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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 05011990 - 2.2 Aw sE C12 `'}t) BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra �r FROM: Phil Batchelor, County Administrator o ;s Costa ° DATE: May 1, 1990 County,,'ti� STA CtititN'R "" SUBJECT: COUNTYWIDE FEE REVIEW SPECIFIC REOUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)8 BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: 1 . Authorize County Administrator to enter into the attached contract with Management Services Institute (MSI ) to conduct a countywide fee review. 2. Authorize the use of Productivity Investment Funds to support the efforts of two full-time equivalent County staff for this project. 3 . Approve the concept of covering the contract costs and repaying the Productivity Investment Fund with the first revenues resulting from this project. 4. Direct the County Administrator to strongly encourage departments to fully participate in this effort. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: Total contract costs over three fiscal years will total $550,000. County staff costs are expected to total approximately $200,000 during the three fiscal years of the project. Increased revenues resulting from the fee review are expected to cover all above costs, and significant additional revenues are expected. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: _X YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE �. APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON MAY 1 1AMAPPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS �( i HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE UNANIMOUS(ABSENT AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: AND AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. Cc: County Administrator MAY 1 1990 Auditor-Controller ATTESTED PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR 12 M3827 BY ( 0188) ,DEPUTY -2- BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION: During the first meeting of the City/County Revenue Committee in December 1989, it was mentioned that three cities in the County (Antioch, Pittsburg, and Richmond) had contracted for a fee review which revealed significant additional revenue potential for those cities. The County was encouraged to pursue this review as one method to increase the "size of the pie" . The Finance Committee, which is made up of the Board' s appointees to the City/County Revenue Committee (Supervisors Torlakson and Schroder) endorsed proceeding with this project. Subsequently, a presentation was made to the Economic Progress Committee (Supervisors Powers and Fanden) , which also endorsed proceeding with this fee review project. The proposal is unique in that all County services are proposed to be reviewed and all costs associated with these services would be identified. Services which are being subsidized by the general fund will be identified, as well as the extent of the subsidy. Recommendations will be made for reducing the subsidy for those services over which the Board has fee setting authority. For those services which have fees set by State law, the study will be used to approach the Legislature to request changes. The feeling is that if actual costs can be shown, the Legislature may react more favorably to requests for increases. It is also hoped if the Legislature can be shown that the County is doing everything in its power to maximize revenues, the Legislature will look favorably upon these additional requests. In many cases, the Board or the Legislature may decide that a significant subsidy is appropriate. The fee study will allow those decisions to be made based on the knowledge of what true costs are, and in recognition of the priority of subsidizing certain services. Another benefit of the study is that the County will achieve consistency in its fee setting process for the first time. Citizens will be able to see first hand how the County developed a fee for a given service. This new level of understanding should reduce the perception that one service is paying for another. The project will have three phases: Phase I will take place between May 1990 and April 1991 when the first fee increases would be implemented. Departments such as Community Development, Building Inspection and Public Works will be reviewed first. Phase II will take place between May 1991 and April 1992. During this phase, the remaining services will be reviewed and a second round of recommendations will be forwarded to the Board. Phase III will take place from April 1992 to January 1993 . This phase will be a refinement of the fees developed in Phases I and II , using more precise formulas based on complete information. The full-time equivalent of two contractor employees will be working in the County during this period, although at times it will be less and at times significantly more. Two full-time equivalent County employees will be devoted to this project; one full-time Auditor' s Office employee and two analysts from the Administrator' s Office devoting half of their time. This collaborative effort was proposed by the contractor to reduce costs as well as to help the County develop in-house expertise in how to develop and update the fees. ATTACHMENTS: Contract between the County and MSI MSI proposal to develop a municipal Business , system for Contra Costa County