Lake Tahoe’s Incline Village
General Improvement
District Drives Informed
Internal Decision-Making
with OpenGov
I
ncline Village General Improvement District
(IVGID) is a quasi-public agency in the beautiful
Lake Tahoe region of Nevada, providing services to
the Incline Village and Crystal Bay communities.
The agency’s role includes overseeing Champion
and Mountain golf courses, Diamond Peak ski
resort, beaches, and various recreation centers,
event venues, and parks. With a mandate to
provide water, sewer, trash, and recreational
services to both residents and tourists, the
agency’s staff often finds itself reacting to seasonal
tourism trends and weather variability.
IVGID’s management and staff strive to align their
day-to-day operations with the organization’s
value statement: “We are dedicated people
providing quality service, for our community and
environment, with integrity and teamwork.”
AGEN CY T Y PE
Quasi-Public Agency
POP U L AT I ON
9,000 Permanent Residents
$39 Million
To that end, the team sought new ways to become
proactive in forecasting future service needs and
revenue to plan its operations accordingly.
This case study will demonstrate how Incline
Village General Improvement District leveraged
the OpenGov Smart Government Platform™ to
achieve the following results:
•
Forecasting Amid Uncertainty. The staff
used OpenGov to help address the challenge
of anticipating revenues given weather
variability by comparing recreation metrics
with historical weather patterns and forecasts.
•
Leveraged Decades of Data. IVGID’s team
uploaded and analyzed more than 25 years’
worth of ski visitor data, evaluating trends by
year, month, week, and individual days.
Lake Tahoe’s Incline Village General Improvement District Drives Informed Internal Decision-Making with OpenGov
© 2017 OpenGov • opengov.com
ANNUAL B U D G ET
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Opening data to its non-Finance managers helped Incline Village General Improvement District’s team save valuable time
and make informed decisions about delivering services in the Lake Tahoe region. (Photo: J. Cook Fisher / Flickr)
•
Flexible Internal Reporting. OpenGov
provided more flexible reporting than the
agency’s ERP software, offering the detail and
historical data necessary to create custom
reports and drive informed decision-making.
•
Saved Staff Time. The intuitive, easy-to-use
interface facilitated quick access to detailed
financial data, empowering managers and staff
to access their own data quickly.
Agency Staff Limited by
Traditional ERP System
Lake Tahoe’s regional population fluctuates
throughout the year. The area’s warm summers
attract beachgoers, hikers, and golfers.
Its snowy winters lure groups looking to ski
and snowboard. For both permanent residents
and tourists renting residences or booking
hotel rooms temporarily, IVGID is tasked with
providing utility and recreation services steadily
even as the population shrinks and expands
seasonally – and even week-to-week or day-to-day
given weather conditions.
Thus, IVGID’s Controller, Lori Pommerenck, and
the agency’s staff sought to plan more effectively
amid such variability. For instance, weather
conditions directly affect recreational revenue,
particularly with ski, beach, and golf seasons. The
agency wanted to forecast those revenues more
accurately, seeking to strengthen its strategic
resource allocation and budget planning due to
the dynamic nature of seasonal tourism.
While the agency’s Enterprise Resource Planning
(ERP) software was able to store financial data,
the team was unable to use it to create reports
Lake Tahoe’s Incline Village General Improvement District Drives Informed Internal Decision-Making with OpenGov
© 2017 OpenGov • opengov.com
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IVGID used OpenGov to better understand and forecast its revenues for Diamond Peak ski resort,
given fluctuations in visitors levels due to weather. (Photo: Diamond Peak Ski Resort / Flickr)
that would inform their operational approach.
Consequently, they sought a more flexible
reporting solution. Pommerenck noted that the
system was limited in that it did not offer analysis
or “give life to data.”
which facilitated their ability to make revenue
projections with increased accuracy. “OpenGov
makes it possible for the staff to compare
trends with weather patterns and project future
recreation revenue in easy-to-understand
charts,” Pommerenck noted.
OpenGov Empowers Staff
to Look Ahead
She and her team also benefited from the
platform’s detailed, interactive visualizations.
It illustrates relevant trends, even on a weekly
basis. Having access to such interactive data
empowered IVGID’s department managers
to plan with greater accuracy, set appropriate
expectations, and answer questions. “I can
quickly drill down into data in the OpenGov
platform for immediate answers,” she said. “I use
OpenGov more than our financial software when
we need to answer a question.”
Pommerenck and her team selected the OpenGov
Smart Government Platform as the solution for
better leveraging their data. With OpenGov, they
were able to successfully upload, access, and
analyze over 25 years’ worth of historical data
and trends, such as with ski visits and golf rounds
over time. The platform’s reporting flexibility
enabled staff to compare those metrics with
historical weather patterns and future forecasts,
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OpenGov’s flexible internal reports helped IVGID’s management team analyze operational data deliver
more effective services such as water and sewer maintenance to residents and visitors. (Photo: iStock)
R E SULTS
Forecasting Amid Uncertainty. The staff used OpenGov to help address the challenge of anticipating
revenues given weather variability by comparing recreation metrics with historical weather patterns and
forecasts.
Leveraged Decades of Data. IVGID’s team uploaded and analyzed more than 25 years’ worth of ski visitor
data, evaluating trends by year, month, week, and individual days.
Flexible Internal Reporting. OpenGov provided more flexible reporting than the agency’s ERP software,
offering the detail and historical data necessary to create custom reports and drive informed decision-making.
Saved Staff Time. The intuitive, easy-to-use interface facilitated quick access to detailed financial data,
empowering managers and staff to access their own data quickly.
© 2017 OpenGov • opengov.com
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