COEUR d'ALENE - Along with the usual details shared during the annual State of the County address, the Kootenai County commissioners sprinkled in a bit of fun, too.

Lines like the following were inserted among budget numbers and recounts of boat-ramp revamps:

"Have you ever seen a more sexy-looking SUV sitting in a beautiful sunset?" said Commissioner Jai Nelson. The context: Fleet management.

"I want each of you to turn to a person next to you and say, 'I just love that Todd Tondee,'" said Commissioner Todd Tondee. Context: 2014 is the Year of Love.

"Thanks for the intro, Chairman Love Child," said Commissioner Dan Green to Commission Chair Tondee.

Switching gears quickly during the Tuesday morning address at The Coeur d'Alene Resort, Green said the county continues to face jail overcrowding and needs more time to finish a land-use code update.

He said the sheriff's office spent more than $800,000 in 2013 just to house inmates out of county.

"It is an issue that is not going away, but we seem to spin our wheels as the topic raises its ugly head from time to time," Green said. "The possibility of placing a bond before the voters and gaining the required two-thirds super majority to pass has a very slim chance of success."

But the commissioners think the county might have a solution to the problem.

A company called Rocky Mountain Corrections, based in Ketchum, Idaho, has promoted the idea of building a 625-bed jail the county could rent, which the sheriff's office would staff and manage.

"We would build a facility that would have excess capacity so that we could grow into the facility and stop shipping inmates out of county," Green said. "We would become the tenant with the ability to offer surplus capacity to neighboring jurisdictions that also are struggling with overcrowding."

Green said Sheriff Ben Wolfinger has verified that his office's operational costs would diminish. It would also reduce the county's liability by not having to transport inmates, sometimes as far as 3 hours away.

The plan is to sign documents with Rocky Mountain in the next few months to proceed, after some additional fact finding, Green said.

"They project they could deliver to us a facility within 18 to 24 months from getting the green light to move forward," Green said.

In the past two State of the County addresses, Green said he reported the county is nearing the end of the land-use code update.

"Unfortunately, much to my disappointment, we have had to extend our timeline to adopt ordinances that implement our 2010 comprehensive plan," Green said.

The commissioners and a significant portion of the public didn't like a draft Unified Land Use Code, produced by consultant Kendig Keast Collaborative.

The county has taken the land-use code update project in-house, and the county's new community development department director, David Callahan, is leading the effort.

The goal is to have a draft so public hearings can be conducted this summer by the county.

"Our goal is still to bring forth better ordinances that promote private property rights, protect natural resources and offer predictability and simplicity to a sometimes very complex process," Green said.

Nelson, during her portion of the address, said last fall she put together a Fleet Management Task Force to evaluate the comprehensive fleet management system.

"What we'd like to see is a holistic approach, including a rotating vehicle plan," Nelson said. "For example, after a sheriff's deputy puts 75,000 miles on a patrol vehicle it might be able to be rotated to the assessor's office."

Humor: "And maybe this SUV could rotate to a certain commissioner who could really use those overhead flashing lights when she is running late getting her son off to school," Nelson said.

In his portion of the address, Tondee said the commissioners received a request for 19 additional employees countywide during the budget cycle. The board approved 6 1/2, bringing the total to 776.

Through the past four budgets, the commissioners have increased the sheriff's budgeted positions by 22.

"Over the same time period, through efficiencies and reorganization, the commissioners cut 20 budgeted positions and the assessor cut five," Tondee said.

He said the commissioners are looking for ways to increase non-property-tax revenue, which currently makes up 46.1 percent of the overall budget. Property taxes generate $40.3 million, or 53.9 percent of the overall budget. The total property tax support increased by $1.28 million compared with 2013's budget.

"The largest non-property-tax revenue is from user fees, which generate over $21 million, and a little over half of that is from our solid waste department," Tondee said.

The county spends 63.4 percent of its budget, or $47.4 million, on personnel. The total budget is $74.7 million.

"So the property tax generated doesn't even cover our personnel expense," Tondee said.

Ending: "On behalf of 'Love me tender Tondee,' Dan, and I, we wish you a prosperous sesquicentennial year (150th anniversary) in our amazing county," Nelson said.