RES 03081 - Laserfiche WebLink

Projected increased gasoline, electricity, and water usage costs of $72,000. Increased Alameda County property tax collection charges of $35,000. Reduction in replacement accruals of $280,000 due primarily to elimination of old carryover appropriations. Expenditure recommendations reflect the resources needed to meet many of the Council goals for the coming year, as well as the continuation of existing high service levels. The following is a summary of recommended expenditures. More details are contained in the individual department narratives contained later in the Budget document. a. Personnel The City's annual budget includes the hours necessary to accomplish each program. These hours can be translated into authorized positions. The City's workforce includes a total of 460.41 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions as of July 1, 2002. The actual number of City employees varies throughout the year, as employees leave City employment to take a promotion, to retire, or as a result of termination. It is common to have positions vacant at any one time throughout the fiscal year. Once a vacancy occurs in an existing position, the Department of Human Resources, in conjunction with the City Manager, may delay filling the position in order to examine potential reorganization options. It could take 3 to 4 months to fill a vacancy after the decision has been made to begin the recruitment process. As a result of the weakening economy, State budget crisis, and the fact that the City is approaching General Plan build-out, staff began in December of 2002 to review all current and planned recruitments and position vacancies. This review determined whether recruitments should continue, when and for which positions hiring offers would be made, and which current and planned job vacancies would remain open for the foreseeable future. As a result of this effort, staff is recommending a permanent reduction in the City's authorized positions from 460.41 to 440.60, effective July 1, 2003. Staff is also proposing to begin July 1, 2004, with 439.94 authorized positions, resulting in a cumulative reduction of approximately 20.5 authorized positions over a two- year period. This represents a 5% decrease in the City's workforce. The immediate benefits for initiating these reductions are threefold. First, immediate cost savings will be realized to the operating budget as funding for selected positions are removed from the budget to address the weakening economy and state budget crisis. Second, this allows the City an opportunity to re-deploy or reorganize the organization in recognition of General Plan build-out. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, it creates opportunities to streamline operations without impacting City services, programs or activities. In regards to the latter, this is something that is periodically done, irregardless of the economy, as we continually strive to produce a more effective, efficient and customer- centered organization. xii