Title
Chief Administrative Office and District Attorney recommending the Board consider the following:
1) Adopt and authorize the chair to sign Resolution 171-2015 amending the Fiscal Year 2015/16 approved Personnel Resolution to add one Department Analyst to the Chief Administrative Office to provide fiscal support to the District Attorney's office; and
2) Approve the attached budget transfer decreasing General Fund Contingency and increasing salaries and benefits in the Chief Administrative Office by $68,000 to cover approximately 9 months of salary and benefit costs for a Department Analyst (4/5 vote).
FUNDING: General Fund.
Body
DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDATION
The Chief Administrative Office and District Attorney recommend that a department analyst be added to the Chief Administrative Office - fiscal division to provide fiscal support for the District Attorney's office.
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
The District Attorney's office has been without a fiscal manager for several years. In the past, the District Attorney utilized staff in the Auditor's office to provide fiscal support for the office. The individual providing that support is no longer employed by the County and recent fiscal support has been provided by the Chief Budget Officer. This was a short term solution and the Chief Administrative Office has been working with the District Attorney to explore long term solutions for providing fiscal support.
The central fiscal division within the Chief Administrative Office currently provides support not only for the CAO's office but for Human Resources, Information Technologies and the Surveyor. This model has been very successful as the division has a broad depth of positions and a strong fiscal manager that provides consistent fiscal services and adherence to county policies for departments. The District Attorney's office administers a large volume of grant funded programs that require heavy monitoring and fiscal reporting that necessitates the addition of a department analyst to manage this workload.
ALTERNATIVES
The other alternative is to look at adding a higher level fiscal management position directly in the District Attorney's office. This will cost more money and not allow for the same depth of fiscal and administrative support that can be provided by the Chief Administrative Office fiscal division. Training and oversight for this position would also be challenging.
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
N/A
CAO RECOMMENDATION
N/A
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The annual salary and benefits cost of a Department Analyst I at step 3 is approximately $90,000. The impact in FY 2015-16 is approximately $68,000 based on 9 months of salary and benefit costs funded from General Fund contingency.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
None
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
Good Governance
CONTACT
Laura Schwartz