National Association of Counties

Achievement Awards 2012:

County Administration and Management

“Canvas the County”

Richland County, SC

Business Service Center

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Table of Contents

1. Abstract of the Program .............................................................................................................. 3

2. The Problem/Need for the Program ............................................................................................ 3

3. Description of the Program ......................................................................................................... 4

4. Responding to the Economic Downturn ..................................................................................... 7

5. Use of Technology ...................................................................................................................... 7

6. The Cost of the Program ............................................................................................................. 8

7. The Results/Success of the Program ........................................................................................... 8

8. Worthiness of an Award ........................................................................................................... 10

Attachments .................................................................................................................................. 10

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1. Abstract of the Program

In the spring of 2010, a pilot program called “Canvas the County” was conceived to investigate

whether ten business inspectors could have more impact in two weeks than one inspector in ten

months. The pilot program’s main mission was to enhance revenue collection through improved

compliance with business license requirements. The goal was to inspect as many businesses as

possible along the County’s major commercial corridors, to determine

1. the status of each business (whether vacant or still in business);

2. the compliance of each business with three County requirements:

a. having a current, posted business license;

b. having a posted street number; and

c. having a posted No Smoking sign; and

3. the applicability of other County requirements (a hotel tax and/or a food tax).

This unique pilot program was an overwhelming success, generating a significant amount of

revenue solely from enhanced compliance by previously non-compliant businesses. The

program’s enduring legacy is reaching a much greater portion of the business community to

ensure that all businesses comply with the same requirements and pay what all businesses are

required to pay in order to help reduce the burden of all.

2. The Problem/Need for the Program

There are several challenges that set the stage for the pilot program, “Canvas the County,”

including:

1. the shrinking of revenue streams,

2. too few inspectors for a large County,

3. passage of a new smoking ban,

4. the complexity of an existing food tax, and

5. inadequate street number signage,

1. In this economic downturn, governing bodies across the country struggle to meet budgetary

needs in light of two opposing forces: shrinking revenue streams and increasing opposition to

raising taxes and fees. Richland County encounters these difficulties like so many other cities

and counties. This pilot program offered a unique opportunity to enhance revenues without

raising taxes or fees, and without having significant costs associated with implementation.

2. Richland County has two full-time business license inspector positions to cover its

geographic landmass within its jurisdiction of 594.25 square miles, or just over 297 square miles

per inspector. (Due to the business license renewal season from January to May, only the seven

remaining months of the year are available for inspections.) During seven months of inspecting

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in 2009, the two inspectors conducted 1,762 inspections, or approximately 16.5% of the

projected number of businesses in the county.

At this rate of 8.25% of businesses being inspected per inspector per year, it would take two

inspectors six years to inspect all businesses in the unincorporated areas of Richland County.

Considering Dun & Bradstreet’s determination that 75% of new businesses will fail within their

first three years of operation, within that six year period, then, many businesses may open and

close without ever having obtained a business license inspection. That represents a significant

amount of untapped revenue that would greatly enhance the County’s strained revenue streams –

and, if collected, could lighten the burden for many residential and business taxpayers.

3. In the fall of 2008, the Richland County Council approved a new smoking ban ordinance.

While some notification of this ordinance’s passage had been made to the business community,

there had been no widespread inspections for smoking violations. The level of compliance was

uncertain, and a more direct approach was needed.

4. Richland County has a food tax, called a Hospitality Tax, which is a tax on prepared and/or

modified foods and/or beverages. While this tax may be straightforward for restaurants, it can

also apply to many other types of businesses, such as convenience stores, bars, and grocery

stores – who may or may not be aware of the requirement or understand whether or not the

requirement applies to them. While effort is made to address these questions with businesses as

they arise, staffing levels do not allow inspections to be made specifically to assess whether this

requirement applies to each business, and if applicable, the business’ compliance.

5. Street number signage, a critical element of assisting emergency personnel to identify

specific locations, is also a challenge. While posting street numbers on each business is a long-

time requirement, there have been no inspectors designated to enforce this requirement. While

compliance is encouraged, there has been no widespread and on-site visits with businesses to

notify them of the need to comply if in violation of this requirement. The County’s 911

Addressing Coordinator estimates that half of businesses do not post their street numbers as

required, lowering emergency response times by hindering emergency personnel’s efforts to find

the desired address.

3. Description of the Program

The pilot program called “Canvas the County” is a condensed version of, and supplement to, a

regular inspection program. The program uses temporary inspectors to supplement existing staff

for a short period of time. The inspectors then conduct inspections of businesses along the

County’s densest commercial areas and corridors, in descending density order, for maximum

efficiency and effectiveness. Inspections look for certain things:

- the status of the business (still operating or closed/vacant);

- a current, posted business license;

- a posted No Smoking sign;

- a posted street number;

- provision of accommodations (indicating applicability of a hotel tax), and

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- sale of prepared/modified foods/beverages (indicating applicability of a food tax)

This goal of obtaining this easily visible information assists the County in determining business

compliance with several County requirements to do business. Enhancing compliance with

business licensing supports the program’s primary mission of enhancing revenue collections

through improved compliance by previously non-compliant businesses.

Planning: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Richland County took great care to avoid this

wise adage. The planning stage of this pilot program “Canvas the County” was three months,

starting in February and transitioning to the implementation phase in early May. (The County’s

business license renewal season is January through May, so this especially busy time prolonged

the planning phase a bit.) This planning phase was also longer due to being a pilot program, and

much more thought and care was appropriate. It is anticipated that planning future iterations of

“Canvas the County” programs, while a bit shorter, will still consider and respond to the

“Lessons Learned” from past programs.

Key elements of the planning stage included the following:

- Develop the mission, goals, and objectives: “If you don’t know where you’re going, it’s hard

to know when you get there.” Make sure you know where you’re going. This information

will also help ensure that everyone involved has the same understanding about the program’s

goals. This includes identifying potential benefits and drawbacks, risks and how to mitigate

them, identifying other departments who may be impacted and how to manage this impact,

and timelines. Deciding how to monitor the progress toward these goals, including customer

feedback, is also an important element.

- Review the finances: This involves projecting the potential cost-savings, identifying the

available funds, determining the number of temporary inspectors and whether to hire these

directly or through a staffing agency, establishing a budget, deciding how transportation shall

be handled (fleet vehicles versus private vehicles), if/how the program shall be advertised or

promoted, obtaining employee identification cards, and printing all the appropriate forms.

- Inspection preparation: Two essential pieces of the planning phase involved (1) objectively

identifying the County’s top one hundred commercial corridors and (2) identifying the

different jurisdictions along those corridors. The first was accomplished with the assistance

of the Auditor’s Office, who provided information regarding the number of commercially-

assessed properties in Richland County. The streets with the highest number of commercial

properties were inspected first, followed by those with fewer commercial properties. This

objectivity ensures that inspections are conducted on an actual assessment of commercial

density, rather than on one person’s perceptions of commercial density.

The second step was identifying the different jurisdictions found along each commercial

corridor. There are times when, along a commercial corridor, there may be multiple

jurisdictions located on a single corner. It is imperative that temporary inspectors know

exactly which businesses along the commercial corridors to inspect, and which to leave

alone. This somewhat painstaking process was facilitated with Richland County’s online

mapping service (http://www.richlandmaps.com/index.html#mapping), which includes a

“municipal” layer, showing the jurisdiction of each parcel of property in the county. The

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commercial corridors previously identified were then printed, with the municipal layer

showing, for each of the inspectors to take with them in the field.

The focus audience of the “Canvas the County” program is the business community. This

community is as varied and diverse as the residents of Richland County: urban, rural, prosperous,

struggling, international, local, minority, home-based, commercial. Special care was taken

during the start-up of the implementation phase to acknowledge this diversity, and be sensitive to

it. Acknowledging that inspectors, temporary or permanent, represent the County gives special

urgency to the need for good customer service and inspection training before sending the

inspectors in the field, even if accompanied by veteran inspectors. While compliance is the

objective, education is a critical element of this effort.

This program was developed by Richland County’s Business Service Center department. While

input from other County departments was sought, no outside agencies were involved in this

effort.

Implementation: The implementation stage was initially intended to last two weeks. During the

start-up of the program, much close attention was given to how the program processed, the

volume of inspections accomplished, the funds available, and other factors. More inspections

were being accomplished than initially estimated, and more commercial areas and corridors were

being inspected and completed more quickly than anticipated. These observations resulted in an

adjustment of the implementation timeframe: rather than lasting for just two weeks, a third week

of inspections was added, though with fewer inspectors.

While funds still remained after the three weeks, another issue became a factor: workload. The

hundreds of inspections being done naturally resulted in hundreds of businesses calling the office

with questions about what to do next, and then sending hundreds of application and approval

forms to the Business Service Center, the zoning, and the Fire Marshal’s offices. Three weeks of

intense inspecting activity was sufficient to keep many County staff very busy for several weeks

following the end of the pilot program. Paying attention to changing circumstances, and then

being flexible to respond to them, is key for successful implementation.

Key elements of the implementation stage included the following:

- Training: Careful training of the temporary staff served them and the County well. This

training involved a day of orientation as well as periodically throughout the program, for

perhaps an hour or two once a week. Training included covering topics like dress code, work

schedule, lunches, forms to be used and how to complete them, distributing maps of where

inspections are to occur and what other jurisdictions are in the same area.

Training also included covering knowledge (the essentials of what they need to know) and

practice (role-playing). The “knowledge” aspect ensures that inspectors understand business

licenses, knows who needs one – and who doesn’t, and are able to share basic information

about business licenses with the business community. The role-playing exercises were

essential in helping the inspectors become comfortable with how an inspection is conducted,

what should be said, how to conduct and present themselves very professionally, how to

respond to someone who is upset with the inspection, or how to respond to someone who is

not fluent in English. Other County employees were used in the role-playing exercise for

greater preparation.

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- Monitoring: The second critical aspect of the implementation phase is monitoring the

inspections, and any necessary follow-up. In order to determine the success of the program,

and obtain all the data that yields important information about compliance levels, it is

essential that inspections be carefully monitored. Each inspector completes an Inspection

Form for each business that is inspected, indicating what is observed about that business. ( If

a violation is observed, a Notice of Violation is provided to the business.) The Inspection

Forms are then returned at the end of the day, and all the data on the forms is entered into a

spreadsheet before the next day’s forms arrive at the end of the day. This spreadsheet is then

used for monitoring, analysis, and follow-up.

4. Responding to the Economic Downturn

As referenced in Section 2, Richland County faces the common challenge of increasing costs,

decreasing revenues, and the growing unpopularity of raising tax and fee rates or cutting

services. Hard choices must be made – or opportunities for greater operational efficiencies or

revenue effectiveness must be found. This requires creative thinking outside the boundaries of

past practices or comfort zones, a willingness to take (calculated) risks. The pilot project

“Canvas the County” represents such an effort.

However, certain parameters still stood which had to be worked within. Scarce funds required

that no new funds be expended, either for operational or capital costs. Additionally, no new

positions would be approved for this purpose. Consequently, all funding for this pilot program

came from existing funds within the Business Service Center department’s budget. The unspent

funds from a vacant inspector position were used to hire ten temporary inspectors.

5. Use of Technology

The “Canvas the County” pilot program used technology in two important ways. First of all,

geographic information system (GIS) technology was essential in identifying where exactly,

down to the specific parcel, the city and county limits are along the major commercial corridors.

This critical jurisdictional information ensures that inspectors, permanent or temporary, conduct

inspections only in areas within Richland County’s jurisdiction. This ensures the accuracy of

inspections and enhances the professionalism of the County and its inspectors.

The other manner in which technology was used was for tracking purposes. Data from every

inspected business was entered into a spreadsheet for tracking and follow-up. This data recorded

how many inspections were conducted; where and when they were conducted; who conducted

the inspection; what the outcome of each inspection was; dates for follow-up with the business;

how much revenue, if any, was generated as a result of the inspection; and other important

information. This data included the following fields:

Employee's Name, Date, Street #, Street Name, Business Name (seen by public), Posted

Address #, Posted No Smoking Sign, Posted Business License, Business License, Operating

without a Business License, Smoking on Premises, Peddlers License, Offers Lodging, Offers

Food, Closed - Not Currently Open, Closed – Vacant, Jurisdiction Uncertain, Uncomfortable

(inspection not conducted due to concern – dogs, people, isolated business, etc.), # of Issues,

Re-Inspection Needed?, Reinspection Date, Actual ReInspection, Verification, Current on

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hotel tax?, Current on food tax?, Date approval process started?, Business License Obtained,

Total BL Fees Generated, Total BL Penalties Generated, Resolved?, Summons Issued

6. The Cost of the Program

The budget for the “Canvas the County” pilot program is shown below. As seen below, no

capital costs were incurred for during this program. The greatest cost was for personnel,

which was handled through a staffing agency for ease of screening applicants.

Budget for the Pilot Program, "Canvas the County"

Funds Available Amount

Salary & Wages $20,000

Office Supplies $1,200

Total $21,200

Expenditures

Projected Costs Quantity Projected

Cost Actual Cost

Advertising $0 $0

Salary & Wages 12 $10,282 $9,218

Lanyards (for ID's) 12 $9 $9

Clipboard Storage Holders 12 $168 $174

Printing

BSC Inspection Forms 2,100 $42

Perforated Paper 3,000 $120 $205

Application for New BL 525 $21

Clearance Form 525 $21

Renewal Form 525 $42

Office Paper 1/2 box $18

Transportation

gas @ 2.50/gal. 5 cars, 3 wks. $300 $403

Total $11,021 $10,009

7. The Results/Success of the Program

The spring 2010 pilot program “Canvas the County” was a resounding success on many fronts.

More inspections: In May 2010, ten temporary inspectors canvassed the County for business

licenses, no smoking decals, and street numbers for three weeks. In all, 1,953 businesses were

inspected on the County’s ninety (90) most commercial streets throughout Richland County.

These 1,953 businesses represent 18.2% of the County’s estimated businesses – or 10% more

than a year’s worth of inspections by two full-time inspectors – done in three weeks. That is

tremendous.

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Financial return: In three months, this pilot project generated $261,133 in business license fees

and $49,470 in penalties, for a total of $310,603. With a program cost of $10,009, the return on

investment was 31:1. This is a stupendous return on investment! In tight economic times, it is

nearly unthinkable to collect more than a quarter million dollars without increasing tax rates by a

single mill, and without raising fees by a penny. This shows the power of ensuring that every

business pays its fair share, and how, truly, this can help reduce the burden of all.

Improved compliance: On average, 71% of businesses had business licenses at the time of the

inspection. Three months later, the overall compliance rate had risen to 91%, a 28% increase.

Cost Benefit Analysis

$0

$50,000

$100,000

$150,000

$200,000

$250,000

$300,000

$350,000

Cost Benefit

Impact on Compliance from Pilot Project91%

71%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Before After

Businesses Identified: Additionally, specific verifications for each business were made:

- 212 businesses were verified as being vacant.

- 503 businesses were identified as not having a posted “No Smoking” sign.

- 149 businesses were identified as not having a posted street number.

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- 27 businesses offer accommodations (hotel tax), and

- 203 businesses offer prepared/modified foods/beverages (food tax).

8. Worthiness of an Award

Richland County’s pilot program “Canvas the County” is an innovative response to challenging

economic times with relatively low cost, a tremendous return on investment, and is extremely

easy to replicate. Cities and counties (and states) across the country are in great need of ideas

and programs with those characteristics. Recognizing this program’s value with an award would

publicize the program and highlight it to governments eager to hear about such programs.

This program has relatively little cost. Labor is the primary expense, and can be as high or as

low as the jurisdiction decides. (The greater the investment, however, the greater the return on

the investment, of course.) Having multiple inspectors ride together in the densest commercial

corridors reduces the gas costs associated with the program.

This program has a tremendous rate of return. With a 31:1 return on investment, the program

was wildly successful. The increase in compliance levels will depend in part on the initial

compliance level. In tight economic times with layoffs and furloughs unfortunate realities,

existing staff are stretched very thin. Enforcement, though needed more than ever, often

becomes difficult, and compliance rates suffer. This program offers the greatest help, then, to

those who need it most.

This program is very easy to implement and replicate. There are no expensive capital costs

required. No specialized certifications are needed. The most important element is time – careful

planning sets the stage for successful implementation. Richland County is both urban and rural,

and has identified techniques that apply to each setting, so other cities and counties can use the

techniques that are most appropriate for their geography and demography.

This program is flexible. With a 50% mortality rate among businesses every two years,

according to Dun & Bradstreet, this program can be effectively administered every two years.

This would help ensure that new businesses are regularly identified and inspected. This

program, therefore, offers the additional benefit of not being a year-round program, and may be

implemented as often, or as little, and for as long, or as short, as each jurisdiction is able and

interested.

Attachments

Attachments are found on the following pages.

BSC INSPECTION FORM

Inspection Date: Time:

Business Name (as seen by the public):

Street Address: Mobile cart, stand, vehicle

Owner/Manager Name:

Business Phone: E-mail:

** Notice Recipient Name: Signature:

Do the following violations apply? Yes No Yes No

Address – failure to post address near door Business license – no current BL

Smoking – failure to post No Smoking sign Smoking – occurring on premises

Business license – failure to post license # Mobile units: no Peddlers License

Services Yes No Yes No

Serves prepared/modified foods/beverages Offers short-term lodging

Business not inspected (check one)

Closed – not currently open Vacant location Jurisdiction Uncertain Uncomfortable

Inspector Name: Signature:

If found, return to: Richland County Business Service Center, 2020 Hampton St., Suite 1050, P.O. Box 192, Columbia, SC 29202

Richland County Business Service Center 2020 Hampton Street, Suite 1050 Phone: (803) 576-2287

P.O. Box 192 Fax: (803) 576-2289

Columbia, SC 29202 bsc@rcgov.us

http://www.rcgov.us/bsc

NOTICE OF VIOLATION OFFICIAL NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN ON: (date)

Business Name: Location:

You are violating Richland County’s requirements for doing business as indicated below:

Address – failure to post address above, on, beside door (Code Section 26-183-b-3)

Smoking – failure to post a conspicuous No Smoking sign (Code Section 18-6-f)

Business licenses – failure to post in a conspicuous place (Code Section 16-9-1)

Business licenses – operating without license as required (Code Section 16-1)

Smoking – occurring within the business (Code Section 18-6-d)

To avoid prosecution, the violation(s) must be addressed within one calendar week from the Notice date.

Failure to comply will result in the issuance of a Uniform Ordinance Summons,

requiring you to appear before a Magistrate’s Court. The maximum fine is $1,092.50,

with each day of violation enforced as a separate offense.

Inspector Name: Signature:

or stap

le bu

siness card

here

Postcard Feedback from Businesses

maximum postcard size: 6” long X 4 ¼” high

minimum postcard size: 5” long X 3 ½” high

Business Inspection Feedback Form

You were recently inspected by a Richland County business license inspector. We would appreciate

if you would take a few moments to give us your feedback by answering the questions below and

mailing this pre-stamped postcard.

Low High

- Quality of the Inspector’s professional attitude 1 2 3 4 5

- Professionalism of Inspector’s appearance and presentation 1 2 3 4 5

- How well does the Business Service Center communicate with 1 2 3 4 5

the business community about the County’s business requirements?

- Did the Inspector explain the purpose of the visit? Yes No

- If a violation was found, did the Inspector explain what was necessary to remedy the violation and

how much time is given to remedy the violation? Yes No

- If you had questions, was the Inspector able to sufficiently answer them? Yes No

- How long did the inspection take? Less than 5 minutes 5 – 10 minutes 10+ minutes

Other comments or feedback:

Thank you for your feedback. We will use it to improve our service to and communication with you.

A Richland County business

Richland County, SC

Business Service Center

Richland County

P.O. Box 192

Columbia, SC 29202

PRESORTED

FIRST-CLASS MAIL

U.S. POSTAGE PAID

COLUMBIA, SC

PERMIT NO. ###

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Richland County Business Service Center 2020 Hampton Street, Suite 1050 Phone: (803) 576-2287

P.O. Box 192 Fax: (803) 576-2289

Columbia, SC 29202 bsc@rcgov.us

http://www.rcgov.us/bsc

Business License “Canvas the County” Pilot Program

Lessons Learned

Doing the Inspections

1. Business density = workers: the more dense the corridor, the more workers are needed. The

less dense and more spread-out the corridor, the fewer workers are needed for that road. (In

other words, don’t send one vehicle with five people to a road that has one business every

half mile.) This will maximize the efficiency of the staff.

2. Know what roads are to be inspected in advance, and know their densities. This will assist

with determining the work load, and how many inspectors are needed. (Roads could be

divided into three levels of density: Heavy, Medium, and Light; with the number of

inspectors on each road scaled accordingly.)

3. Start with the most dense corridors first, for the greatest efficiency of the temporary

inspectors.

4. Map the roads before starting the program. This is critical so temporary inspectors know

where to start and stop on each road, where the city limits are (if any) on that road.

5. Include more but smaller “inspection zones” on the densest roads. This will help the

coordination among the many inspectors when on the same road.

6. Exchange all cell phone numbers in advance with all inspectors.

7. In the “higher-wage versus paying-mileage” issue: don’t change midstream unless you accept

that some temporary employees will leave. If you will pay mileage at all, do this from

beginning to end. If you will not pay mileage at all, and employees will need to drive their

own vehicles, do this from the beginning.

8. Tell the inspectors that if a business locks its door and refuses the inspectors access to the

business, the inspector is to make a note of this and move on. This business will be handled

later (after the program concludes) by full-time staff.

Miscellaneous

9. Financial preparations – Be sure you know how things will be paid for, i.e., gas with a gas

card (know what the PIN numbers are, and that all cars have gas cards and PIN’s in them),

staffing agency with a purchase order, etc., and get these set up in advance.

10. Timing – Know what other unusual work loads are currently going on (such as Violation

mailings), and stagger them, to reduce the impact (phones, mail, customers, etc.) on staff.

Check workload levels with other departments who will also be impacted by this program.

11. Tracking – As renewal forms come in, customers often want to know the status of their

renewal form. Currently, that means looking through all the renewal forms (this is inefficient

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use of time) to find out if the business’ renewal form has been received, processed, if there

are issues, etc. Log all mail received into Excel for easy look-up.

12. Training – Have a “Frequently Asked Questions” document prepared and distributed to all

temporary employees. (This will be especially helpful for those answering the phones.) This

could also be available for businesses who want more information about business licensing.

Staffing

13. Include among the temporary employees one person to enter the data from the Inspection

forms into an Excel spreadsheet – and keeps up with it daily. This will be a tremendous help.

14. Include among the temporary employees at least one person (and perhaps two) to do nothing

but answer phones. Answering the phones would relieve some of the burden on full-time

staff, giving them more time to process the greater number of renewals that will be coming

in, whether by mail or by customers. These temps’ daily hours may be able to be shorter, but

this would have to be flexible. Some training would be involved in getting this person up to

speed to be able to respond effectively to phone calls.

15. Once the inspections are completed, the temporary data entry person can then be responsible

for monitoring the following up: which businesses have come in, which have started the

Clearance Process, which need tickets, etc. This would alleviate the burden on the

inspectors and other permanent staff to keep up with this.

16. Expect with the temporary staff the same personnel issues that arise with full-time staff: sick,

not showing up, being late, low productivity. Plan for this. Monitor this very carefully – and

have a response prepared. (For example, define how late “tardy” is, and what happens in that

case. Define how many missed days are acceptable, and what happens when that limit is

exceeded.)

Vehicles

17. Have the vehicles serviced before the program begins.

What Went Well

1. Having the daily communication with inspectors every morning and afternoon really kept the

information flowing. Changes to circumstances or lessons being learned could thus be made

quickly.

2. Collecting the temporary staff’s employee ID’s at the end of each day prevents them from

forgetting to bring them the next day. No ID – no work.

3. Using a temporary staffing agency made the personnel issues easy. Screening, hiring,

terminating, etc. was all handled through the staffing agency. There is enough to do without

also having to keep up with personnel issues.

4. Involving the fleet services office with program planning allowed the use of large vehicles, to

carry up to five inspectors (for the densest commercial corridors), was extremely helpful.

(Using more vehicles with fewer inspectors on less dense commercial corridors as the

program progresses is another “lesson learned.”)