NACo recently released the results of its annual Operations Survey. The survey, now in its third year, takes a look at the programs and services counties provide to their citizens.

Results

In the wake of Sept. 11, the importance of county emergency management plans has never been greater. The results of this survey, completed before the tragic events, show that 95 percent of the responding counties have developed a disaster plan and 62 percent have strategic plans to handle acts of terrorism.

Counties continue to lead the way in other important areas as well, including the environment. Sixty-two percent of the responding counties said they are working on watershed planning or management efforts, which compares favorably to last year’s 69 percent and 1999’s 68 percent. A large number of counties also have authority over land use planning in their states (64 percent this year, 67 percent last year and 76 percent in 1999).

The 2001 survey also mirrored statistics from previous years in the areas of health, human services and education about county leadership and programs. For instance, 53 percent of the responding counties reported they fund an Area Agency on Aging. In 2000 and 1999, this figure was 59 percent and 52 percent, respectively. The percentage of libraries funded by counties remains high (51 percent in 2001, 51 percent in 2000 and 2001, and 55 percent in 1999) as well. The operation of programs in this area also shows that counties play a pivotal role in providing these types of services. Thirty-eight percent of responding counties in 2001 report they operate child support enforcement programs. This number is fairly consistent with the two previous surveys (38 percent in 2000, 43 percent in 1999).

Counties also provide many different means of transportation for their constituents. In the 2001 survey, 70 percent of the respondents reported they are responsible for the maintenance of roads and bridges. This is a large task, considering that many of these counties (46 percent) have more than 500 road- miles. Thirty-four percent of the responding counties report having 100 or more bridges.

Airport service is also provided by counties. Twenty-four percent answered they both own and operate an airport. This is compared to 22 percent from last year’s survey and 21 percent from 1999. Combine these with other transportation services that the counties provide, such as parking lots and elder transit, and the county governments have a large responsibility in this area.

Method

The survey group for 2001 was made up of 365 counties, of which 85 responded. That is a response rate of 24 percent. Surveys were received from counties in all four census regions (Northeast, Midwest, South and West) as well as from eight population groups.

By total number (18) and percent (31) of returned surveys, the population group of 50,000–99,999 was the most well-represented. For geographic regions, the Midwest returned both the most surveys (31) as well as had the highest response rate (32 percent).