HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 09-13-2005-3I
ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: September 13, 2005
Action Agenda
Item No. 3
SUBJECT: Fiscal Year 2005 -06 Budget Follow -up
DEPARTMENT: Manager /Budget/Personnel PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
As noted in "Background" John Link or Rod Visser, 245 -2300
Donna Dean, 245 -2151
Elaine Holmes, 245 -2552
PURPOSE: To review various follow -up matters related to 2005 -06 fiscal year operating
budget deliberations.
BACKGROUND:
Recommended Reductions /Savings/ Efficiencies /Revenue Enhancements to Achieve the
500,000 Operating Budget Reduction
With the adoption of the fiscal year 2005 -06 County budget, the Board approved a
Countywide operational cut of $500,000 along with a $300,000 reduction in the areas of
Medicaid, Health Insurance and Energy /Utilities. The Board directed the Manager and
staff to identify areas where the cuts would occur and present recommendations at the
September 13, 2005 work session.
To that end, the Budget Director and staff have collaborated with all departments
regarding potential cuts. Attachment 3a of this abstract, "Manager's
Recommendation for Short -Term (One Year) Budget Reductions /Savings/
Efficiencies /Revenue Enhancements" reflects the Manager's recommendations to
reach the funding reduction target for Countywide operations.
The recommendations total $738,545 which is more than the original $500,000 identified
by the Board. At this point, based on expenditure patterns driven by factors beyond our
control it does not appear likely that the County will be able to reduce expenditures in the
areas of Medicaid, energy, utilities, and health insurance. Examples of factors beyond
our control include rising energy costs brought on by Hurricane Katrina and announced
rate hikes in heating fuel of 30 percent. In addition, according to the statistics provided
by the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners, Statewide Medicaid
expenditures are running about 20 percent higher than last year at this time compared to
the 12 percent included in the County's original budget.
N
Expenditure Trends — Medicaid, Health Insurance, Energy /Utilities
The County's Department of Social Services, Public Works, Personnel and Budget
Directors will provide expenditure and energy conservation updates during the
presentation on September 13,
State Budget Impacts
The General Assembly approved the State budget during the last week of August.
Budget staff is currently working with departments to ascertain what funding cuts may
have been included in the State's budget and analyze what the impact of those cuts are
likely to be. Staff will present information, as available, in the presentation at the work
session on September 13.
School /Park Reserve Fund Interest
At the June 23, 2005 meeting the Board adopted budget amendment 14, part of which
authorized the transfer of $391,292 from the School /Park Reserve Fund to the General
fund. The funds transferred represented interest earnings that had not been allocated to
projects. The transfer was done to improve general fund year -end financial condition.
Finance Department staff are currently involved in the annual audit process and closing
the books for the 2004 -2005 fiscal year and will be preparing the year -end financial
statements within the next month. Once the audit is complete and the 2005 financial
statements are finalized, the overall year -end financial condition will be known and at that
time the Board can take the appropriate actions relative to the transfer.
Anticipated Fiscal Year 2006 -07 Budget Drivers
During the presentation on September 13, the Budget Director will review the Budget
Drivers that we expect to face next spring as the budget is developed. Some examples
of the challenges we expect to face include continued increases in Medicaid and energy
costs, restoring County and School capital and operational funding, and increased
student enrollments.
During budget work sessions last spring, the Board requested a list of County funded
non - profit agencies that provide services to either one or both of the School districts in
the County. That information was provided in a supplemental package of information in
June 2005. Staff has updated the June spreadsheet to reflect the approved funding for
each agency. Attachment 3b of this agenda abstract, "Non- Profit Agencies
Providing Services to Schools" offers the updated spreadsheet.
Report on Long Term Temporary Employees
During the June budget worksessions, the Board requested a report on long term
tempoa y employees. This report along with other information related to temporary
employment is provided as Attachment 3c.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: As noted above and in agenda materials and as will be discussed
during staff presentation of those materials.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board receive the information
and provide direction to the Manager and staff,
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Long Term Temporary Employees
During the June budget work sessions, the Board of Commissioners asked that staff
provide a report on Orange County's use of long -term temporary employees. The Board
defined "long term" as employees who had served for one year or longer. This report
provides the requested information.
To compile the report, Personnel provided a list of temporary employees appointed over
one year to the operating department for the department's review and updating. Also with
that list Personnel estimated the actual work hours for each such temporary over the past
two to three months and included this in the report for the department's review.
Orange County Policy
The County provides for two types of employment — Temporary and Permanent. A
temporary employee is paid on an hourly basis and does not receive employee benefits.
The temporary employee must be paid at least the County's living wage of $9.34 an hour
except for high school students or certain others working for educational purposes.
Under the County's policy, an employee can be appointed temporary up to one year. A
temporary appointment may extend beyond one year if the employee is regularly
scheduled to work 15 hours or less each workweek or if the Manager approves an
extension with additional hours to continue critical services. Attachment 1 is the Personnel
Ordinance section covering temporary employment.
The County's reason for providing that temporary appointment could continue beyond one
year on the basis of 15 hours or less per week is that a permanent employee must be
appointed for at least 20 hours per week — so such hours do not meet the prerequisite for
permanent employment. The 20 -hour per week requirement also arises from the North
Carolina Local Government Retirement System definition of what constitutes permanent
employment. All of the County's benefits contracts (as is the norm for employee benefits)
provide that the employee must be permanent part time 20 hours or more. Such 15 -hour a
week employment provides for secondary, substitute, and relief employment.
Temporary Employees Appointed Over One Year
Attachment 2 provides the requested information on temporary employees working over
one year. In total there were 136 temporary employees appointed over one year as of July
1, 2005. Based on payroll records, 93 of the 136 employees average 15 hours or less per
workweek and 43 average more than 15 hours, although 10 of the 43 were relatively close
to the 15 hour amount by working 16 or 17 hours per week.
Of the 136 employees, 16 are retirees from Orange County who do receive the health
insurance benefit the County provides for its retirees.
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Temporary Employees Working Over One Year and Over 15 Hours
Attachment 2 shows the 12 departments that have employees appointed over one year
and regularly working more than 15 hours, It also shows the major functions performed by
these employees.
For those employees regularly working over 15 hours, there are instances where the hours
were approved to address operating needs. It also was noted in compiling the report that
there are other situations where the employees were approved to continue beyond one
year on the basis of 15 hours or less per week but based on the review of payroll records,
the employees have been working additional hours. These additional hours arise from the
department's need to address workloads or provide adequate coverage for functions.
The concern that arises from the use of such temporary employees over one year and
regularly working hours that approximate 20 or more is that the employees are then
serving in a capacity similar to permanent employment, but without the employee benefits
and other rights and privileges related to permanent employment.
Next Steps
In follow up to this review and report, the Manager provided the Attachment 3
memorandum to department heads directing them to, among other things:
• Adhere to the policy limits for temporary employment, including monitoring the work
schedules for those appointed 15 hours or less.
• If the need arises for additional hours based on operating needs, seek the Manager's
advance approval for such hours and specify the time period for any such additional
hours. If the department presently has such a situation, present its request for approval
for any such hours and specify the operating needs,
Through this the County will seek to more closely manage and monitor the use of
temporary employment. However, the operating factors and work needs leading to such
use of temporary employment continue to grow. Based on this the Manager recommends
the County revisit its temporary employment policy and consider again the parameters it
wishes to establish for such employment. To this end the Manager has asked the
Personnel Director to survey other area local government employers to determine their
policy and practice as to temporary employment, as a starting point for the review.
Temporary Wages Use By Department
For the Board's information as its considering temporary employment, Attachment 4 is
information provided by each department showing how temporary wages are used. This
covers both shorter term (less than one year) and longer term (more than one year)
temporary employment. The County presently has about 250 temporary appointments on
the County payroll system, (Please note that this does not represent the number of
temporary employees actually working each workweek since some of these are employees
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who are available on a call in, substitute, seasonal or other periodic basis,) Attachment 5
shows the 2005 -06 budget for temporary wages for each department.
September 9, 2005
Attachment 1
From the Orange County Personnel Ordinance, is
Article II, "Recruitment and Selection"
Temporary Position Openings
3.13.1 In making any temporary appointment, the hiring department observes the
requirements for such appointments in Section 5.0, "Appointments" of this
Ordinance.
3.13.2 The hiring department is responsible for the recruitment and selection
process for any temporary appointment, including appropriate reference
checks.
3.13.3 For any temporary appointment of more than one month, the hiring
department obtains from the candidate a completed Orange County
employment application and reviews the candidate's employment history.
The department submits such application to the Personnel Department along
with the appointment Personnel Action form.
3.13.4Any advertising of a temporary opening or testing of a candidate for a
temporary opening is completed in accordance with Item 3.8 "Advertising"
and Item 3.9, "Testing."
5.2 Temporary Appointments
5.2.1 General
Amended
12!01194
Subject to the provisions in this Ordinance, a new temporary appointment
may be made for up to six months and may be extended for six additional
months, not to exceed a total of one year, except as provided in Item 5.2.3.
5.2.2 Approval
The department head may make a temporary appointment or extend a
temporary appointment for the following without prior approval:
Jo provide coverage for a vacant permanent position or for the
absence of a permanent employee.
Jo work one month or less with no extension.
� 3)
- Precinct officials.
The advance approval of the Personnel Director is required for any other
temporary appointment or extension. The Personnel Director's approval is for
the purpose of assuring that temporary appointments are used to meet
temporary work needs. The Personnel Director refers any request involving
an on -going work need to the County Manager for the Manager's review.
5.2.3 The County Manager may approve the extension of a temporary appointment
beyond one year:
-When the employee regularly works 15 hours or less each workweek
(as averaged on a monthly basis). In urgent circumstances where
additional hours are necessary to continue critical services, the
County Manager may approve additional hours in writing. For this
purpose, critical services includes such services as public safety and
top priority goals of the County.
-When the employee is working under an established academic
internship program or work study program.
Attachment 2
Orange County Temporary Employees Over One Year
As of July 1, 2005
A. Total Temporary Employees Appointed More Than One Year: 136
B. Of the 138 appointed more than one year:
• Working 15 hours or less per workweek — 93*
• Working more than 15 hours per workweek - 43 **
C. Departments for those appointed more than one year and working
more that 15 hours per workweek (work hours estimated based on previous
two - three months):
Department
Number Over One
Year and Working 15
Hours or More
Major Functions
Aging
6
OPT Driver
Animal Services
2
Animal Care Tech, Clerical Support
Child Support
1
Child Support Officer
Commissioners' Office
1
Clerical Support/Special Projects
Emergency Management
15
EMT, Asst Fire Marshall,
Telecommunicator
Health
1
Water Sample, Reception Backup
Housing
1
Section 8, New software transition
Public Works
4
Bldg Maintenance Tech, Convenience
Center Operator
Recreation and Parks
1
After School Program
Register of Deeds
1
Special Projects
Sheriff
8
Court Bailiff, Federal Transports, Dare,
Great program, Civil Papers, DNA
assistance, Telephone Support
Solid Waste
2
Heavy Equip Operator, Landfill Inspector
Total
43 * **
* Includes seven Orange County retirees
** includes nine Orange County retirees
* * *Of the 43, 10 averaged working 16 -17 hours per week..
ORANGE COUNTY
HILLSBOROUGH
NORTH CAROLINA
Manager's Office
September 1, 2005
TO: Orange County Department Heads
FROM: John Link, County Manager
Attachment 3
Established 1752
SUBJECT: Extension of Hirinq Delays From Three Months to Four Months and
Temporary Employment Approvals and Limits Effective September 1
As you know, the Board's adopted budget for 2005 -06 included a $500,000
reduction in overall departmental operations along with an additional decrease of
$300,000 in the areas of Medicaid, health insurance, utilities and fuel.
Over the past weeks, Budget staff has been meeting with individual departments to
identify possible budget savings opportunities. I appreciate your help in this effort.
However, it has not achieved all of the needed savings. We also have been
considering other options that have more countywide application as well as
evaluating the current cost projections for Medicaid, health insurance and
fuel /utilities, which are significant.
As I have reviewed the available options, it has become clear that we must take
additional measures to achieve the needed cost savings. To this end, I am
extending the hiring delay period for permanent position vacancies from three
months to four months and, in the absence of compelling reasons to the contrary,
am suspending new temporary hires and extensions of temporary appointments,
Specifically, I am implementing the following measures:
1. Extension of Hiring Delays from Three Months to Four Months
Effective .July 1, 2005, we had continued the three month hiring delays for
permanent position vacancies funded in whole or in part by the general fund for
2005 -06, Effective September 1, this time period changes to four months, This
applies to any position already vacant or becoming vacant September 1 or after,
unless I have already approved an earlier date the position may be filled.
Attached are the updated hiring delay guidelines,
2. Suspension of New Temporary Hiring and Extensions Of Appointments
Effective September 1, 2005, 1 am suspending new temporary hiring and any
extension of temporary appointments beyond the already approved appointment
period — if that hire or appointment is funded from the general fund, This
includes hires in positions vacated by an existing temporary employee. This
►5
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means no new temporary hire or extension may be made without my approval or
Elaine's if I am not available.
I am willing to consider written requests for new hires or extensions on a case -
by -case basis. These need to be presented to me in advance of the hire or
extension. If you wish to request such an approval, please do so by completing
the attached temporary appointment request form and submitting it to Personnel
Director Elaine Holmes. Elaine will coordinate these with me.
3. Temporary Appointments Beyond One Year
Under the County policy, a temporary appointment may be extended beyond one
year if regularly scheduled to work 15 hours or less (averaged on a monthly
basis) or when approved by me to meet urgent operating needs. I expect that
you will adhere to these policy limits. This means if you have a temporary
employee appointed 15 hours or less that you will monitor the work schedule to
adhere to this.
If the need arises for additional hours based on operating needs, I expect that
you will seek my advance approval for such hours and specify the time period for
any such additional hours. If you presently have such a situation, I expect that
no later than September 15, you will present your written request to Elaine for
approval for such hours and specify the operating needs that warrant such
exceptional action. Elaine will review these requests with me and follow up with
you as to the approved action.
I appreciate your support and assistance in addressing this operational challenge.
cc: Orange County Commissioners
Al �hk
Temporary Wages Use By Department
(Information Provided By Each Department Shown)
Attachment 4
0
The Department on Aging uses temporary staff support in each of its divisions as
described below:
Administration: Temporary funds for production manager of "in Praise Of Age" public
television program which airs four times per week. Carol Woods also contributes $2,500
annually to support this position.
Community Based Services: Temporary funds for senior center facility assistants who
staff the Chapel Hill Senior Center during the weekday evenings and cover for the Facility
Managers at all three centers when on leave. New funds were provided in FY 2005 -06 for
the facility assistant who was formerly paid for by the National Caucus for Black Aged
Senior Employment Program. That funding was discontinued dune 30, 2005. This person
provides lunch and back -up office coverage at the Northside Senior Center and makes the
daily telephone reassurance calls to 25 homebound older adults throughout Orange
County.
Eldercare: Temporary funds for social worker to direct the 'Friend -To- Friend' service that
currently matches volunteers with fifty -one at -risk older adults. The volunteers provide
non - personal care assistance that helps these individuals maintain their independent living
status more cost - effectively than using in -home aides.
RSVP: Temporary funds for data entry for grant reports and coordination of Reading
Partners Program, provided by the Corporation for National and Community Service. New
funds in FY 2005 -06 for a computer technician for the set -up service and repair of 38
personal computers used for the free Volunteer Income Tax Assistance service.
Orange Public Transportation (OPT): Temporary funds for drivers who supplement the
permanent driver staff in meeting the ebb and flow of service level demand at a lower cost
per -hour rate. New funds in FY 2005 -06 were increased to a level closer to the
expenditures of the past few fiscal years.
Animal Services
There is one full time temporary employee in the Animal Control Division and there are a
number of full and part time temporary employees in the Animal Shelter Division. While
performing a variety of clerical and administrative duties on a daily basis, the primary
responsibility of the temporary employee in the Animal Control Division is to enter rabies
vaccination data so that pet tax notices may be issued on a timely basis. In the case of the
County's Animal Shelter, the temporary employees are primarily used as Animal Care
Technicians whose work ensures satisfactory sheltering practices and enables the shelter
-2- &
to provide quality service to the public. Additional information about the temporary
employment in the Animal Services Department is provided below:
Animal Control Division
Ensuring that pet tax notices are issued in a timely manner, on the basis of the entry of
rabies vaccination information, is the primary responsibility of the temporary employee in
the Animal Control Division. As a result of this activity, the amount of revenue generated
via the pet tax notice has been substantially higher in the 2004 -05 and 2003 -04 fiscal
years than the preceding two fiscal years. The difference in gross annual revenue for
these two periods is somewhat more than $20,000.
In addition, the Animal Control temporary employee performs a number of other duties on
a daily basis to ensure the smooth delivery of office and field services. These include
answering the phone and taking citizen complaints; dispatching calls and otherwise
communicating with our Animal Control Officers; maintaining a log of animal bites; and
maintaining office files including files for animal bites and rabies cases.
It should be noted that this position was recently extended for a period of six months (from
July 1, 2005, through January 1, 2006) to ensure continuity of service and accounting.
The rationale for the extension was the need for additional administrative staff because of
"the current rabies upsurge in Orange County, the...transition to the newly created Animal
Services Department, the demand during warmer weather for vacation leave, and the
normal seasonal increase in newborn domestic animals...."
Given its apparent effect on the pet tax process as well as integration into overall service
delivery, Animal Services believes that this is a very important position, one that should be
evaluated in light of the basic business needs of the Animal Control Division.
Animal Shelter Division
Temporary employees enable the department to operate the Animal Shelter much more
effectively than otherwise would be possible given the mission of providing quality animal
care and public service. There are two full time temporary Animal Care Technicians and
two part time temporary Animal Care Technicians (each of whom ordinarily work a
minimum of twenty hours a week). In addition, the Animal Shelter budget for temporary
employees includes hours for drivers who transport animals for their pre - adoption
sterilization and also employees who provide after -hour emergency animal services in
Chapel Hill and Carrboro (the EARS program).
Animal Care Technicians are overwhelmingly our temporary staff at the County's Animal
Shelter. They are the staff who care for animals while ensuring that the shelter is properly
disinfected to control infectious disease and that receive animals and assist the public in
recovering and /or adopting animals. More, the work of these staff is what enables other
staff to provide the other functions that are essential to the overall operation of the
County's Animal Shelter.
-3- 0
More specifically, these temporary employees are directly or indirectly involved in the
following basic sheltering activities:
• More thorough cleaning which aids in disease prevention, and results in a more
attractive shelter that clients will want to visit and adopt from.
• Freeing Animal Health Technicians to perform medical treatments that better ensures
animal health as well as being more humane and cost effective.
• Allowing office staff to better track and match lost pets which results in these animals
being returned more quickly to their owners, thereby increasing the number of lost
animals recovered by County pet owners.
Ensuring quality control with regard to the management of the shelter animal population
and thereby reducing the risk that a mistake will be made in euthanasia or placement
processes.
The number of temporary Animal Care Technicians was increased by two employees for
the current fiscal year to insure a staffing level that was adequate for the operational needs
of the County's Animal Shelter. It is this level of staffing that has enabled us to improve
customer service —in both recovery and adoption of animals —and ensure the overall
quality of our animal care and sheltering practices.
It should be noted that the present staffing level of the County's Animal Shelter was
determined to address and resolve concerns in the areas of animal care and customer
service. As the above bullet -point summary indicates, such staffing allowed improvement:
in important administrative tasks (e,g., a regular animal inventory and daily cross checking
of lost reports and impound slips) and helped to ensure the kind of intake and examination
process that is fundamental to animal health and well being in a shelter setting.
It may be worth mentioning, in conclusion, that sheltering standards continue to evolve in
light of changing public sensibilities concerning our animal companions. One indication of
these changes is the new statutory requirement in North Carolina that public as well as
privately run animal shelters be regularly inspected and licensed through the Animal
Welfare Section of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. It is because
expectations in this area continue to change that it is critical that Animal Services
complement of staffing be sufficient to provide quality - sheltering services.
..-
Temporary wages have historically been used for Master's in Public Administration interns
who assist with special projects such as fee studies or analysis of service delivery
changes. The interns also assist in development of the County budget each year.
0
Child Support
Child Support Enforcement generally uses temporary wages for coverage when the
department has a large number of staff attending training.
Commissioners' Office
E
The Commissioners' office uses temporary staff to assist with administrative duties such
as upgrading /maintenance of permanent agenda files and regular files, updating minutes
books and working with the State Department of Archives and History with microfilming the
minutes; scanning past minutes and agenda files so as to be able to put them on the State
server as permanent records; and special projects that are assigned to the Clerk's office
by the Board of Commissioners. The temporary employee also is designated to fill in
when a permanent employee is out, whether it is for short or extended periods of time
(medical or otherwise), and for vacation and training sessions. This is necessary to
provide adequate coverage for the Commissioners' office (which provides continuity and
sustainability to this office). The employee also has acquired the skills to cover the office
management duties, such as paying bills, and the like.
The temporary employee usually is assigned to 15 -16 hours per week, unless otherwise
designated. She also assists with after hour meetings (whether it be set -ups for
meals /evening meetings or assisting with public hearings, such as school merger and
budget public hearings).
Also, in May 2004, the Commissioners voted to re- establish the Orange Book, an
information and referral guide of local human services agencies. This approval of Phase I
was to collect and update the data, prepare for printing, and then print and distribute the
paper document. The funding for this project and the temporary employee's salary while
working on this project this past year was budgeted to come from the Board's contingency
fund and the employee has been working extensively on this project during the past fiscal
year (while also covering for several months while another staff member was on leave this
past year), and this has continued into this fiscal year as well.
Cooperative Extension
Cooperative Extension only uses temporary help for the main office approximately four
days per year (when the secretaries attend district and state meetings..) The only other
temporary help that the department uses is during the summer when 4 -H hires summer
programming staff, They are hired for a period of five weeks but the money does not come
from the Orange County budget. 4 -H's accounts are "in and out" accounts. Monies are
received from Triangle United Way, registration fees, and the like and are used to support
these 4 -H functions /programs.
Economic Development Commission
The Economic Development Commission has used temporary wages in the past and
anticipates using them this year to support student interns who perform special project
-5- a l
research. For instance, last year Economic Development employed a graduate student
who looked at potential development in the County's Economic Development Districts and
produced maps of the areas, along with ownership data.
In previous years, Economic Development has employed interns to develop a database of
retail businesses in the county and to verify employment size of local businesses. The
budget provides about 200 hours of internship work,
Elections
Temporary wages are used to pay five to six precinct officials for each of the 43 precincts
for Election Day with two to three elections per year. In additional, Hands are used to pay
as precinct officials for the three one stop voting sites, Each site has three to five officials
who work for two weeks including Saturdays. On occasion, other temporary employees
may be hired to work in the Elections office to perform data entry and filing duties,
particularly if there is a large voter registration such as for a presidential election,
Emergency Management
To deliver a basic standard of service, Emergency Management's use of temporary
employees is to staff the ambulances to ensure that four transport vehicles are available to
handle the emergency transportation needs. In addition to the staffing of the ambulances,
these personnel are used to fill in for vacant positions for both transport and treatment, due
to resignations, sick and vacation leave. These personnel are also used to staff events
such as Hog day, Halloween, and other large crowd programs to ensure adequate
response to medical emergencies.
Due to the increase in the permanent employees in the transport division an increase in
the temporary employee budget was made in 2005 -06 to accommodate the additional
leave time that will be generated by more employees. It is more effective both in terms of
cost and impacts on staff to use temporary employment rather than to require additional
overtime hours by permanent staff.
Environment and Resource Conservation
Environment and Resource Conservation regularly uses a graduate school student to help
with a variety of tasks, often at a high level of research and report- writing, that staff do not
have time to do. For example, the last two interns have written sections of the State of the
Environment report and performed much data collection toward that end, among other
duties. The graduate intern is an important part of helping get major tasks done and
without question some things would not get accomplished and /or other projects would be
affected by the re- tasking of existing staff if the intern was not available,
Finance
The Finance Department currently uses a retired County employee to perform various
clerical /office assistance type duties, The Finance Department has operated without a
In
permanent administrative assistant for a number of years. Due to substantial increases in
workload, the administrative assistant position was reclassified to accounting technician
and temporary assistance has been used to supplant these duties. In addition, funds
budgeted for 2005 -2006 provide for up to $3,000 in outside assistance on accounting
related to the single audit of grants issuance of bonds and alternative financing.
Health
The Health Department uses temporary staff in its divisions as outlined below:
Personal Health Services: Temporary staff provide back -up for laboratory services in both
sites. The Health Department has a Laboratory Technician at each clinical site full -time.
Laboratory services cannot be performed without a Laboratory Technician. If the
permanent employee is on vacation, ill, or attending required classes to maintain
certifications, without a temporary person laboratory services would need to be suspended
for that absence in that clinical site. Patients would not be able to receive those needed
services and would need to return another time for laboratory services. This is a
consequence of providing services five days a week at each of the two clinical locations.
These are revenue producing services.
Temporary staff provide back -up for clinician services in both sites. The Health
Department has three Family Nurse Practitioners; one at SHSC and two at the clinical site
in Hillsborough. Temporary wages provide a temporary nurse practitioner to cover
vacations, illnesses, and continuing education absences for all three clinical providers.
Without this coverage, patient visits would be significantly reduced. It is particularly
important to provide this coverage with the advent of primary care. These also are revenue
producing services.
Temporary staff also provide nursing coverage for flu clinics. Each year during flu season..
the Health Department has hired temporary nurses to provide flu shots to high risk
individuals through special community clinics. These nurse(s) make it possible for shots to
be provided at locations such as senior centers and rest homes. This allows the
Department to continue to provide other services without diverting nursing staff to these
.,special' events. This is a revenue producing service.
Environmental Health Services: Temporary staff is used to provide an Environmental
Health Technician for water sampling. Using a temporary employee whose only job is to
take water samples and prepare them for shipment to the laboratory for analysis, enables
the Environmental Health Specialists working in the on -site wastewater program to be
more efficient in their provision of soil and site analysis for residents desiring improvement
or construction permits. In the past two years there has been an increasing request for
water samples, especially in light of the concern regarding arsenic in the groundwater. This
is a revenue producing service.
Central Administrative Services: Temporary wages provide a Medical Records Assistant
to back -up for medical records, registration, and billing. This provides for coverage of the
permanent employees responsible for medical records, patient appointments, patient
as
C
billing, and patient registration. Three employees staff each clinical location. With the
increased numbers of patients coming to each site, it is difficult to cover more than one
absence at a time. This provides for coverage of long -term illnesses, vacations, and
required training in medical records, HIPAA compliance, and other matters. Two of the
permanent employees are newly hired and will require additional training in this first year of
employment.
Health Promotion and Education Services: Temporary wages provide back up for medical
nutrition therapy services. The permanent half -time registered dietician is on an extended
leave. The temporary wages provide back -up coverage for this vacancy so that services to
pregnant women and children in the clinical setting do not need to be curtailed. The
department contracts with Early Head Start for nutrition services. This is a revenue
generating position.
Housing
Housing uses temporary staff to cover for vacant permanent positions as necessary and
also in times of short-term workload increases, such as during the reopening of the Section
8 waiting list.
Human Rights and Relations
The department uses temporary employees to provide staff coverage on those occasions
when permanent full -time staff members are absent and /or to assist in special projects
undertaken by the department.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provides mandatory, weeklong
training sessions that staff members attend. During these mandatory training sessions,
temporary staff is hired to ensure that the Department is staffed. In addition, these funds
are for temporary staff who would provide data analysis of residents' input gathered from
special projects undertaken by the department.
Information Technology
Orange County Information Technologies has one temporary full -time employee. This
employee serves the organization in several key areas. Their primary responsibility is to
staff the help desk telephone, triage user issues, enter the issues in a trouble ticket
database and resolve the issue, if it is within their technical skill set. This frees up the
permanent staff members to address calls in the field and to concentrate on more complex
user needs, ultimately enabling a quicker response to user issues.
Secondarily, this position performs routine project work, such as migrating data from one
source to another. This work is repetitive and typically performed during slower periods of
user contact. By performing project work, the permanent technicians can concentrate on
project planning, systems analysis and detailed technical work.
M
Land Records
Land Records temporary wages are used to provide support for the permanent employee
who serves as addressing specialist, during the initial addressing transfer of responsibility
form Emergency Management to Land Records,
Library
1
The Library generally uses all temporary employees to work the circulation desk, including
assisting with reference and librarian duties except for library pages, who shelve books
and a courier who makes nuns to the Cedar Grove and Cybrary branches. For 2005 -06,
the Library received an increase in the temporary wages for Cedar Grove to help staff the
Cedar Grove library in addition to the .75 FTE Librarian that is assigned to this branch,
which is open to the public for 35 hours per week.
Personnel
Temporary staff are used during peak workload periods such as open enrollment to help
with a variety of support duties, (employee follow up, benefit change processing, follow up
with benefit providers and so forth). Personnel also uses temporary staff to provide back
up coverage for absence of a permanent employee or during periods a position is vacant.
Planning
Temporary employment in the Planning and Inspections Department has been primarily in
two areas. One area involves college interns for planning research and task force studies.
The other area includes administrative and clerical work to assist in peak record and map
retention and building applications.
Interns typically work 15 hours a week and are very productive because their responsibility
is a profit -based work product. They're able to focus on specific research and
bibliographic sources with minimal diversion for customer service.
Temporary help for the Building Division is typically a 2 -3 week period once a year to
assist the clerical staff in permit and plan organization, record retention and destruction in
accordance with State law.
Without the ability to hire interns for planning research, there is less opportunity for
Planning Staff to provide statistical analysis of many requests from various advisory
boards and elected bodies.
In the Building Division, the normal workload involved in customer service both on the
phone and at the front desk cannot easily be diverted to the concentrated record retention
process. Therefore, customer service can be impacted.
0
as
Public Works
The Public Works department uses temporary staff in its divisions as outlined below:
Buildings And Grounds Division: The Buildings and Grounds Division includes the
custodial service team and administrative staff.
Administration - The administrative team has historically used temporary labor for two main
purposes:
To provide coverage for essential services during times when a position is vacant or
during extended periods of illness by permanent staff.
To supplement permanent staff resources to assist in data entry and management
functions, including entry of work order information for the computerized maintenance
management systems used by the Buildings and Grounds and Motor Pool divisions,
entry of detailed information from utility bills, and the like. None of the Public Works'
divisions have dedicated administrative staff.
The administrative team currently uses one temporary employee for data entry and
management..
Buildings and Grounds: The Buildings and Grounds team has historically used temporary
labor for two main purposes:
To provide coverage for essential services during times when a position is vacant or
during extended periods of illness by permanent staff.
To supplement permanent staff resources for specific project work such as larger
painting projects, small renovations projects, and during and following periods of
inclement weather, (wind storms, ice and snow storms).
The Buildings and Grounds team currently has one temporary employee, whose
appointment ends in September. This employee has provided coverage for a grounds
care /landscaping position that was initially vacant due to the extended leave of the
incumbent employee, then later during the recruitment process for that position. A
permanent employee recently filled the position. Buildings and Grounds will be examining
the use of temporary staff to assist in the completion of critical painting and
weatherproofing projects during the current fiscal year.
Custodial
The Custodial Service team has historically used temporary labor for two main purposes:
To provide coverage for essential services during times when a position is vacant or
during extended periods of illness by permanent staff,
I on
To supplement permanent staff resources for specific periodic cleaning projects such
as floor care (carpet cleaning and refinishing of vinyl floors), cleaning of HVAC system
grilles and diffusers, window cleaning, and the like.
The Custodial team currently uses two temporary employees to provide daily service
coverage for two vacant positions. Recruitment is nearing completion to fill these
vacancies, after which it is anticipated that one temporary employee will be used to assist
in floor care and other non -daily cleaning assignments.
Motor Pool: The Motor Pool division has historically used temporary labor to provide
coverage during absences by permanent staff due to illness or position vacancies.
Currently the Motor Pool division employs no temporary staff.
Sanitation: The six Solid Waste Convenience Centers are open 58 hours weekly. In
addition, four of the highest volume centers require double staffing on weekends.
Therefore, 108 regular hours and 56 weekend hours of double staffing is needed to
prevent full time permanent employees from working over 40 hours a week. Also, these
temporary employees are relied on during periods of vacation and medical leave by full
time permanent employees as well as when the centers are opened on a holiday, i.e.
Christmas Eve, Martin Luther King Day, Good Friday (closed Easter Sunday) and the day
after Thanksgiving. The hours of the temporary employees will decrease with the hiring of
the vacant Solid Waste Center Operator position.
Purchasing and Central Services
Temporary wages are used in Central Services to provide back up courier services when
the courier expects to be out for a week or more.
Recreation and Parks
In the Recreation and Parks Department, approximately 58 employees are employed as
temporary staff to run programs, open and close reserved facilities, provide coverage so
that a facility can remain open to the public, assist with special events and park operations.
Many of these employees are hired on a seasonal basis, In these cases, the individual
works for the program or season, up to 40 hours per week, then is released at the end of
the program or season. This is the case for 18 summer camp employees who provide the
necessary 12/1 camper /counselor ratio, staff supervision and bus drivers. During the 2005
Summer Camp the department averaged 111 registered campers each week. It is also the
case for three parks operations assistants to manage the heavy summer mowing and
visitor season. These individuals are responsible for mowing, trimming, trash pick -up,
lining, grooming, weeding, watering, trail work, repair, and other maintenance as needed
and under supervision of full time staff,
The majority of Recreation and Parks temporary employees are employed year'round.
Each of these individuals may work up to 15 hours per week on average. Below are
examples of the duties and functions of our 30 plus employees in this category.
-11- a7
Special Event Staff: Along with permanent staff, provide set up of tents, tables and
chairs, booths, assist with parking, games, stage set up, trash pick up, clean up, and
the like.
• After - School Program: Supervision of children, lead in activities, and the like.
Evening Facility Staff: Temporary staff provide building access and security for Efland-
Cheeks Community Center, and Central Recreation Center seven day per week,
generally 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm. Programs are monitored, money receipted in some
cases, staff receives registrations, enforces County and Department policy, and
maintains a clean and safe environment.
• Open Recreation Program Staff: For Teen and Adult drop in basketball at Central Rec.
Center, staff is provided in the gym to monitor these activities.
• Program Staff: Temporary staff who actually teach programs such as senior aerobics,
senior crafts, special populations soccer, and the like.
• Athletics Program Staff: Generally, those skilled in a particular activity or sport monitor
and assist volunteers who coach youth sports teams, coordinate programs on
weekends and evenings, keep score, teach athletics skills and strategies, and the like.
• Club Nova supplemental cleaning: In the Central Recreation facility, there are two
shifts of heavy facility use and only one shift of cleaning provided by Public Works. In
the past, the department has employed the services of Club Nova clients who clean the
lobby, stairs and hallways and is working with Club Nova to continue this arrangement.
The department also has used Club Nova clients at Homestead Center where no
regular custodial activity is otherwise scheduled.
• Facility Rental Assistants: These are generally the same individuals employed as
Evening Facility Staff. They are responsible for opening and closing a facility when it is
rented, They also assist with setting up and breaking down the facility for the meeting
or activity scheduled.
Year'round Parks Operations Assistants: Staff required to open and close gates, and
maintain a safe and clean environment at parks.
Register of Deeds
The Register of Deeds office uses temporary staff for a range of functions to supplement
permanent staff including serving the public, receiving documents for filing, reproducing
plats, providing certified copies of permanent records, back scanning old birth records,
auditing /editing indexed records for 2003 -04 and processing deeds of trust cancellations.
-12-
Revenue
The Revenue Department began a project approximately five years ago in which the
department has removed the majority of records required to hold onto a scanning
operation. This has allowed for the removal of approximately 15 filing cabinets from the
area, freeing up desperately needed space. In addition, the scanned documents are a
much easier and timely access for staff. This in turn allows for stronger customer service
as staff can locate documents while on the telephone with an individual without requiring
any hold time.
However, establishing this scanning system is not without its cost. Scanning the number
of documents the department is required to keep by law and those documents that are
pertinent to being able to "see the whole story" is a time consuming process. The
temporary funds which are included in the Revenue Budget allows for the hiring of an
individual at living wage to work approximately 20 hours per week, no more than six
months out of the year to allow the department to keep this scanning operation current.
During the months of January through June the Revenue Department staff are better
allocated to collecting those funds in arrears to Orange County (accounting for
approximately 3.6 million dollars in 2004 -05). The reason for increase in temporary wages
was to cover the increase in living wage.
Sheriff's Department
In the Sheriffs department the continued use of temporary employees is most important in
that these positions have allowed the department to meet the demands being placed on it
daily without having to ask for full -time positions. This has been evident for in the past four
years the Sheriffs department has not requested any deputy positions.
Temporaries have allowed the Sheriffs department to serve the citizens while meeting the
increasing demands by allowing the County to save in salary and benefit costs for full -time
positions.
The continued use of temporary employees is a vital and most important issue with the
Sheriffs department. In the present situation, temporaries satisfy a dual role in acting as
courtroom security and prisoner transport personnel, both of which are a daily occurrence.
All persons in these positions are retired sworn and certified law enforcement officers from
Orange County or other agencies at the state and local level. All of these persons have
benefit packages, health and retirement either with Orange County or other agencies.
In light of recent tragedies that have occurred in various courtrooms, our judges are daily
requesting and demanding increased law enforcement presence in every court in Orange
County.
The temporaries serve a critical need allowing other officers to be assigned duties of
responding to calls for service, protecting and patrolling the county as a whole. One of the
huge benefits these people provide is their availability whenever the need arises. Availing
SBa
09
this resource the Sheriffs department is able to achieve compulsory tasks without reducing
the department's strength in tasks the temporaries can fulfill so adequately and proper.
Likewise the responsibility to transport federal inmates for the U.S, Marshall's Service, on
an hour's notice, is handled by these personnel, As many as 10 to 15 prisoners are
transported daily to medical appointments, dentist office, or other holding facilities around
the state on a daily basis.
The Sheriffs department uses nine experienced, certified, trained law enforcement officers
at an outlay that is less than half of what full -time members would cost. These people
provide coverage and back up to fulltime deputies in performing duties that are not
optional, but time consuming and required by law.
Two civilian temporaries operate the Information Desk in the Sheriffs Office. One civilian
assists in civil district court one day every two weeks. These people have gained the
required experience before their retirement; they are knowledgeable of the County and
department procedures. Serving as an example of drawing on a cost- effective measure at
temporary rate vs, placement of a fulltime sworn Deputy to sit at the front desk eight hours
a day or assist in civil court,
Social Services
Social Services funds for temporary staff were reduced significantly in the 2005 -06 budget
submitted by Social Services, The funds currently available in Child and Family Services
are mostly for the part time worker in adult services who is handling the additional number
of community alternatives cases. Since Social Services could not add a position, the
department has been trying to make do through temporary staff. Social Services receives
100 percent reimbursement for these costs.
The funds budgeted in Economic Services pay for the supervision of the income
maintenance caseworker staff at UNC Hospitals and these costs are reimbursed through
that contract. Most of the other funds are used for the seasonal staff who help with the
energy assistance program. At times Social Services also have used these staff to help
when the volume of work has caused backlogs at the department.
There are some funds in the Skills Development budget and the administrative budget for
unanticipated issues including coverage for critical receptionist positions, Social Services
cut those areas as much as possible as part of the original budget submission.
Solid Waste
The Solid Waste department uses temporary staff in each of its divisions as described
below:
-14-
Administration Division
In general, having a paid staff of trained assistants who the department can trust to give
the "right answers" to the public as part of outreach and who know trash and can be relied
on to show up and work (due to being paid a decent wage) is critical to the department's
ability to provide the intensive and extensive face to face outreach that makes programs
effective.
Specifically:
0
The department would not be able to effectively conduct public recycling at major street
fairs and festivals as the department relies heavily on the paid part time help to assist
the Recycling Specialist during those events. The task of picking through the recycling
to remove trash and garbage waste, and to sort the recyclables for the 10 hours of the
Festifall and Apple Chill and 13 hours of Hog Day would not attract reliable and
constant volunteers. The department has tried operating in the past solely with
volunteers with unacceptable results. This is especially true for Hog Day when it's
usually quite warm out.
The department would also be pressed to set up and staff every event just for
informational purposes. These events are full day events beginning at about 11 am and
ending past 7 pm for the Chapel Hill Festivals and about a 14 -hour day for Hog Day.
Temporary assistants also staff other smaller events such as the Carrboro Family 4th
and Carrboro Day.
The program begun last fiscal year of doing door -to -door intensive outreach and
education at apartment complexes that have serious contamination problems or are
under - performing would be severely diminished if not completely ended, if temporary
staff were not available. It is again difficult to rely solely on volunteers and ensure they
are properly trained in the art of 'door-to-door as well as the nuances of apartment
recycling and related issues, Also, some of the apartment complexes have large
numbers of Spanish speaking residents that require Spanish speaking temporary
employees. The department targets low performing complexes (last year the
department contacted people at over 2,600 apartment units), Generally there were
improvements in recycling quality following the outreach efforts that, based on
experience, would not have been so effective with only unpaid volunteers.
Temporary staff also are used for special outreach projects such as evaluating curbside
recycling activity in a targeted neighborhood and conducting bin set out surveys every
week for five weeks with follow -up mail surveys and phone surveys, as there is no time
for permanent staff to conduct these. These surveys are used to improve the
efficiency and effectiveness of Solid Waste programs and services.
Additionally, the department presently is using a temporary employee to assist staff and
the Solid Waste Advisory Board (SWAB) in its analysis and rewriting of Orange
County's Solid Waste Management Plan, due to be submitted to the State next June,
-15- 31
Absent this temporary employee it would be necessary to obtain a consulting firm at a
much greater expense.
Landfill Division
The primary reason for the temporary personnel is to provide back up staff coverage when
permanent staff are out of work. This would include all leave situations that the County
offers - vacation, sick (short and long term) - and staff vacancies. Occasionally temporary
employees are used when permanent employees are in training.
Solid Waste is required by the State of North Carolina to operate the landfill as defined in
the operating permit. This requires a trained staff to insure that the State requirements are
met and that the Landfill is operating in an environmentally sound and safe manner for the
employees and the citizens of the County. When a permanent employee is not working,
the employee is replaced with experienced temporary personnel who perform the required
duties. Typically, this temporary employee is a retiree of the Solid Waste Department and
already trained on equipment, safety, and operations practices and procedures,
Temporary personnel are also used to supplement permanent staff on major
construction /special projects that require a considerable amount of time to complete and
for which there is insufficient available time for the permanent staff to perform without
adversely impacting day -to -day operations. The landfill is highly regulated and subject to
closure, fines, or the like if operations deviate from approved operating permits, The
community could also suffer from unsanitary conditions, smells, rodents, and other issues
associated with not operating properly. Also, with a six -day a week operation and
permanent staffing for only five days it is imperative that temporary employees be used to
supplement permanent employees,
Temporary employees are also used periodically for mowing and trimming as well as litter
pickup and other miscellaneous jobs.
The combination of customer service obligations, environmental permit requirements, and
operational and safety necessities require a combination of overtime by regular employees
and the use of temporary employees.
Recycling Division:
The Recycling Division has 17 permanent positions, The division provides collection of
recycling from public drop -off sites, County Solid Waste Convenience Centers,
businesses, and multifamily along with single - family homes, Much of the recycling
collection is scheduled with significant customer service consequences for failure to collect
on the scheduled day.
Temporary employees are used for the following reasons:
• To assist permanent personnel during times of heavy workload..
5H
M
• To fill -in for permanent personnel who are out sick, injured, on planned vacations, or
out on other unexpected leaves of absence; and
• Perform other duties including: assisting curbside recycling collectors, assisting
commercial, and multifamily recycling collection, assisting government building
recycling collection, assist with processing of recycling materials at processing pad,
performing housekeeping and maintenance tasks, and assisting with special events
such as festivals, route expansions, cart and bin deliveries,
Temporary Personnel and Contract Labor fill essentially the same job functions for the
division, Orange County Temporary employees are preferred over Contract Labor
because the division can retain more qualified and capable individuals by paying a greater
wage, and Orange County Temporary employees are eligible to drive County vehicles,
Prior to the advent of Rural Curbside Recycling, the majority of temporary personnel and
contract labor was spent to cover for non -CDL (Commercial Driver's License) employees
out on leave and to pay for additional labor during high - volume times. Since the Rural
Curbside Program has come in- house, it is estimated that 35 percent of the Temporary
Personnel / Contract Labor has been spent to hire helpers for Curbside Route trucks.
Tax Assessor
Revaluation temporary funds are used to help maintain the integrity and accuracy of the
real estate and personal property tax base. This is accomplished by hiring temporary staff
to assist in field data gathering and valuation reviews between revaluations. These funds
also are used for staff to help in gathering data from abstracts which list personal property
and new construction and getting that information into the systems for taxation,
September 9, 2005
Attachment 5
2005 -06 Temporary Wages Budget 33
By Department /Division
General Fund
Department/Division
2005.06 Original
Budget
Aging - Administration
1,200
Aging - Community Based Services
19,298
Aging - Elder Care
13,176
Aging - Orange Public Transportation
82,139
Aging - Retired Senior Volunteer Program
13,065
Animal Services - Animal Shelter
81,634
Animal Services - Animal Control
21,600
Budget
14,560
Child Support
1,300
Commissioners' Office
12,000
Cooperative Extension
880
County Manager
Economic Development
2,500
Elections
98,000
Emergency Management - Administration
2,500
Emergency Management - Communications
20,000
Emergency Management - EMS
205,000
Emergency Management - Fire Marshall
14,000
Tempbudget9 /9/2005
Attachment 5
2005 -06 Temporary Wages Budget 3�F
By Department /Division
Environment & Resource Conservation
12,000
Finance
10,000
Health - Administration
5,200
Health - Dental
-
Health - Environmental Health
15,000
Health - Health Promotion & Education
5,000
Health - Personal Health
26,899
Health - Risk Management
-
Human Rights & Relations
8,000
Information Technology
29,120
Land Records
1,200
Libra - Carrboro
16,500
Libra - Carrboro Cybrary
10,000
Libra - Cedar Grove
16,800
Library - Central Library
19,000
Personnel
7,150
Planning - Current
28,000
Public Works - Building & Grounds
43,670
Public Works - Motor Pool
25,000
Public Works - Sanitation
82,000
Tempbudget9 /9/2005
Attachment 5
2005 -06 Temporary Wages Budget 35
By Department /Division
Purchasing - Central Services
500
Recreation & Parks
198,075
Register of Deeds
25,000
Revenue
4,400
Sheriff - Non -jail operations
90,000
Social Services - Administration
8,850
Social Services - Child/Family Services
14,421
Social Services - Economic Services
53,122
Social Services - Skill Development Center
2,772
Soil & Water
300
Tax Assessor
-
General Fund Grand Total
1,360,831
Non- General Fund
Department/Division
2005 -06 Original
Budget
Emergency Telephone Fund
6,000
Housing
10,000
Solid Waste - Landfill Administration
23,000
Solid Waste - Landfill Operations
30,000
Solid Waste - Recycling Operations
12,000
Tempbudget9 /9/2005
Attachment 5
2005 -06 Temporary Wages Budget 3�
By Department/Division
Tax Assessor - Revaluation Fund
20,000
Visitors Bureau
5,000
Non - General Fund Grand Total
106,000
Grand Total All Sources 1,466,831
Tempbudget9 /9/2005