Washington State Auditors Office Troy Kelley Independence Respect

Washington State Auditor’s Office Troy Kelley Independence • Respect • Integrity Regulatory Reform: Improving Permit Timeliness Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee January 7, 2014 Chuck Pfeil, Director of Performance Audit Deborah Stephens, Senior Performance Auditor

Background Business Feedback The Audit: Improving Permit Timeliness Recommendations Washington State Auditor’s Office 2

A bit of history § 2011: We published our Inventory of Regulations q 26 state regulatory agencies administer business permits, licenses and/or inspections § 2012: We published our first regulatory reform audit q Communicating business information online q Streamlining business rules § 2013: We published this audit on permit timeliness q 14 of the 26 agencies issue 225 business permits Washington State Auditor’s Office 3

Why we did this audit § Laws and executive orders tell agencies to: q Report permit processing times to businesses q Streamline processes as much as possible § Businesses need predictable regulatory timeframes to make sound business investment choices § Efficient processes save businesses and government money Washington State Auditor’s Office 4

Background Business Feedback The Audit: Improving Permit Timeliness Recommendations Washington State Auditor’s Office 5

Business survey § We surveyed 4, 200 business representatives - 70 percent response rates § Overall, satisfaction with permitting was good - 90 percent positive § Highest scores - friendly staff, clear decisions, questions answered § Lowest score - 17 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed—in the area of knowing permit processing times § Individual permit scores varied—we shared results and comments with agencies Washington State Auditor’s Office 6

Business focus groups § We conducted focus groups in: q q Port Angeles Seattle Spokane Tri Cities § Predictability was the most talked about issue § Other important aspects of permitting that businesses revealed: q Transparency q Consistency q Customer service Washington State Auditor’s Office 7

Background Business Feedback The Audit: Improving Permit Timeliness Recommendations Washington State Auditor’s Office 8

Audit objectives Our audit questions 1. Do regulatory agencies and their business customers know how long it takes agencies to make permit decisions? 2. Are there opportunities to reduce the time it takes regulatory agencies to make permit decisions? Washington State Auditor’s Office 9

Do agencies and businesses know permit times? What we did § We surveyed permitting agencies to find out if: q They track permit times q They have target timelines § We looked on agency websites and application forms for processing time information § We compared availability of processing time information to what we found in our first audit Washington State Auditor’s Office 10

Do agencies know permit times? What we found § Agencies track processing times for 60 percent of permits q Tracking methods are inconsistent § Agencies have target timelines for 57 percent of permits § Agencies do not track or have targets for a number of reasons: q Permitting is not a priority business q No system to track q Too many external factors Washington State Auditor’s Office Business Permits 60% tracked 40% not tracked 11

Do businesses know permit times? What we found § Agencies provide processing time information for 40 percent of permits § Agencies have improved—only 15 percent had information available in 2012: 15% of permits 2013: 40% of permits Improvement, but more to do! In summary: Agencies and business customers don’t always know how long permit decisions take Washington State Auditor’s Office 12

Opportunities to reduce permitting times? What we did § We selected permits to evaluate q 8 permits from 7 agencies q Cross-section of industries, agencies, and processing times § Looked at best practices in 4 areas of permitting 11. Pre-application 22. Application and intake 33. Review and notification 44. Performance management § Developed a tool agencies can use to evaluate all permit and license processes Washington State Auditor’s Office 13

Opportunities in the pre-application phase What we found Only a few permits had process maps or detailed information about the process online. Many permits list contact information online for help, but none told businesses how long they would need to wait for a response. Agencies can improve processes by providing better information and assistance before the application is submitted Washington State Auditor’s Office 14

In the application/intake, review/notification phases What we found Agencies are doing a good job with application forms, screening for completeness, and review and notification of applications Washington State Auditor’s Office 15

In the performance management phase What we found Only a few permits had performance measures and targets for any phase of the permit process. Only a few permits had formal evidence of using performance management to monitor and improve permitting Agencies can improve processes by collecting and analyzing data to identify and resolve bottlenecks or other delays Washington State Auditor’s Office 16

Summary of opportunities to reduce permitting times What we found In summary: Agencies have simple, low-cost opportunities to improve permitting and potentially reduce permit times. Washington State Auditor’s Office 17

Promising practices We saw many promising practices, such as: ü Examples of complete applications ü Free pre-application assistance ü Online submission ü Checklists for applicants ü Pre-populated renewal forms ü Online status checks ü Automatic status updates ü Customer satisfaction surveys Washington State Auditor’s Office 18

Background Business Feedback The Audit: Improving Permit Timeliness Recommendations Washington State Auditor’s Office 19

Recommendations § We recommend agencies: q Measure permit timeliness q Provide that information to businesses online q Report progress to the Legislature q Publish targets and performance measures q Provide more up-front assistance to businesses § We recommend the Governor’s Office: q Compile permitting best practices and publish a report Washington State Auditor’s Office 20

Contacts Troy Kelley State Auditor (360) 902 -0360 Troy. Kelley@sao. wa. gov Chuck Pfeil Director of Performance Audit (360) 480 -1103 Chuck. Pfeil@sao. wa. gov Deborah Stephens Senior Performance Auditor (360) 725 -9727 Deborah. Stephens@sao. wa. gov Website: www. sao. wa. gov Washington State Auditor’s Office 21