. Recover costs within programs
4. Pursue alternative service providers/regional collaboration

Spectacular work Douglas County! Your effective implementation of Priority Based Budgeting is truly paying off to the benefit of the entire community.