On Tuesday, the Brentwood City Council will discuss its 2018-19 staffing plan which would add more than $1 million to its budget.
The city is reporting the fiscal impact of the recommended staffing would be $1,068,000.00 which would increase with annual staffing cost inflation in the future. Of this amount, $840,000 will be funded from the General Fund and $228,000 from the Enterprise Funds.
The city also is anticipating $100,000 in one-time costs for equipment and vehicles for the new positions.
According to the City:
The City’s Executive Team, consisting of the City Manager and the City’s Department Directors, held a two-day planning session in May 2018 at which time staffing needs for each department were presented and evaluated. In order to continue with good financial management practices, the budget was reviewed in order to determine the capacity for increasing staffing levels. Not all of the positions requested at the department level have been included in this staffing request in order to keep costs within our budgetary constraints. Attachment A is a summary of the positions requested and their respective costs. The budget for these positions is proposed from both the General Fund and from the Enterprise Funds. The funding detail is contained below under the “Fiscal Impact” section.
It is important to note that after funding the recommended staffing increases in Attachment A, the ten-year fiscal model still projects the following:
- City maintains its 30% General Fund reserve
- Budget Stabilization Fund will have $1.3 million in the tenth year of the ten-year fiscal model
In an email Sunday, Brentwood City Manager Gus Vina explained why an assistant in the city managers office is needed.
“There was an assistant position before my arrival in Brentwood,” said Vina. “I am asking for the existing and vacant economic development manager position be upgraded to assistant contract manager. This costs $60k more than what we already have budgeted. The focus is on bringing jobs to Brentwood and head the economic development effort. Now that construction nears build out we need many more jobs in Brentwood.”
Following is a list of the requested positions and a brief description of the reasons for their need:
Safety/Projects Coordinator (Reallocation not an increase in positions)
- Transfer the position from Public Works to Human Resources
- Brings synergy and provides continuity to the risk management function
- Creates citywide focus on safety training programs
- Connects department safety objectives to citywide training
Recreation Supervisor (1) and Recreation Specialist (1)
- Added senior center in 2009 and community center in 2012
- Seniors participating in center activities have increased from 20,000 to over 50,000
- Special events added include Starry Night Concert series, Movies in the Park, July 4th
- Revenues from recreation have increased from $890,000 in 2008 to over $1.6 M in 2017
- Public Art programs growing with utility boxes, art wall exhibits and the gateway projects
- Over 250 acres of parks, with growth in the number of parks going from 51 in 2008 to 73 in 2017
Building Inspector II (1)
- City currently paying approximately $260,000/year for contract inspection services
- Cost of new position partially offset by reduction in contract services 18,539 inspections in FY2017/18
- 1,080 projects approved over last three years
- 1,260 projects expected over next three years Fastest growing city in the county
Office Assistant (Housing/Part-time)
- Provides for training and succession planning in the housing program
- Implementation of new housing legislation
- Monthly and annual reporting requirements
- 91 affordable housing units to manage
- 44 down payment assistance applications processed
Deputy City Attorney (1)
- Cost of new position partially offset with reduction in contract legal services
- Population growth and number of projects has impacted legal service capacity
- Need to keep pace with implementation of many new federal, state, and local laws
- Regular updates to City’s Municipal Code is essential
- Legal services needed for internal department staffs as well as community driven issues
- Number of documents requiring legal review have increased as City services have increased
- Position will handle multiple tasks, which will grow in complexity over time
Community Services Officers (3)
- Request includes two patrol community services officers and one administrative community services officer
- Increasing Community Service Officers for non priority calls will increase capacity for patrol officers on high priority calls
- Community Service Officers wrote 722 police reports and spent 3,313 hours on calls for service over a one year period between 2017 and 2018
- Jail trans ports increased from 270 in 2013 to 329 in 2016 (This function can move from patrol officers to CSOs)
- Population growth has significantly increased demand for services
- Neighborhood Watch programs increasing
- Calls for service increased by 5,088 between 2016 and 2017
- CSOs will handle deployment of the new Mobile Vehicle Barriers
Administrative Assistant/Solid Waste (1)
- Increases in population and houses has significantly increased service demands
- Needed to implement new legislation (i.e. food waste regulations)
- Calls have increased from 7,765 to 12,053 in last six years
- Operational agreements have increased 192% from 12 to 35
Water Production Worker/Water (1)
- Significant increase in legislative requirements to test for health and safety of water quality
- On-going need to regulate and comply with chloride regulations
- A 17% increase in service accounts from 16,592 in 2009 to 19,385 in 2017
- Maintenance for 6 reservoirs and 7 wells citywide
Assistant City Manager (1)
- Re-introduces Assistant City Manager position to organization
- Provides for succession planning
- Responsible for Economic Development strategic initiatives (i.e. Economic Development “game changers”, PA1 Implementation, Business Development Center, Industry Marketing Plan, Northern Waterfront working group, Agriculture Business Program)
- Does not add to citywide FTE count and is mostly funded by vacant Economic Development Manager position
The city also noted that although some positions were requested and discussed by the executive, these positions were not recommended:
- Administrative Assistant I –Community Development (1.5)
- Community Development Technician –Community Development (1.0)
- Building Inspector I –Community Development (1.0)
- Administrative Assistant I –City Manager’s Office (1.0)
- Technical Assistant I –City Manager’s Office (1.0)
- Accounting Technician –Finance (1.0)
- Accounting Assistant I –Finance (1.0)
- Park Maintenance Worker –Parks and Recreation (1.0)
For more information: Click here to view the Sept. 18 Staff Report
