HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 06-01-1999 - 8cORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: June 1, 1999
Action Agenda
Item No. 8-~
SUBJECT: Classification Plan Amendment -Buyer and Purchasing Agent
DEPARTMENT: Personnel and PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No
Purchasing & Central Services
ATTACHMENT(S):
1-Class specifications for
Buyer and Purchasing Agent
INFORMATION CONTACT:
Pam Jones, extension 2652
Elaine Holmes, extension 2550
2- Orange County Classes at TELEPHONE NUMBERS:
Salary Grades 62 - 70 Hillsborough 732-8181
Chapel Hill 968-4501
Durham 688-7331
Mebane 336-227-2031
PURPOSE: To consider amending the Orange County Classification and Pay Plan by:
(1) Changing the existing classification of Purchasing Technician at Salary Grade 63 to the new
classification of Buyer at Salary Grade 65 and
(2) Changing the salary grade for the existing classification of Purchasing Agent from Salary
Grade 67 to Salary Grade 69.
BACKGROUND:
Purchasing Technician Reclassification to Buyer
The Purchasing Technician position in the Purchasing Department was recently vacated. Prior
to recruiting for the position, the Purchasing and Central Services Director reviewed
departmental duties and individual employee workloads and determined the need to increase
the department's professional staff capabilities. Over the past 10 years, the departmental
workload has increased in volume, but more importantly, in the complexity of the duties it is
called upon to carry out.
To address this changed need, the Director has restructured the duties of the Purchasing
Technician position and proposed the reclassification of the Purchasing Technician position to
Buyer to allow recruitment for a skill level commensurate with the current needs of the County.
Representative duties for which the Buyer position will be responsible include:
• Developing specifications and conducting the informal bidding process for various
commodity classifications, such as gasoline, jail food, uniforms, office supplies, and the like.
This includes working with the department to ensure that its needs are addressed by the
resulting bids, delivery times are met and warehousing requirements are minimized.
• Checking incoming purchase requisitions from departments, referring to the Purchasing
Director or Purchasing Agent as appropriate, then creating a purchase order for approval by
the Purchasing Director and the Finance Director.
• Maintaining the County's fixed asset records and ensuring that these are kept up to date
and in proper order for the auditors at fiscal year end.
• Filing claims with the County's insurance company for property damage incurred by the
County, under direction of Purchasing Director. After the initial claim is filed and the action
plan is established, this position will be responsible for ensuring that the process is followed
through until the conclusion of the claim (receipt of check, release of liability).
Purchasing Agent Salary Grade Change
The second part of the action requested is the reclassification of the existing Purchasing
Agent's position. Since the inception of this position 10 years ago, the duties have expanded
and the complexity greatly increased. One of the areas of significant change has been that of
telecommunications analysis/management. The position has gone from ordering telephone
lines from one of the four telephone companies serving the County to actually designing
telecommunications systems that we install in our buildings. This takes significant technical
knowledge as well as the ability to work closely with the vendor who will construct the system
for installation. Beyond this, in the event of system failure, the down time can be significantly
reduced through the troubleshooting capabilities of this employee.
In addition to the Telecommunications duties, the Purchasing Agent's position continues to
carry out bidding requirements for both formal and informal bids. Formal bids, in particular may
involve a great deal of analysis to determine what should be specified to best meet
departmental needs. Complex bids may take months of research and preparation before they
are ready for solicitation.
Classification and Pay Review
In follow up to the Purchasing Director's request, Personnel has completed the classification
and pay review of the restructured existing vacant Purchasing Technician position and of the
existing Purchasing Agent position. This included review of the duties and responsibilities of
the positions as reflected in updated job descriptions, comparison of these duties and
responsibilities with those of other County positions and survey of labor market data. Based on
this review, Personnel recommends that the:
1. Existing Purchasing Technician position at Salary Grady 63 be reclassified to the new of
class of Buyer at Salary Grade 65. The proposed Buyer class has a hiring range of
$25,945 - $31,536. For comparison, the present Purchasing Technician class has a hiring
range of $23,532 - $30,034.
2. Existing Purchasing Agent class be changed from Salary Grade 67 to Salary Grade 69,
with a new hiring range of $31,536 - $38,330. This compares to present hiring range of
$28,603 - $34,768.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: Funds to implement the proposed changes are available within the
Purchasing Department's approved budget for 1998-99.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends the Board amend the Orange County
Classification and Pay Plan by:
Changing the existing classification of Purchasing Technician at Salary Grade 63 to the
new classification of Buyer at Salary Grade 65 and
2. Changing the assigned salary grade of the existing Purchasing Agent class from Salary
Grade 67 to Salary Grade 69.
4
C2275-6/99 ATTACHMENT la
BUYER
GENERAL DEFINITION OF WORK:
Performs intermediate professional and administrative work in the procurement of a
variety of supplies, materials and equipment; does related work as required.
Work is performed under regular supervision.
TYPICAL TASKS:
Receives and reviews purchase requisitions from County departments to ensure accuracy,
completeness, availability of funding and proper signatures;
Interviews and selects vendors based on prices, availability, terms of purchasing
activities, bid points and other purchasing considerations;
Searches for improvements in quality and cost effectiveness and makes recommendations
for materials, supplies and equipment;
Maintains vendor and bid files, catalogs, manuals and other purchasing information for
ready reference;
May conduct pre-bid conferences and develop specifications;
Prepazes and recommends awazds on informal bids according to the laws, policies and
regulations; and assists in preparing formal bid documents;
Maintains inventory of fixed assets for the County;
Procures office supplies for operation of central stores for the County, including chazging
all items through the general ledger for each depaztment and preparing a monthly chazge
back report;
Handles personnel functions such as processing timesheets, maintaining leave reports and
assisting with administering the department's approved budget;
Processes property damage insurance claims; maintains statistics and provide analysis on
accident trends;
Performs related tasks as required.
KNOWLEDGES, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:
General knowledge of business methods, mazkets and purchasing practices; general
knowledge of the laws relating to public purchasing; general knowledge of various grades
and qualities of a variety of materials, supplies and equipment used by the County;
general knowledge of standard office procedures, practices and equipment; ability to
express ideas clearly and concisely, orally and in writing; ability to establish and maintain
effective working relationships with other officials, vendors and the general public.
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:
Any combination of education and experience equivalent to graduation from an
accredited two yeaz college or university with major course work in purchasing,
accounting, mazketing or related field and at least 1 yeaz experience in the procurement
of supplies, material and equipment or related area; or graduation from high school,
supplemented by college level course work in purchasing, accounting, mazketing, or
related field and at least 2 yeazs experience in the procurement of supplies, material and
equipment or related azea.
C2280-6/99
PURCHASING AGENT ATTACHMENT lb
GENERAL DEFINITION OF WORK:
Performs difficult professional and intermediate administrative work with centralized
purchasing of specific commodities, services and construction; does related work as
required.
Work is performed under general supervision. Supervision may be exercised over
subordinate clerical and technical personnel.
TYPICAL TASKS:
Receives purchase requests, reviews for availability of funds and spending authorization
and issues purchase orders;
Prepazes bids and requests for proposals;
Maintains current vendor file and vendor lists and interviews potential vendors to
establish new vendor files and provides information on purchasing procedures;
Develops specifications, conditions and advertisement of bid documents;
Organizes pre-bid conferences with vendors to ensure understanding of required
specifications and/or modifications;
Conducts informal and formal bid openings under the requirements of the North Cazolina
General Statutes;
Receives, publicly opens and evaluates bid responses, compiles a bid tabulation and
recommends an award based on quality, performance and time of delivery;
Writes agenda items for formal bids requiring Boazd of County Commissioners'
approval;
Coordinates the County's annual surplus auction prior to, and during the auction;
Participates in the design of telephone systems which involves determining the number of
telephone lines, number of extensions, amount of voice mail capability and the like;
Prepares reports with information on call traffic data (incoming and outgoing calls) and
makes recommendations based on results;
Keeps abreast of the latest technology and advises departments on telephone system
capabilities and enhancements that will better meet their departmental needs;
Consults and coordinates with telephone companies regazding installations, repairs and
reconfigurations; solves minor telephone-related problems;
Performs related tasks as required.
KNOWLEDGES. SKILLS AND ABILITIES:
Thorough knowledge of business methods, markets and purchasing practices; thorough
knowledge of the laws relating to public purchasing; ability to write clear and concise
contracts and specifications; thorough knowledge of various grades and qualities of a
variety of materials, supplies and equipment used by the County; general technical
knowledge of chazacteristics and capabilities of telephone systems; ability to exercise
good judgment in developing recommendations and making decisions; ability to
communicate effectively, both orally and in writing; ability to establish and maintain
effective working relationships with other officials, vendors and the general public.
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:
Any combination of education and experience equivalent to graduation from an
accredited college or university with major course work in purchasing, accounting,
mazketing or related field and at least 2 years professional experience in the procurement
of materials, equipment and supplies.
Orange County Classes By Salary Grade for Grades 62 through 70
Salary Office Support, Human Services and Purchasing, Planning, Inspec Public Safety Land, Reg of Deeds, Public Works Other
Grade Admin and Related Finance, and Related Tax and Related
Related Personnel, IS
62 Admin Asst II Animal Cont Off Criminal Data Dep Reg of Deeds II
Spec.
Athletic Coord Emerg Med Tech Prop Mapper I
Coop Ext Prog Asst Jailer/Matron Tax Clerk
Income Maint Casewk I
Rec Center Dir.
RSVP Project Asst Dir
63 Housing Tech Acc Tech Planning Tech Appraisal Tech Sen Bldg Maint Dep Dir of
Mech Elections
Lib Asst III Budget Tech Dep Reg of Deeds III
Hum Res Tech GIS Asst
Purchasing Tech Revenue Tech I
Senior Tax Clk
64 Office Sup I Dental Hygienist Sen Acc Tech Code Enf Off I EMT -Int GIS Mapper I Auto Mech
ESL Coord Prop Mapper II Custodial Sup
Inc Maint Casewk II Revenue Tech II Electrician
Senior Citizen Prog Sanitation Sup
Coord
Transportation Coord
Veterans Service Off
65 Admin Asst III CAT Transporation Sup PC Sup Spec Conservation Spec Emerg Com Data Appraiser I HVAC Mech
Tech
Ad Asst to Co Community Disease Emerg Mgmt
Mgr Control Spec Training Coord
Ad Asst to Asst Housing Spec Telecommicator I
Co Mgrs
Dep Co Clk Librarian I
Info Spec Social Wrker I
Office Sup II
66 Comm Spec Care Mgr Code Enf Off II Dep Sher I GIS Mapper II
Dental Prog Coord EMT -Paramedic '
Inc Maint Casewk III Telecommun. II
Prog Sup I -Spec
Event/Pub Info
Prog Sup I -Spec Pop
Public Health Educator
RSVP Project Director
67 Admin Off I Child Support Officer Budget Analyst I Asst Fire Marshall Asst Reg of Deeds Blgs & Grds Sup
o~
Orange County Classes By Salary Grade for Grades 62 through 70
Salary Office Support, Human Services and Purchasing, Planning, Inspec Public Safety Land, Reg of Deeds, Public Works Other
Grade Admin and Related Finance, and Related Tax and Related
Related Personnel, IS
Mgmt Analyst Com Development Coord Hum Res Analyst I Dep Sher II Asst Tax Collector
Human Ser Coor Purchasing Agent Emerg Mgr
Training Spec
Income Maint Invest Domestic Viol
Coord
Income Maint Ldwrk Tel Shift Sup
Librarian II
Nutritionist
Rehab Spec/ Hsg Insp
Social Wrker II
68 Animal Cont Dir Comp Prog/Ana I Code Enf Off III Dep Sher/Invest Prop Mapping Sup
Envir Health Spec Planner I EMS Field Sup
Erosion Cont Off 1
Prog Sup II -Athl
Prog Sup II -Gen Prog
Senior Center Admin
Senior Center Prog Ad
Senior Pub Health Ed
69 Admin Off II Civil Rts Spec Accountant Econ Dev Asst Dep Sher/ Serg Appraiser II Solid Waste Mgr
Clerk to the Income Maint Sup Budget Mgmt GIS Project Coord Bus Pers Prop App
Board Analyst II
Library Asst Dir Hum. Res Analyst II Visitor Bureau
Sales Dir
Public Health Nurse I
Social Wrk Coord
Social Worker III
70 CPS Social Wrk Comp Prog/Ana II Erosion Cont Off II Dep Emerg Mgmt Asst Revenue Dir
Dir- Com
Child Welfare Prog Spec Microcomp Spec Planner II Dep Sher/ Lt
Envir Health Prog Spec Soil Conservationist
Pub Health Ed Sup
Senior Incom Maint Sup
Social Wrk Clinical Spec
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