(4/2019) Whether we know it or not Adams County is an extraordinary county. We are the central historic gateway to Pennsylvania and the gate keeper of hallowed ground. This hallowed ground is a monument to one of the most decisive battles of the Civil War that helped to preserve the Union. To many this is a treasure of honor that is to be respected.

Enveloping this treasure are vistas enhanced by preserved lands and good stewardship of natural resources. With all this in place we also have the need for economic development to provide quality jobs for our residents and to sustain and support our tax base for ever increasing county expenses and services.

Given the mix of these varied elements relevant to Adams County, how do we sustain the extraordinary character of the county? One answer to that question is to curtail the "shotgun" approach to agricultural land preservation that lacked uniformity. To me it does not make good sense nor does it seem to be in the best overall interest of Adams County to mix preserved land and commercial development. This mix does not enhance the value of preserved land. Also preserving land that is more suitable for development leads to increased costs and decreased opportunities for needed economic growth.

To avoid moving further into this direction, the board of commissioners came together to lead the development of the Priority Land Preservation Map. This map has become the county’s planning guide to designate the best suited locations for preserving agricultural land. This is an example of applying vision, leadership, and common sense to get results that will continue to sustain the character that makes Adams County an extraordinary county.

Rather than contract to have a priority map developed, we utilized the staff and analytical equipment of our Planning and Development Department. I might add that for a County our size we have an extraordinary Planning and Development Department. Under our leadership, they continually take on projects that support the planning needs of both the county and municipal governments in Adams County. The board of commissioners understands the benefit of using county resources to aid municipal governments, thus saving expenses and time with their operational needs. This is another example of how the commissioners have been involved in effective leadership to benefit municipal governments.

Not only is it one of our goals to help others, but to listen to others. Just listening brought about a milestone change in staffing our Children and Youth Service Department. After meeting with our Children and Youth Services (CYS) Director and our HR director, the frustrations and the expense of adequately staffing CYS were put on the table. The conclusion of the discussion focused upon new staff who had to be hired through the state civil service pool of applicants. Many of these applicants did not have adequate skill to perform their job requirements. As a result terminations were too frequent. This meant carrying excess employees, wasted hours of training, overtime needed to cover the vacancies, repeating the hiring process, and a negative effect on department morale.

Obviously this issue translated into wasted time and expenses. After review of the state code, we found there was a provision allowing counties to opt out of the civil service hiring process. The decision was then made to apply to the state civil service for a waiver of hiring through state civil service system. To accomplish this the county developed a number of newly written policies and procedures. These guiding documents clearly stipulated that all new hires would be provided all their employee rights that exist under civil service.

After this task was completed, all documents were submitted to the state civil service for review and the anticipated approval. We waited nearly a year, without an answer. Our inquiries produced no action. We then gained the support of CCAP members to investigate why the delay. To make a long story short, we received our waiver. However, we are not free of the State Civil Service. We are constantly audited by them to insure we are following all approved protocols. I hope the level of audits represents their care, concern, and appreciation for the work Adams County does. Since the approval, the efficiency of our CYS has definitely increased as a result of county direct hire. This is the type of result that the commissioners strive to achieve on a continual basis.

As experienced commissioners we know the importance of accurate property assessments and keeping our assessment personnel furnished with up-to-date analytical resources. Producing accurate assessments is essential to preventing the expense of unnecessary reassessments. Basically if assessments are poorly done the ratio of assessment to market sales can have too wide of a disparity. This situation could easily produce a county-wide COD (Coefficient of Dispersion) above 20% and precipitate a required county-wide reassessment.

According to our Tax Services Department, the cost of a county-wide reassessment could easily exceed $1.5 million. That expense would be extremely difficult to absorb. The attention to details and the high standards of operation that our Tax Services adheres to is more valuable that people realize; it definitely helps to prevent a premature assessment expense.

Stepping outside of our county’s own annual calculation of COD, we also have a third party review by the State Tax Equalization Board (STEB). Their recent analysis and calculations utilizing Adams County sales data produced a COD of 11.2% for Adams County. This is the second lowest COD in the state of Pennsylvania which validates the high level of accuracy of our Tax Services Department.

The internal operations of county government are complex and to have it operate in an effective and efficient manner as the matters expressed above, requires commissioners with multiple skills and qualifications. For over seven years you have witnessed commissioners that have provided the leadership, experience, vision, and common sense that has moved Adams County into a better position than when we took office. We are looking forward to future opportunities to serve the residents of this extraordinary county.