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Home My WebLink AboutFS 2008-04-22 Item 2A - Funding - 0.37 FTE in City Clerk's Office MEMORANDUM TO: FROM: DATE: RE: ~ Finance and Safety Committee V\.., . L/' Rhonda Berry, City A~~.1~ April 17, 2008 \/"-y ":) STAFFING IN THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE PROPOSAL Increase the hours of the Word Processing Technician (.63 FTE) in the City Clerk's Office by 15 hours (.37 FTE) per week, making the position full time (1.00 FTE). BACKGROUND When Mayor Haggerton took office in January this year, he set out to find ways to ensure that City departments are organized for efficiency and growth. Shortly thereafter he implemented some organizational changes, creating a Department of Information Technology and transferring the Document Processing Coordinator and responsibility for City publications, TV21, and the Tukwila radio station into that department. With the transfer out of the City Clerk's Office, certain duties performed by the Document Processing Coordinator did not follow. Some of these duties include review and editing of ordinances and resolutions, and in-house codification of the Tukwila Municipal Code. Additionally, there are forms, schedules, calendars, and technical reports specific to the Clerk's Office that requirement re- assignment to current staff. The Document Processing Coordinator provided counter and phone support during vacations and illnesses, and specifically on the 2 days per week the part-time Word Processing Technician is not in the office. The Word Processing Technician is the primary backup to the counter/switchboard and works conjunctively with the Administrative Support Technician who staffs the counter/switchboard full time. (Since April 1, the Word Processing Technician has been working full time to allow the Clerk's Office to maintain seIVice levels). DISCUSSION The staff count for the City Clerk's Office at the end of 2008 will be 5.63 FTE employees. The Word Processing Technician is the .63 FTE and is the subject of this request. The 5.63 FTE total includes a new, unfilled position approved for 2008, which will provide essential technical expertise to include oversight and enhancement of the City Clerk's Imaging System and creation of critical indexes. The City Clerk's Office has not experienced a staff increase in 17 years. The Word Processing Technician position was full-time until 1997, when it was reduced to part-time. This staff member provides not only word processing services, but daily assistance with passports, business and other licenses, notary services, public inquiries, and phone support. The City's growth in the past 17 years has affected the activity at City Hall's central services counter. The increase in the number of phone calls, visitors to City Hall, business licenses, requests for information, document creation, research inquiries from staff, and fulfillment of the Public Records Act has impacted staff whose primary responsibilities are on the "front line." There is also a need for backup phone/counter support for the Mayor's Office. The City Clerk's Office resides within the organizational structure of the Mayor's Office, and it is logical for Clerk's staff to provide backup support if adequate staffing is available. Those staff members who provide the counter/phone support also perform other vital functions to include Council agenda packet(s) production and distribution, ordinance/ resolution/ proclamation/ public notice compilation and processing, paper and electronic document processing, updating databases, license issuance, central filing, staff research, and assistance with public records requests. Most of these duties have legal timelines and cannot be put on a back burner. These functions - along with the duties at the central services counter and main switchboard - are critical to City operations in maintaining optimum service levels to the public. An increase of 15 hours a week for the Word Processing Technician position will help mitigate the loss of the Document Processing Coordinator and facilitate the provision of the necessary day-to- day services for the public. Because the Word Processing Technician is already the primary backup to the counter/switchboard, it is logical for that position to cover those additional hours of counter and phone services. OPTIONS Alternative 1: Keep the staffing level as it currently exists, resulting in decreased service levels Alternative 2: Allow funding for an increase of 15 hours per week (.37 FTE) to increase the Word Processing Technician to a full-time position (1.00 FTE). FUNDING Alternative #1 would require no funding. Alternative #2 would require annual funding of 15 additional hours per week (52 weeks a year x 15 = 780 hours) at the current rate of $22.16 per hour, totaling $17,284.80, plus a percentage increase for benefits. The total salary and benefit estimate is $25,000. The salary component of the 2008 City Clerk's budget will reflect a surplus due to: the difference in pay between the retiring and incoming City Clerks; salary not paid to a Deputy City Clerk position for at least 6 weeks; and the new Administrative Support Coordinator position - fully budgeted for the year - not being hired until the summer. These savings offset the impact to the budget if the Word Processing Technician is increased to full time.