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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES - 01071992 - 1.52 /rS2. ` TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS �£'s' Contra � . FROM: Phil Batchelor, County Administrator Costa Ot ., County DATE: January 7, 1992 �oTTA,cou- SUBJECT: APPROVE LETTER RECOMMENDING ALFRED P. LOMELI FOR THE 1992 VICTOR E. MARTINELLI AWARD AS THE OUTSTANDING COUNTY TREASURER INjTHE UNITED STATES SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION: Approve and authorize the members of the Board of Supervisors ''to sign a letter to the National Association of County Treasurers and Finance Officers recommending that Alfred P. Lomeli, County Treasurer-Tax Collector, be awarded the Victor E. Martinelli Award, recognizing distinguished service by �' a county treasurer or finance officer and declaring the winner to be the Outstanding County Treasurer in the United States . BACKGROUND: The County Administrator has brought to the attention of the Board that Mr. Lomeli is going to- be nominated for the Victor E. Martinelli Award, considered the top, national award available to a County Treasurer. To accompany the nomination it is appropriate to include several letters of recommendati'Ion from those individuals or groups with whom the nominee has worked closely..:: The County Administrator is submitting a letter of recommendation and is recommending that the Board of Supervisors also submit a letter. The letter which is attached describes some of the major accomplishments for which Mr. Lomeli and his staff have been honored in lthe past by the Board of Supervisors. Also attached for information is the letter which the County Administrator will be submitting. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE x APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON JAN 7 19T 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:I' AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. CC: County Administrator ATTESTED JAN 7 1992 Alfred P. Lomeli,` PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF Treasurer-Tax Collector SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BY DEPUTY M382 (10/88) The Board of Supervisors Contra Clerk of the and County Administration BuildingCOSta County Administrator 651 Pine St., Room 106 (415)646-2371 Martinez, California 94553 County Tom Powers,1st District Nancy C.Fanden,2nd District aE•"" _ -4s Robert I.Schroder,3rd District = Sunne Wright McPeak 4th District Tom Torlakson,5th District sTA couK� January 7, 1992 Bill Melton, Treasurer Dallas County & Chairman Victor E. Martinelli Award National Associat°ion of County Treasurers and Finance Officers 303 Records Building 509 Main Street Dallas, Texas 75202 Dear Mr. Melton: It is with the greatest pleasure that the. Contra Costa County, California Board of Supervisors recommends ' our County Treasurer-Tax Collector, Alfred P. Lomeli, for the Victor E. Martinelli Award as the Outstanding County Treasurer in the United States for�11992 . We had the privilege of recognizing Mr. Lomeli and his Department as the Outstanding County Department in 1989 because of the many achievements and'; innovations for which Mr. Lomeli has been responsible. These included having introduced Tax Anticipation Notes to the Coufnty in 1979 . As a result of the use of Tax Anticipation Notes, the County has netted over $26 million. Mr. Lomeli was also the first County Treasurer to issue taxable notes . This achievement was written up in Credit Markets on May 18, 1987 by noting that "The municipal market's sole experience with taxable Trans stems from a $10 million experimental issue that Contra Costa County, Calif. sold last February through BankAmerica. " Mr. Lomeli has also been the first County Treasurer to install a Voice Response (, Telephone System for the Tax Collector's Department. Thish'' allows a caller to have most questions answered without the needi4or intervention by a staff member. The system consists of recorded messages containing general information, tax payment due dates, parcel information and payment information. Between April 1, j1991 and December 31, 1991, the system received 118,713 calls and was able to handle 71,937 or 60.60% of them without any further staff intervention. This has resulted in time savings to the Department which it utilized in two ways: 1 . .Provided''' time to cross train the staff where every person can answer all calls, eliminating the transfer of the taxpayer from division to division. 2 . Allowed the Tax Collector to reduce his use of temporary staff. Mr. Lomeli has also pioneered a system which has further automated the property tax collection system. The system, called Automation of Annual Secured Roll Image Capture and Retrieval System, reads bar, coded information and creates an index for faster retrieval o`f. information. In addition, our County has done its own comparison with other counties in California in an effort to determine the productivity of our County in several areas . Mr. Lomeli 's Department distinguished itself by serving the most members of the public per employee of any counties we surveyed, collecting the most tax bills per employee', of any of the counties surveyed and collecting the most dollars per employee of any of the counties surveyed. In fact, in this ': latter comparison, not only was Mr. Lomeli Is Department first, ;',they were 30% higher than any other county we surveyed. This level of efficiency was achieved with fewer employees than the Department had ten years earlier! Mr. Lomeli is an ('outstanding example of an elected official in local government in California. He is frugal with the taxpayers money, constantly1concerned with serving the public and doing so ' in the most efficient manner possible, alert at all times to ways in which he can maximize the earnings on the County's investments and thereby ass;iist the entire County , General Fund, and consistently prov'' des the Board of Supervisors with his best professional advice on all matters involving the County' s debt load, investments,",E credit rating and property taxes . It is a pleasureIpto be able to enthusiastically and unanimously urge the National' Association of County Treasurers and Finance Officers to select Alfred P. Lomeli as your Victor E. Martinelli Award winner for 1992. ery tr yo s, 4yv)e TOM POWERS SUNNE WRIGHT MCPEAK CHAIRMAN VICE-CHAIR Supervisor, District I Supervisor, District IV NANCY C. F DEN Super istrict II I� TOM TORLAKSON Supervisor, District V OBERT I . SCHRODER Supervisor, District III County Administrator Contra Board of Supervisors Tom Powers County Administration Building Costa 1st District 651 Pine Street,11th Floor �/vV Nancy C.Fanden Martinez,California 94553 County 2nd District (415)646-4080 Robert I.Schroder Phil Batchelor L 3rd District County Administrator Sunne Wright McPeak 4th District i5 Tom Torlakson *' a 5th District January 7, 1992 Bill Melton, Treasurer Dallas County & Chairman Victor E. Martinelli Award National Association of County Treasurers and Fi"Hance Officers 303 Records Building 509 Main Street ' Dallas, Texas 75202 Dear Mr. Melton: I am pleased to ';join with the Contra Costa County, California Board of Supervisors in recommending our County Treasurer-Tax Collector, AlfredP. Lomeli, for the Victor E. Martinelli Award as the Outstanding County Treasurer in the United States for 1992 . One of the most important factors in maintaining the stability of the budget in any California county is the property tax delinquency rate. i` If a county is able to keep their delinquency rate below 3% for three consecutive years, they can reduce the reserves they ma ',ntain to cover property tax delinquencies from 4% of the value of all taxes and assessments on the secured roll to 3% . If a county falls below the 3% threshold by even a few dollars, they must again increase their Tax Losses Reserve Fund to 4% of the value of all taxes and assessments on the secured roll and maintain it at the higher level for three consecutive years before they can again consider reducing the amount in the Reserve Fund. Due to Mr. Lomeli's aggressive and successful efforts to collect taxes that are in danger of becoming delinquent, this County's property tax delinquency rate has been below the 3% threshold for seven consecutive years. . Some counties in California report that their delinquency) rate is 10% or more! The value of maintaining delinquencies bellow the 3% threshold is worth $18 million to this County's General Fund. The investment earnings generated by Mr. Lomeli during the 1989-90 fiscal year exceeded the amount which we had budgeted primarily because 'of Mr. Lomeli ' s ability and willingness to take advantage of a temporary aberration in rates which occurred during the second ° quarter of 1990 . As a result, Mr. Lomeli was able to restructure the maturity schedule and add at least $1 .5 million to yearly investment earnings. While most counties in California are experiencing difficult financial times, our experience would have been far worse were it not for the innovation and leadership shown by Al Lomeli over the past several years. Mr. Lomeli, our Auditor-Controller and I journey to New York each spring to meet with our rating agencies before we issue our borrowing program for the fiscal year. Due in large part to ` Mr. Lomeli 's conservative approach to fiscal management and the success of his investment strategies, our TRANS ratings have been maintained at a very high level for each of the past several years . Mr. Lomeli is truly a "team player", an essential element of sound management "'when I, who report to the elected Board of Supervisors, must also work closely with the independently elected Treasurer Tax Collector. Our working relationship is close and cordial . I respect Mr. Lomeli 's knowledge of and background in government investments . It is truly an honor for me to be able to sincerely and honestly urge the National Association of County Treasurers and Finance Officers to select Alfred P. Lomeli !as your Victor E. Martinelli Award winner for 1992 . Very truly yours, :; Phil Batchelor County Administrator