Washington State Auditors 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 Audit or

Washington State Auditors Office 2 Background The Audit: Improving Permit Timeliness Business Feedback Recommendations

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

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

Washington State Auditors Office 5 Background The Audit: Improving Permit Timeliness Business Feedback Recommendations

Washington State Auditors Office 6 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 disagreedin the area of knowing permit processing times Business survey Individual permit scores variedwe shared results and comments with agencies

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

Washington State Auditors Office 8 Background The Audit: Improving Permit Timeliness Business Feedback Recommendations

Washington State Auditors Office 9 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 Auditors Office 10 What we did We surveyed permitting agencies to find out if: They track permit times 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 Do agencies and businesses know permit times?

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

Washington State Auditors Office 12 Do businesses know permit times? What we found Agencies provide processing time information for 40 percent of permits Agencies have improvedonly 15 percent had information available in : 15% of permits 2013: 40% of permits 2012: 15% of permits 2013: 40% of permits Improvement, but more to do! In summary: Agencies and business customers dont always know how long permit decisions take

Washington State Auditors Office 13 Opportunities to reduce permitting times? What we did We selected permits to evaluate 8 permits from 7 agencies Cross-section of industries, agencies, and processing times Looked at best practices in 4 areas of permitting 1.Pre-application 2.Application and intake 3.Review and notification 4.Performance management Developed a tool agencies can use to evaluate all permit and license processes

Washington State Auditors Office What we found 14 Opportunities in the pre-application phase 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 Auditors Office 15 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 Auditors Office 16 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 Auditors Office 17 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 Auditors Office 18 Promising practices We saw many promising practices, such as: Examples of complete applications Free pre-application assistance Online submission Checklists for applicants Pre-populated renewal forms Online status checks Automatic status updates Customer satisfaction surveys

Washington State Auditors Office 19 Background The Audit: Improving Permit Timeliness Business Feedback Recommendations

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

Washington State Auditors Office 21 Contacts Chuck Pfeil Director of Performance Audit (360) Website: Troy Kelley State Auditor (360) Deborah Stephens Senior Performance Auditor (360)