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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 20030513:~PPRO~%ED 08/19/2003 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BUDGET WORK SESSION May 13, 2443 7:34 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Budget Work Session on Tuesday, May 13, 2003 at 7:30 p.m. in the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Margaret W. Brown, Moses Carey, Jr., Alice M. Gordon, Stephen Halkiotis and Barry Jacobs COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill and S. Sean Borhanian COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Managers Rod Visser and Gwen Harvey, and Clerk to the Baard Donna S. Baker (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below} NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. 1. Letter of Support for Orange Enterprises Grant Application John Link referred to Orange Enterprises submitting an application for a grant to address youth with developmental disabilities. He wauld like Orange County to send a letter of support by May 16t" because the grant application is due May 19t". The staff is recommending that the County Commissioners support this letter. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Gardon to endorse writing a letter of suppart far the Orange Enterprises grant application and to direct staff to work with the Chair to provide a letter of support to Orange Enterprises by May 16, 2403. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Cammissianer Carey asked if this was a new praject or an existing praject for the grant and John Link said that he thought it may allow them to provide an enhancement but he is not sure. Commissioner Carey would like to know mare. Commissioner Jacobs asked for a copy of the grant application. John Link said that each Commissioner received a draft of the proposed budget work session schedule in order to address all budget decisions and resolve these by June 23~d Chair Brown made reference to June 16t" and a possible decision on the third high school by this date. She said that she and Commissioner Gordon did not agree on that date. Commissioner Gordon wanted it moved up to June 10t" but Chair Brown wants to keep on the 16t" so she can hear all of the budget issues first. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he would support Commissioner Jacobs' request and look at taking the money for the meritorious service awards and use it towards moving the employees up to a housing wage. He said that he has never been an advocate of the meritorious service awards. He said that the Sheriff expects his employees to live in Orange County and even $800 a month is difficult for some employees. Commissioner Carey said that the County should set an example and pay a living wage that allows the staff to live in Orange County. Elaine Holmes said that there are 200 employees below the two-bedroom rate and 66 below the one bedroom rate. Commissioner Jacobs would like to look at alternatives to catch everybody up to the housing wage within two years. Chair Brown asked about the compression of the pay plan and Elaine Holmes said that if the minimum wage was increased to a certain level then there are issues in terms of employee and supervisory relationships. Steve Condrey said that you could do this in increments and you would not have to compress all salaries. Commissioner Carey said that we should move in this direction in principle and keep an eye on the compression issue. Chair Brown said that she would like to understand the $27,000 living wage for a one-bedroom apartment. This is assuming that the person is not married and they are paying the absolute maximum rent that the County has. She said that this does not necessarily show what is going on in the community. She asked if the 66 employees would mainly be in the Sheriff's Department. Elaine Holmes said that the 66 employees involve those throughout the County -convenience center operators, office assistants, custodians, nursing assistants, etc. Elaine Holmes will bring back some options about the housing wage. Commissioner Gordon asked about a revenue neutral way of doing this pay plan. For example, instead of giving an increase of 2.5% at four and seven years of service, give 2% at five and ten years of service. There might be some money left over to bring the 66 employees up to a housing wage. Commissioner Gordon made reference to the stepless schedule and said that we should do it for a while and not change it in two years. Commissioner Gordon made reference to the analyses on the gender and race equity and there is a significant difference in the sense that females get paid less than males and whites get paid less than non-whites. She would like to keep tabs on this. Steve Condrey said that we could look at this internally but overall there are no systematic biases to the pay plan. Also, he said that he agrees about the stepless salary schedule. Secondly, he would keep the 2.5°~ increase because it would help the compression. Chair Brown asked if adoption would be far two years far the pay plan. Elaine Holmes said that the proposal is for the Board to adopt the classifications, the salary grades, the stepless salary schedule, and the salary administration to move people up to the new minimum, and grant the first 2.5°l0. On the other service-based increases, they are proposing that the Board express its intent to came back and do it at the recommended dates. Chair Brown asked if the COLA would ever be a part of this. Steve Condrey said that each year the scales should rise and the employees' salaries should also rise by the same amount. The performance increases should be on top of this. what he can see because there is so much uncertainty. He does not want to raise any expectations by promising something that he cannot deliver. Commissioner Carey said that he agrees with the uncertainty and he is committed to implementing Phase I. John Link said that on June 16t", the staff would project for the Board how to accomplish the housing issue effective July 1St if the Board wishes. A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiatis, seconded by Commissioner Carey to authorize Phase I implementation salary administration effective April 14, 2003 as follows: Authorize increasing the salaries of employees in permanent positions whose salaries are below the new salary range minimum for the new salary grade assigned to his or her position to the new salary range minimum. In addition, for those employees in permanent positions as of April 14, 2003, grant a 2.5 percent service-based salary increase. VOTE: UNANIMOUS The staff will come back with scenarios for addressing the hauling wage issue on June 16tH 3. Emergency Medical Services Transportation -Service Delivery Change Jahn Link said that the County would assume responsibility for the transportation function services for EMS. This was formally supported by the rescue squad. The rescue squad is having a hard time finding volunteers and has to rely on paid staff and it will be more cast effective to bring it in-house. Assistant County Manager Rod Visser said that this is a service delivery change only. He made reference to the letter from the rescue squad, which indicated that they could na longer do this and the status quo was not an option. The County's transition team {includes Nick Waters, Elaine Holmes, Donna Dean, Pam Jones, etc.) has been working to make this transition smooth. They are recommending that the County take this over as of June 30, 2003, which is a pay period beginning date and the permanent employees with the squad can transition over to the County at that time. He gave the specifics of the transition plan far employees. The permanent positions will come an gradually with temporary employees as needed. There will be a recruitment process for the permanent employees. There are seven full-time employees that work for the squad and they are going through the application process. In terms of cost, they will start out gradually with the permanent positions and then will come back with more formal options next week. John Link added that the management and staff and Board of County Commissioners would need to decide how many permanent staff would be needed for this change in service delivery. We will need to use temporary staff at first but the transition will be the Board of County Commissioners' good judgement on what type of services it wants to provide. EMS Director Nick Waters said that this squad has provided a valuable service over time but the use of volunteers has not been operationally sound for the squad this past year. He echoed that to bring this back in-house is the best option. Commissioner Halkiotis said that it is more difficult to attract volunteer firefighters lately and the day is coming that the mare the County is growing and the less volunteer firefighters you have, the more dangerous it is. He hopes that we list the number of paid Commissioner Jacobs said that this statement of why the County is taking this responsibility aver is worthy of inclusion for tax inserts. Also, he thinks that it is one of the premises upon which Craig Benedict is building the comprehensive land use plan in that we should concentrate the services and not have them sprawled all over the County. He said that it would be goad to look comprehensively at the EMS. He asked if there was a culture of volunteers that could be kept in the mix. Nick Waters said yes but the system will not be driven by the volunteers, but by the full and temporary staff. The volunteers will be used as needed. Commissioner Jacobs said that he did not want to be in a position to say that we did not need volunteers. He made reference to new fire stations being built and stationing emergency vehicles by building in a bay for ambulances. Nick Waters said that they did talk with the people from the new Eno fire department and they were very receptive. Commissioner Gordon asked if this could be added to the comprehensive report on EMS -adding bays for ambulances. Chair Brown asked about the level of service and if it was connected with the communication plan. Nick Waters said all that is inclusive. Chair Brown asked that this be included in the report. Nick Waters said that the volunteers are so important and that there are 200 special events that request outside EMS service in Orange County annually. He said that they depend heavily on volunteers all year long. John Link said that the staff would proceed and he proposes to have this as a topic for the meeting on June 12tH A motion was made by Commissioner Gordan, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 p.m. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Margaret Brown, Chair Donna S. Baker Clerk to the Board 2. Employee Classification and Pay Study Implementation John Link thanked Steve Condrey, who has worked as a consultant on the classification and pay study. He also thanked Personnel Director Elaine Holmes and her staff. Steve Condrey said that they worked on the project for 18 months and this will help the County become more competitive in the labor market. Personnel Director Elaine Holmes gave the PowerPoint presentation. She went through the history of the implementation of the study. The Board agreed to implement Phase I at its February 24th work session. Elements that were discussed to be included in Phase I include an increase in the salaries of employees who fall below the new range up to the new minimum, and a 2.5°~ service based increase to current employees. The study results are provided in the report by the consultant. In summary, Elaine Holmes said that she believes this is an excellent study and it achieves the objectives that the Board set out to achieve. The Manager recommends pursuance of a phased-in implementation approach. Phase I will include implementation of the new jab classifications and the new stepless salary schedule, increase of salaries below the new minimum up to the new minimum, and granting the first 2.5°~ service-based increase. As for fiscal years 2003-04 and 2004-05, the recommendation is that the Board express its intent to grant the second 2.5% service based increase effective April 26, 2004 for employees with four or more years of service; and express its intent to grant a third 2.5% service-based increase effective July 1, 2004 to those employees with seven or more years service. The costs of the implementation are within the $1.2 million guideline. She made reference to page 13 of the abstract and explained the rainbow chart. Elaine Holmes said that this study represents an investment in the County's work force that will have benefits to the County for years to come. Several clarifying questions from Commissioner Gordon were answered by Elaine Holmes. Commissioner Gordon asked about the years of service and why we were going to recognize employees at four and seven years. Steve Condrey said that he wanted to make the break at the seven-year level because if someone is with the company for seven years, then they are probably going to be a long-term employee. Commissioner Carey asked for a reminder on what was done for the County employees last year and Elaine Holmes said that there was a 2.5% cost of living increase and the in-range salary increase amount was set at 2.5°lo and the meritorious service awards were funded. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the green sheet regarding the housing wage. He said that they have tried to address the lowest paid employees. Also, regarding Sheriff's deputies, the County requires them to live in Orange County but they were not being paid enough to match the housing living wage. He wanted to put forward to try to phase in getting all employees up to a housing wage. He would like to look at some creative ways without spending more money to fold this in and make the statement to employees that we da want them to live in this community. He asked how the Board felt about this. Commissioner Halkiotis asked Elaine Holmes to refresh his memory on the estimated cost of atwo-bedroom apartment rental in Orange County. Elaine Holmes said that the estimated cost to move the minimum County salary up to the two-bedroom rental was $715.00. The fair market rental for atwo-bedroom apartment is $800 a month. Commissioner Gordon asked about the total percentage to bring employees to the minimum and the 2.5°~ increase. Elaine Holmes said that the total value of the package as a percent for permanent employees is 7.84% over the 27 months. John Link said that the staff would come back in the fall and address this issue of a housing wage analysis and review the pay plan. Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like to see the alternatives before the fall and would not like to wait six months. Jahn Link said that he feels strongly about implementing Phase I. He said that within the next month, he could find the money to pursue the housing wage within the next two phases. Commissioner Carey suggested that the Board proceed with Phase I now and then gets the information for the housing issue as soon as possible. Chair Brown suggested including the compression piece also. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he is committed to this proposal but it depends on what happens in Raleigh and the revenue picture with the State. There might be some more "sneak attacks." He asked what would happen if something came up again with the State budget and revenue to the County is decreased again. John Link said that if something happens then we would regroup and have to either postpone ar decrease this or other issues. The good news is that the State cannot take the half-cent away. The biggest driver of the budget is the schools. He said that his budget would address the new students that are coming in both systems and maybe go beyond that. The next largest area of the budget is human services and it does not look like the State is going to increase the Medicaid program and the County's increase is going to be less than $200,000. The County does have a social safety net and will have it again next year. He agreed with Commissioner Halkiotis that something could happen, but at this time it does not look like anything catastrophic would happen. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he wants to support this pay plan but the County Commissioners do not control what goes on in the State capitol. Commissioner Jacobs agreed with Commissioner Halkiotis. He wants to proceed cautiously and he does not want to get rid of the social safety net. Commissioner Gordon said that her feeling is that the Board is supportive of Phase I. She said that no matter when the Board decides this it would be retroactive to April 14tH Commissioner Carey said that it creates anxiety in the staff when the Board says that it is going to do something and then it decides to wait a few weeks to do it. It always raises the possibility that the County Commissioners may change their minds. Chair Brown said that she does not have a problem with adopting steps 1-4. Jahn Link said that it is extremely important to address this tonight and Phases II and I II will depend on the budget, but the Board needs to send a message to the staff and pursue Phase I. Steve Condrey said that Phase I targets the money where the County Commissioners want it to be and it raises the lower positions up and it raises the salaries of all employees. It would strengthen employee morale. Chair Brown said that the other option is to not adopt it tonight and use it in the bigger budget picture and perhaps cut back on the percentage increase. Commissioner Jacobs said that what he means is that he would like to incorporate into this some addressing of the hauling wage. He asked Elaine Holmes far same permutations of how to build that in. If we go ahead with Phase I, then he still has a question about whether or not we can incorporate it into the first phase if we have already adopted the first phase. Secondly, he is hesitant to promise too much beyond staff under each volunteer fire department in the budget this year. He asked that the budget presentation include, under each volunteer fire department, the number of paid staff that is with them and what it would look like if the volunteer fire departments had to go strictly paid staff. John Link said that two or three increases in the fire districts are directly attributable to adding more permanent staff. Commissioner Carey verified that there would need to be 24 paid full-time permanent staff to have a 24/7-service level. He asked about the recommendation for June 30t" and Rod Visser said it is to add up to eight permanent full-time employees. Commissioner Jacobs asked if these positions were incorporated into the classification and pay study and Elaine Holmes said no. Rod Uisser said that the money would be what the County would have paid to the rescue squad and additional money would include approximately $30,000-50,000. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the private, non-emergency transportation. Rod Uisser that our non-emergency transportation services are provided within the County only by those entities that are franchised. The strategic plan was focused on the patient outcome as the main measure. Jahn Link said that the performance level of the present providers has been checkered. He would prefer the County's staff to address this personnel need. Rod Visser answered some clarifying questions of the County Commissioners about the proposal. Commissioner Gordon asked how volunteers would work into this. John Link said that the volunteers do not work into this in terms of guaranteeing 2417 transportation responses. The volunteers can help the community with special events and specialized rescue. Commissioner Halkiotis said that it is really important to put this all in a chart for the County Commissioners to see the whole revenue picture. He asked about the revenues generated by this service and how other counties are doing this. He agrees that we should have paid professional staff providing the service. He said that the building on New Hope Church Road would have to be expanded because there is not enough roam for training. Commissioner Carey asked about the implications of capital facilities from this conversion. Rod Visser said that in the short term it would not be much money. The two existing squad buildings would be used -the one on Churton Street and the one by the old Carrboro Farmer's Market. If this does not work out, then the ambulances could be staged at other County facilities. In the long term, there are implications for the EMS and public safety functions. Chair Brown asked about ambulance services and if it was theoretically possible for the County to have its own ambulances. Nick Waters said yes and that it used to be that way. Chair Brown would like a comprehensive look at EMS and the pros and cons of what is happening now. Chair Brown asked about the different levels of services the County has and all of the components and how and when we maintain it. She would like this brought back to the Board. She said that the municipalities do not think about this service that the County provides and she would like to speak to that issue with the municipalities -what is involved and why the County is making this transition. This is the cost of growth that no one wants to deal with. She would like aone-page statement to address this with the municipalities. The Board agreed to the staff bringing back a comprehensive report on EMS service in the County.