Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 01062009 - C.60 .s..__ -. TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra'.• FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE o iS Costa y�. 40 DATE: DECEMBER 8 _coaK 2008 °o - County srA '� � SUBJECT: RECAP OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR'S 2008 MANAGEMENT OVERSIGHT ACTIVITIES AND 2009 AUDIT PLAN SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATIONS)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. ACCEPT report on the management oversight activities of the County Administrator's Office during 2008. 1 CONCUR that management audit resources must be targeted as needed to address perceived or alleged problems in the operational practices or management of a department or program. 3, APPROVE the program of management audits and policy reviews proposed by the County Administrator for 2009. BACKGROUND: On June 27, 2000, the Board of Supervisors directed that each December,the County Administrator and Auditor-Controller report to the Internal Operations Committee on the proposed schedule of internal financial and management audits for the following year, including those studies requested by the Board of Supervisors. What follows is a discussion of the tools available to provide oversight and control of departmental activities,how those tools were employed by the County Administrator's Office(CAO)in 2008, and the plan for management oversight for 2009. Our Committee met with CAO staff on December 8 and concurs with the report and proposed plan of activities for 2009. , CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: --PFzCOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR _ ECOMMEND TI N OF BOARD COMMITTEE PPROVE _OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD O APPROVE AS RECOMMENDED _ OT R VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN X UNANIMOUS(ABSENT_.ej2.�9QV,' ) AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE AYES: NOES: SHOWN. ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ATTESTED: JANUARY6,2009 CONTACT: JULIE ENEA(925)335-1077 DAVID J.TWA,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR CC: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE STAFF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BDEPUTY YY County Administrator's 2008 Management Oversight Activities and 2009 Plan December 8,2008 Internal Operations Committee Page 2 Management Tools. The CAO has a number of management tools and processes at its disposal to provide guidance on and control of the many diverse departmental activities that make up County services. These tools include policies and procedures as documented in County Administrative Bulletins, quarterly budget monitoring and forecasting, financial audits,ongoing program and strategic planning, daily problem solving, and the management audit. Judicious use of these tools can ensure appropriate levels of oversight and support to departmental operations, at the same time maintaining departmental focus on providing services. The Management Audit is designed to address perceived or alleged problems in the operational practice or management of a unit/division/department. As such, management audits are targeted as needed and not conducted on a routine or predetermined time schedule. A management audit may be initiated by a Board of Supervisors member,the County Administrator, or a Department Head. The proposal should include a clear statement on the perceived or alleged problem and the facts or circumstances surrounding the issue. Management Audit proposals initiated by Board members are normally referred to the Internal Operations Committee for its review and recommendation to the Board of Supervisors. Management Audit proposals from a department head or County Administrator are customarily initiated after consultation between the County Administrator and the Chair of the Board of Supervisors. Evaluation of management audit proposals generally consider such factors as the appropriateness of the management audit tool in addressing the particular issue;the severity and/or urgency of the issue; and the workload of the CAO and relative priority of the proposed audit, as compared to other activities. Unless otherwise specified by the Board of Supervisors,the scope and method of conduct of any management audit is defined by the County Administrator,recognizing that the scope may require adjustment during the course of the audit. The County Administrator will designate a management audit team to conduct the audit, consisting of members of his office and, as appropriate,representatives of departments and/or outside experts in the subject matter of the audit. The Management Audit Team presents its initial findings and recommendations to the County Administrator, who is responsible for appropriate follow-up. 2008 MANAGEMENT OVERSIGHT ACTIVITIES Due to the impact of the economic downturn on the County property and sales tax revenue and the trickle-down impact of the downturn on federal and state revenues,the County Administrator has,by necessity, spent a significant amount of staff resources on the development and monitoring of the 2008/09 County budget, including multiple rounds of cutbacks, employee layoffs, and reductions and changes to service programs,plus efforts to develop new revenue streams to salvage County services. In addition to the perpetual budget effort,the following management oversight activities were conducted by the CAO in 2008: Fiscal Health ■ OPEB (Other Post-Employment Benefits)—While the County has paid for healthcare costs on a Pay- As-You-Go("Pay-Go")basis for over 40 years,the Board has publicly acknowledged the need to begin to partially pre-fund the benefit. Contra Costa County began partial prefunding of its OPEB obligation County Administrator's 2008 Management Oversight Activities and 2009 Plan December 8,2008 Internal Operations Committee Page 3 in FY 2008/09 in the amount of$20 million. These trust fund transfers required program reductions throughout the County. Contra Costa's biennially required valuation presented at the end of the 2007/08 fiscal year reduced the County's 2006 total liability from$2.6 billion to $1.7 billion. County Administration has begun negotiating significant changes to the County's current benefit subsidy. • The Debt Management Policy. The policy establishes a Debt Affordability Committee (DAC)to establish the viability of any proposed debt-financing, monitor and evaluate the County's performance against various debt ratio benchmarks,and annually prepare a comprehensive debt capacity report for the Board of Supervisors Finance Committee. The DAC monitors specific statistical measures and compares them to those of other counties, rating agency standards, and the county's historical ratios. The first annual DAC report was completed in January 2008. The report shows that even with relatively weak performance,the County has maintained the same double-A credit ratings than stronger performing counties maintain. Nevertheless,the Committee recommended that the county work toward improving its comparative credit performance so that the gap between the county and its cohort counties is reduced. The CAO continues to oversee the DAC. ■ Reserves Policy. The Board adopted a General Fund Reserves Policy in January of 2006. The Reserves Policy requires the county to maintain a General Fund balance equal to a minimum of 10% of General Fund revenues and an unreserved balance equal to a minimum of 5%of General Fund revenues. Reserves exceeding the minimum are applied only to one-time uses, such as additional reserves or capital projects up to an amount equal to 1%of General Fund revenues. The reserves only can be used in emergencies and if accompanied by a Board approved plan to restore reserves to the target levels. The county's audited financial report for Fiscal Year 2007/08 confirms compliance with the Reserves Policy, as the total General Fund balance was 11.3%of General Fund revenues and the unreserved portion was 9.4%. • Total Compensation—The County Administrator recently disclosed and published on the County's web site the"total compensation" and retiree health costs of each position classification and for each employee for the 2007 calendar year. The Board directed the County Administrator to include calculations of total compensation in all future labor negotiations. • Benefit Design Task Force—The County Administrator established the Benefit Design Task Force to aid in the review of current health care benefits packages and make recommendations on new packages that will maximize benefit options with subsidy amounts. The group is composed of unrepresented employees and retiree groups as well as benefit-design, actuary, and tax consultants. The group will continue to work on recommendations through the Summer of 2009 with the goal of having new benefits packages available by January 1, 2010. ■ Workers'Compensation. The Board established a Workers' Compensation Internal Services Fund funding policy in September 2007. The objective of the Policy is to establish a targeted minimum confidence level of 80%. The objective was met and exceeded during fiscal year 2007/08. The frequency in the filing of workers' compensation claims decreased 11%in 2007/08,representing a 31.3% decrease since FY 2002/03. The County attributes the reduction in claim frequency to the training efforts of the Loss Control Unit and County safety coordinators. County Administrator's 2008 Management Oversight Activities and 2009 Plan December 8,2008 Internal Operations Committee Page 4 Program Initiatives: Service Delivery/Efficiency ■ Hospital Governance—The Board of Supervisors directed the Health Services Department and the CAO to undertake a review of the types of governance used by other public hospitals. The Health . Services Department retained an expert in the field who presented a report to the Board outlining a "typical"public hospital, why hospitals may want to restructure, and the advantages some hospitals have due to their public status. The reports outlined two governance models in use: one in California and one in Minnesota, the objectives of the restructuring, and the results. The report also included examples of other taxing districts used by other public hospitals. The fact that there are a variety of other governance models available but not outlined in the report presented was emphasized. The Board of Supervisors directed the further study and analysis be undertaken and that a follow-up report be made to the Board in 2009. ■ Implemented and completed the transfer of the Conservatorship Intake program from EHSD to HSD—The.County's conservatorship efforts were divided between the Employment and Human Services Department(EHSD), which performed the intake functions,and the Health Services Department(HSD),which performed the functions of the public guardian. In February 2008,the Board of Supervisors approved the transfer of the LPS Conservatorship Intake functions from EHSD to the HSD Conservatorship Program. Over the following eight months, the CAO worked closely with EHSD and HSD to ensure a smooth transition of the programs and make the appropriate budgetary adjustments. ■ Returned Multi-Services Senior Program to the State and assisted in establishing the program with a community organization—In July 2008 the Board of Supervisors approved returning the Multi- Services Senior Program in the EHSD to the State of California as part of the fiscal year 2008/09 budget. This program provided case management services for 200 Medi-Cal recipients aged 65 and over,to prevent unnecessary nursing home placement. The State of California has contracted with a community-based organization located in Contra Costa County to assume the responsibilities for this program. Transportation of case files took place in November. Total program transfer was completed on November 30, 2008. ■ Enhanced Court Collections—The County Administrator negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding with the Superior Court to implement enhanced court collections, an array of 17 sophisticated collection techniques, to maximize court collections for the benefit of all recipient public agencies,including the County. The program will allow the Court to deduct collection costs for delinquent court accounts and will allow the County to avoid collection charges from the Court. ■ Public Protection Committee—On January 8,2008,the County Administrator established the Public Protection Committee pursuant to Board Order to consider referrals of issues related to public safety in the County. The committee has reviewed several referrals in 2008 including an evaluation of response to the Cosco Busan Oil Spill by the Sheriffs Office of Emergency Services,the establishment of an In-Custody Drug Treatment Program in partnership with the State, and impacts of the housing foreclosure crisis on public safety in certain areas of the County. In addition,the committee has accepted reports from departments for on-going programs including an annual report on Disproportionate Minority Contact from the Probation Department and an annual report on the County Administrator's 2008 Management Oversight Activities and 2009 Plan December 8,2008 Internal Operations Committee Page 5 Welfare Fraud Program by the Employment and Human Services Department and the District Attorney. ■ Delta Vision—Environmental degradation, aging levies,and the challenges of managing limited water resources continue to drive the statewide debate over the future of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The CAO will continue to facilitate collaboration among County departments to advance the County's interests in relation to the Delta and foster partnerships with cities, special districts, and neighboring counties to advocate for regional needs. ■ Climate Change—Growing awareness and concern over the impacts of climate change will increasingly affect local governments in the coming years. The CAO will work with County departments to monitor this dynamic policy area and anticipate potential regulatory changes and new mandates that may impact the County. ■ Standard Procedures for Airport Projects—The CAO will continue the effort underway in recent years to streamline the process for economic development at County Airports so as to enhance public services and generate additional revenue for the Airport and the County General Fund. ■ Coordination of Health Care Services for Foster Children—The CAO assisted the Health Services and Employment and Human Services Departments in the development of a comprehensive set of system improvements to the coordination and delivery of health care services for foster children including streamlined access to the County's health care system,the establishment of a foster care clinic, coordination of data, and the development of medical best practice guidelines for foster children. ■ Chris Adams Girls Center—The CAO helped the Employment and Human Services, Health Services, and Probation Departments obtain a State group home waiver that enables the County to apply for a group home license to operate the Chris Adams Girls Center as a licensed group home facility. This will bring in approximately$1.14 million dollars of new revenue annually to support this program. ■ County Infrastructure—For the first time, the FY 2008/09 budget includes information on deferred maintenance at County facilities to allow the Board of Supervisors to weigh competing funding decisions using credible information. Beginning in FY 2009/10,it is planned that the annual budget process will include a strategic planning and financing process for facilities renewal and new construction projects(short and long term capital budgets), and establish a comprehensive management program for the County's general government real estate assets relative to acquisition, use,disposition, and maintenance. ■ East Bay Regional Interoperable Communications System Oversight—The CAO has for the last several years overseen the County's participation in a regional effort to coordinate fragmented communications systems that are nearing the end of their useful life. Technology now permits a unified coordinated communications system without sacrificing local autonomy. The challenge is to design a two-county interoperable system permitting emergency communication across agency lines, develop an equitable cost-sharing model to finance the system, and establish a permanent oversight County Administrator's 2008 Management Oversight Activities and 2009 Plan December 8,2008 Internal Operations Committee Page 6 body to manage the system. This effort continues to require many dedicated hours of meetings, research, and analysis on the part of County administrative and technical staff. ■ Automation of Board Agenda Process—In March 2007,the CAO proposed to the Information Technology(IT) Cabinet a project to automate the Board's agenda process. The IT Cabinet unanimously recommended to the County Administrator that this project be given a high priority for funding and implementation in recognition that the Board agenda process is critical to the mission of the County and that automation of this process benefits all County departments,the Board, and the general public. After a competitive recruitment,the Board authorized the CAO to contract with JCG Technologies for its AgendaQuick system. The system design and programming was completed in November 2008 and implementation and user training will begin in December,with a February 2009 "go live"target. ■ Law& Justice Information System Replacement—From September-December 2008,the CAO coordinated the competitive recruitment that led to the selection of a vendor to provide a system to replace the County's antiquated law and justice information and case management system that serves the District Attorney, Probation,and Public Defender's Offices and also integrates with the Superior Court calendaring system. The CAO will oversee the project and County project team. ■ Legislative Monitoring and Advocacy Coordination—The CAO continues its coordinative monitoring,feedback,and response system with County departments and advisory bodies to provide valuable information to our Board and legislative advocates to pursue needed legislation for the County and to protect the County from unfavorable legislative proposals. The CAO provides staff support to the Board's Legislation Committee,provides talking points for Board members on request, submits federal appropriation requests,prepares legislative communications for Board action,and annually prepares the federal and state legislative platform for adoption by the Board. The CAO staff also coordinated a welcome/orientation reception for Assemblymembers-Elect Joan Buchanan and Nancy Skinner in November 2008. Organizational Development • Court Facilities-In 2002, State legislation was enacted that created a framework for the transfer of all County court facilities to the State of California. The CAO will continue to work closely with the local Superior Court and the State Administrative Office of the Courts to complete the transfer of County court facilities to the State. • Municipal Services Review—In 2006,the CAO began a management review of the delivery of municipal services by the Building Inspection, Community Development, and Public Works departments. The review fostered the idea of merging the Building Inspection and Community Development Departments in an effort to better coordinate public service delivery. The review resulted in the establishment of specific goals,and implementation strategies and timelines. This initiative is a work in progress and the CAO provides regular status report to the Board's Internal Operations Committee. • Blue Ribbon Committee Final Report-Beginning in April, 2007,the County Administrator worked with the Blue Ribbon Committee to address the use of temporary employees and presented final recommendations to the Board of Supervisors in July, 2008. The CAO worked cooperatively with County Administrator's 2008 Management Oversight Activities and 2009 Plan December 8,2008 Internal Operations Committee Page 7 County departments to address the long term use of 171 temporary employees in an effort to establish plans for converting these positions to permanent status or terminating their use. ■ Established a committee that reviewed and made recommendations for changes to the Personnel Management Regulations(PMRs)and the Salary Regulations—In October 2007,the Human Resources Department established the Personnel Management Regulations Review Committee to review and recommend revisions to the PMRs and Salary Regulations. This Committee was composed of more than 20 individuals from the myriad County departments. The Committee met over an eight-month period and reviewed every section of both documents. The recommended revisions are being compiled and reviewed for future presentation to the Board of Supervisors and appropriate labor representatives. ■ East Contra Costa Fire Protection District—The CAO continues to facilitate and provide fiscal analyses,research,and advice on alternative governance structures for discussions with East County leaders, firefighters, and the community to reach consensus or compromise on a fire service model for the future. The CAO is also helping facilitate a Developer Fee Impact Study in the unincorporated area of the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District to assure new development is providing its fair share of revenue for its fire infrastructure needs. ■ City Redevelopment Projects Review—The CAO commissioned a study to evaluate existing City redevelopment agreements/projects and to establish a model for predicting revenue streams. Redevelopment areas,by their very nature, reinvest the vast majority of property tax growth in the area. However,there is a small growth component that is passed through to the other taxing entities within the project area. ■ City of Antioch Annexation Proposal—The CAO has been working diligently with the City of Antioch,Mirant LLP, and PG&E regarding the proposed annexation of the Wilbur Avenue area into the City of Antioch. This has included analyses of the affected surrounding unincorporated areas and their water and sewage delivery, potential tax and gas surcharge implications, and concern for the betterment of the community. • Municipal Advisory Councils (AMC)Policy—As directed by the Board of Supervisors, CAO staff worked with the Board's Ad Hoc MAC Committee on ensuring consistency in the operating rules and procedures of the MACS. The draft policy encompasses the issues of member appointments; termination; alternate positions;membership size; committees;meeting location, frequency and length;training requirements; administrative staff support; funding; operating procedures; external communications and representations; annual reports; boundaries; and Community Service District board members as MAC members. The draft policy has been forwarded to all MAC members for their review,with two workshops held December 18, 2007 and April 21, 2008. The final policy is expected to be forwarded to the Board for its review and approval in December 2008. ■ Advisory Body Review—In March 2007,the Board of Supervisors requested the Internal Operations Committee to review the County's approximately 95 boards,commissions, and committees as required triennially under the Maddy Act. The purpose of the review was to evaluate whether or not advisory bodies are working in a manner that is consistent with their missions and in accordance with County goals and objectives; and if they receive an appropriate level of guidance and support. County Administrator's 2008 Management Oversight Activities and 2009 Plan December:8,2008 Internal Operations Committee Page 8 Following approval by the IO Committee of the work plan, CAO staff conducted a survey of Advisory Body staff. An Advisory Body member survey was also conducted. Staff completed its review of the Phase I(countywide)mandatory and discretionary bodies. Phase II(district specific bodies)will be completed by year end. . • Contracts Administration—The County Administrator, County Counsel, and Auditor-Controller's Offices worked together to update standard contract forms and the County's"Guide to Contracts Administration". The new Guide is expected to be published in January 2009 with a follow-up staff workshop to be conducted shortly thereafter. The County Administrator also implemented the Board's policy(adopted in January 2008) delegating authority to the County Administrator to approve contracts not to exceed$100,000. ■ Administrative Policy and Procedure Review—The CAO identified key internal operating policies and procedures that have broad impact on all County Departments,and required development or updating. In collaboration with the centralized services departments and others, the CAO developed new Administrative Bulletins that clarify policy, procedures, and roles and responsibilities of employees and departments. These new policies and procedures will foster greater operational efficiency and consistency, and strengthen internal controls. In addition, so that Administrative Bulletins are more"user-friendly"and understandable,the CAO developed a new standardized format for the bulletins. The new format incorporates hyperlinks to detailed procedure/protocol specific to a single function. The CAO promulgated in 2008 four new administrative policies governing reimbursement of employment candidate travel expenses,petty cash funds, and food and beverages at County meetings. The CAO also updated policies governing expense reimbursement,cash collection procedures,relief of shortages in accounts,reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities, County vehicle operation, purchasing policy and procedures,approval of certain service contracts $100,000 and less, public access to County records, and the Outreach Program with respect to contract renewals. Credibility Building and Public Education ■ Redesigned County website — Partnering with CivicPlus, a firm that specializes in e-government website development, the CAO recently redesigned the County website, www.contracosta.ca.gov,to serve and assist citizens with all of their online needs. The site provides 24n access to county documents and forms,a convenient search function,video archives,and numerous online forms that allow a site visitor to interact with the county. The site is maintained by a content management system(CMS) provided by CivicPlus. This system allows the county to delegate website maintenance throughout the organization, ensuring that all information on the site is current and up-to-date. 2009 MANAGEMENT OVERSIGHT PLAN The CAO plans to continue its practice of conducting studies and policy reviews to address concerns identified by the Board of Supervisors and which have broad impact on all County departments and to conduct targeted management audits to address specific problems or issues as the need arises. County Administrator's 2008 Management Oversight Activities and 2009 Plan December 8,2008 Internal Operations Committee Page 9 The most prominent issues that will continue to require the attention of the CAO is maintaining a balanced budget throughout the economic downturn, containment and funding of other post employment benefits(OPEB) liability, and development of a labor negotiations strategy that allows us-to continue management of growing compensation costs. The CAO plans to continue performing administrative bulletin reviews for the purpose of regular updating as well as to address specific problems or issues as the need arises and laws or codes change. The entire formatting and process for updating may also be studied. This comprehensive review will encompass consideration of the following elements: adding new section(s), identifying a lead Department Head for each section, eliminating policies that no longer meet a regulatory or operational need, combining bulletins on the same or related topics and moving bulletins between sections. Policy management systems will be studied to learn improved ways of tracking and managing policies. In 2009,the CAO intends to complete the Administrative Bulletins in progress as well as initiate/promulgate new Bulletins on: • Cell phone and hands free capability • Outreach Program—Contract renewal policy The CAO will also will work with County departments and the Geologic Hazard Abatement Districts (GHADs)to streamline GHAD business practices and procedures and improve coordination among the GHADs and County departments.