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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES - 08171993 - 2.2 a. z TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra �. FROM: Costa Phil Batchelor, County Administrator o; ,z a County DATE: August 17, 1993 CpfT� COINS c* SUBJECT: PROPOSED PRODUCTIVITY INVESTMENT FUND PROJECTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 1993-94 SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. Authorize the County Administrator to approve the expenditure of$396,368 for the five projects listed below, contingent upon the identification of monies to be made available to the Fund through loan payments and other funds. 2. Approve the Probation Department's Electronic Adult Probation Reports pilot project on the condition that an implementation plan be developed and endorsed by the affected agencies and approved by the County Administrator. BACKGROUND: The Productivity Investment Fund (PIF) is a revolving loan program designed to improved the efficiency and effectiveness of departments. Departments may apply for funding of one-time investments which will have hard dollar savings or generate revenue for on-going operations. The program was established in 1986. Funding is recommended for five proposals. A description of these projects is summarized below. 1. Sheriffs Department - "Homeless Feeding Program" $14,080 The purpose of the Sheriff's homeless proposal is to reduce the cost of delivering meals to the County operated homeless shelters in Concord and Richmond. This CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: 2n_ / RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON 7 9 y -3 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED _ OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. p CC: ATTESTED County Administrator PHIL BATCHELOR,OERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BY DEPUTY M382 (10/88) %Ir Page 2 approach will be accomplished by purchasing a delivery vehicle rather than pay the $42.00 per day"rental" cost on the current delivery vehicle. Expenses for the rental vehicle is currently $15,330 annually. The cost to deliver prepared foods to the homeless shelters will be totally eliminated. The department expect to repay the loan within 24 months. 2. CAO - Clerk of The Board - "Sale of Taped Recordings of Board meetings" $2,500 The purpose of the Clerk of the Board's proposal is twofold: 1) accommodate requests of the public, Board members and County staff for copies of taped recording of all of specific segments of the meetings of the Board of Supervisors; and 2) increase revenues in the Office of the Clerk of the Board through the sale of taped recordings of Board meetings. To accomplish these objectives, the Clerk will purchase a tape reformatted to allow the Clerk to, reformat the current 4-track tapes of Board meetings to standard tapes for play- back on standard tape players. Currently, the Clerk sells an average of 6 tapes per month at $12.00 each. New tapes will be reformatted and sold at $28.00 per tape. The $2,500 borrowed from the program will be paid back over the next two years. 3. Probation Department - "Electronic Adult Probation Reports" $89,000 The purpose and objective of this proposal is to increase efficiency in providing the Superior Court and other justice agencies with probation reports in the fastest possible turnaround time from referral to the date due for review prior to court hearings as part of the Superior Court's fast track system. The approach for accomplishing these objectives is to eliminate dictation, typing and hand delivery of hard copy probation reports, handled mostly by temporary help, by purchasing of computer equipment and programming costs. Deputy Probation Officers will prepare reports on computers. Supervisors will review reports on computer screen , authorize transmittal to the Court, District Attorney and Public Defender Offices. Reports at the receiving end will be either reviewed on screen and/or printed out for use in the judicial process. This will be a pilot program involving five deputies and their supervisor. If this pilot program is successful, the process will be extended to the rest of the adult investigation deputies at a later time. The department expects to payback the fund within 24 months. 4. County Administrator and Auditor Controller - Budget System Replacement $230,000 This project would replace the current outmoded and labor intensive County budget system, which runs on a mainframe computer costing $145,000 a year to operate. The new system would run on a mini computer or RISC processor costing $30,000 a year to operate and have the capability of providing dial-in access for each department. The software is distinguished from the current system in that it is state of the art and user friendly, allows for "what if' manipulations and easy downloads to existing personal computer spreadsheets and data bases, provides for computer tracking of all appropriation and personnel adjustments and includes a salary projection component. It will save time for the staff in the Administrator's office and Auditor's Department, as well as budget staff in each County Department. Finally, it should provide substantial assistance for labor negotiation activities. r. Page 3 Over the last three years, the County has been planning for the replacement of the current budget system. Last year, an 8 member committee identified problems with the current system and established system requirements for a new system. In December, 1992, a request for proposal was let and six firms submitted bids. In April, the Committee selected budgeting Technology, Inc., as the replacement system best suited for the County. Payback will be made within two years. 5. Library - "The Substitute Finder System", "Fax Network System" and "Self Check Out System" $60,788 The purpose of the "Substitute Finder System" proposal it threefold: 1) to reduce the cost of scheduling substitute library personnel to work in branch libraries and to improve the efficiency of the substitution scheduling and recordkeeping processes. The approach for accomplishing these objectives is to install a fully automated library substitute tracking job reservation and fulfillment system that; 1) integrates PC voice board technology to allow automatic reporting and filling of substitute library requirements; 2) reduces the number of clerical hours necessary to schedule substitutes and record statistics from twenty hours per week to ten or less hours per week; 3) automates substitute and employee personnel files (name, phone number, availability file), telephone calling procedure, and recordkeeping. The system allows for immediate updating of personnel files on-line and increases the number of productive work hours by calling substitutes before and after normal office staff hours regardless of absences of clerical staff. One half-time library Clerk II position will be eliminated and time needed to operate the system will be absorbed by remaining clerical employees. The purpose of the "Self Check Out System" is to reduce the cost of checking out library materials in the Central Library. The approach for accomplishing this objective is to install a 3M self check system security system that is tied into the Library's automated circulation system thus integrating a library security system with a patron self check out station. The system reduces the number of clerical hours necessary to check out books by twenty hours per week. It will require a redesign of the Central Library entry and book return area to accommodate the self check machine and require a reorganization of staff workflow to achieve operational efficiencies. It also should reduce the number of stolen books and materials. The purpose of the "Fax Network System" is to improve Library reference service and increase public access to a centrally located core collecting of reference and periodical materials while reducing expenditures of duplicate Library materials located in each branch library. The approach for accomplishing these objective is to complete a fax network by installing 17 telefacsimile machines (one high speed, increased program capability fax in the Central Library and sixteen plain paper machines in library branches and outlets) to the existing network of four fax machines. This network will enable pages from reference books and magazines to be transmitted from one central location and printed out for patrons at requesting locations and reduce the number of technical services clerical hours i necessary to order and process new reference materials by approximately 3-5 hours/week. The Library expects to payback the Productivity Investment Fund within 24 months. i i i