HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 05121987 - T.1 T/
TO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
FROM: Phil Batchelor, Contra
County Administrator
May 4 1987 iCosta
DATE'. y County
SUBJECT;
POSITIVE EFFORTS RELATED TO PRODUCTIVITY
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(_S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATION:
Recognize the following departments for positive efforts related to
productivity:
Factor Department Item
Quality Veterans' Resources Center Nursing Home Program
Quantity Sheriff-Coroner Dept. Courtesy Letter Program
Cost General Services Dept. Mail pre-sort
Time Municipal Courts Computer generated citation
facsimile
FINANCIAL IMPACT
All the productivity measures identified have resulted in significant
savings to departments. No financial impact is anticipated as a result of
acknowledging these positive activities.
BACKGROUND:
As part of the Board' s strategy on the County fiscal relief program, the
Board, earlier this year, asked for the County Administrator to solicit
nominations for positive efforts of departments related to productivity
enhancements. Eighteen nominations were received from seven departments,
with nominations in each of the factors reviewed for productivity
enhancements: quality, quantity, cost and time. A summary of all of the
nominations is attached, and each of the departments which submitted
nominations are to be commended for their efforts in productivity.
A more detailed descriptions of those items which are recommended for
special recognition are as follows
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT; Z YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OFUBOARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURE(S):
ACTION OF BOARD ON May 12, 1987 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER X^
The Board presented Certificates of Commendation to representatives of the above
referenced departments and the-�Data.,Troc_essing Division for the assistance provided
to the Municipal Courts.- The Board also requested Kerry Harms, Assistant County
Administrator, to prepare for the Board an executive summary outlining the produc-
tivity programs and cost savings.
_ VOTE OF SUPERVISORS `--- - -� -- - -------- — ------
1 HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
X 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.
Ernie Bradford May 12 1987
CC: Roy Chiesa ATTESTED _ S'
Bart Gilbert PHIL BATCHELOR, CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
Warren Runf SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
CAO nn
i! ,
M382/7=83 BY 0 DEPUTY
1. QUALITY - VETERANS' RESOURCES CENTER - NURSING HOME PROGRAM
In 1986, the State legislature approved AB 1335 which provided funding for
County Veterans' Services Officers to review the status of veterans in
nursing homes and pursue benefits for those veterans who might be eligible
for significant federal benefits. Receipt of federal benefits services to
reduce State Medi-Cal and County cost because of more of the cost of
providing this service is absorbed by the federal government. The project
is a two-year project designed to verify the cost savings derived by the
Veterans ' Service Offices in extending services and assistance to nursing
home patients. Although the savings of $738,850 through December of 1987,
accrue to the State rather than the County, the program is resulting in
increased quality of services to veterans which would otherwise not have
been possible through the regular Veterans' Services Program.
2. QUANTITY - SHERIFF-CORONER DEPARTMENT - COURTESY LETTER PROGRAM
Before 1986, the Sheriff-Coroner' s Department conducted a program in the
records bureau which consisted of sending courtesy letters to the subjects
of certain types of warrants. The extent of the program varied from year
to year depending on the resources available.
A decision was made in 1986 to enhance and expand the program. This
decision was based on several factors, including the increased number of
warrants being issued and jail population problems. The project was
implemented by redirection of already limited funds and personnel
resources, and has been very successful.
In calendar year 1986, approximately 20,000 letters were sent; over 6,000
were cleared without arrest; over $500,000 in estimated bail forfeiture
money was deposited to the General Fund; the cost of the program was less
than $40,000 in "redirected resources" . Previously, up to 12, 000 of these
courtesy letters would be sent. The increase in quantity has resulted in
significant General Fund dollars.
3 . COST - GENERAL SERVICES - MAIL PRE-SORT
In early 1987, a mail pre-sort program was initiated by the General
Services Department. The supervisors of distribution in the mail center
have worked with departments in utilizing the program. In the first ten
weeks of operation, the program produced a net savings to departments of
$12,600, after cost for the service had been covered. The trend is
continuing upward with an increased volume of mail being sent through the
pre-sort process, resulting in additional savings to departments. For
example, the fire protection districts' 150,000 piece mailing which General
Services printed, folded and sent through the pre-sort mailing, saved the
districts a total of $9,000. Annualized, the estimated net savings to
departments from this program should be in excess of $50,000 . Because the
department is doing more with the same amount of money, resulting in
savings to departments, this item was nominated for productivity
recognition.
4. TIME - MUNICIPAL COURTS - COMPUTER GENERATED CITATION FACSIMILE
In those instances in which a traffic offender elects to appear in court to
respond to a traffic violation, the judge or commissioner must have the
necessary legal documents in the courtroom to conduct the proceedings. It
had been the practice of the courts to transmit the original copy of a
traffic citation to the courtroom regardless of whether the traffic system
was manual or automated. The clerical effort necessary to place this
document before the judge was extremely labor intensive. In 1984, an
enhancement in the courts' automation was implemented to instruct, the
computer to generate a facsimile of the citation from the original
information. The use of the computer printout in lieu of the original
citation document serves to avoid the manual retrieval and refiling of a
citation document for all the traffic offenders appearing in court. An
estimated of 1,800 to 2,000 items per month in the Walnut Creek Court alone
are reviewed through this method. This program has saved countless hours
since 1984 and allows the courts to continue to operate with the limited
resources available.
ATTACHMENT "A"
Nominations for Productivity Recognition
Department Description of Item
1. Clerk-Recorder Quality
a) Civil section automation - has
improved the accuracy, timeliness,
and accessibility of civil data.
b) On-line real property transaction,
resulting in better, more timely
service.
Quantity
Increase in recorded documents.
2. Community Services Cost
Won competitive process for direct
weatherization program.
3. General Services Cost, Time
Central Services printing. Optimal
ordering sizes, more effective job set
up and production to reduce overtime.
Decrease turnaround time from three to
one week.
Cost
Mail pre-sort, savings estimated at
$50,000 per year.
4. Municipal Courts Time, Quality, Quantity
Computer Generated. Citation facsimile
allows clerk to generate facsimile of
citation in lieu of original citation.
Enables clerk to provide all information
from facsimile
5. Probation Time
Supervision case classification system
in adult and juvenile probation field
services.
Quality
Court probation monitoring and fine
collection service.
6. Sheriff Quantity
a) Countywide inmate population increase
52% from 81/2 to 85/6; b) civil process
served 707/mo to 855/mo. ; c) courtesy
letter program from 12,000 to 29,000 -
revenue increased from approximately
$200,000 to approximately $500,000.
Quality
a) Civil . Bureau Automated System -
reduction in clerical. errors; b) updated
crime prevention materials; c) #
contracts through community programs has
doubled.
Cost
a) Cost per inmate decreased 5% in 5
years 81/2 to 85/6; b) using U.S. mail
for some documents saved $14,000/month.
Time
Civil Bureau automated system.
7 . Veterans' Services Quality, Cost, Time
Nursing Home effort - 59 claims $738,850
in benefits (savings to State) .
Quantity
90% of claims filed ultimately pay
benefits.