|
(DISCUSSION/ACTION) Review of proposed Dept FY 2005-6 budget, with possibility of modifications.
B. Johnston referred to M. Lui’s pass out of where the Dept stands at this moment, facing an anticipated deficit of $553K, if nothing is done.
Comm Stiglich asked about the OT line item. Lui said that the amount “rolled forth” from the last yr’s budget was about $650K. the Bd of Supes added 6 positions back into the budget in July and took that amount from the OT budget line. OT was supposed to come down due to increased attention to the WC cases. But this hasn’t led to enough savings, so there was the mid year reductions.
Lui said he wasn’t going to increase the amount of OT for this year, and the Mayor’s office may disagree with it, but they haven’t seen his proposal yet.
Lui said that YTD, OT is about 1/3 less than it was this time last year. He guessed that it would be about $400K. He said that if the trend continued, the Dept may not make it under budget but it would be maybe a 20% improvement.
The Mayor’s budget analyst said that the directives from the Mayor’s office have not been responded to by the Dept.
Comm Queen was concerned that the directives outstanding from last year’s budget have not been addressed with the type of aggressiveness or concern that he felt they should have been.
Lui said that many things have been done, giving the example that WC had been upwards of 18 cases over the past 3 yrs, but at the end of Nov. 04 they had only 10 cases. Others have been brought back to limited duty work. Eg. two counselors doing the front desk telephone operator job.
Lui said that the deadline to submit the budget to the Mayor’s office is Feb. 18.
Comm Queen asked for more analysis from the Dept on why it proposes what it proposes so he can understand what their perception of reality is.
The discussion regarding LCRS was indecisive due to the ongoing discussions being held by other bodies (the “blue ribbon committee” of the Mayor).
The Budget Analyst said that there are still major structural problems in the Dept, eg. the OT. And even if the Dept meets all the “targets” this will still only be a percentage of the City’s overall problem.
Comm Stiglich asked about various items: copy machines/copying cost.
Lui said that they are tracking costs for each individual program or division so they do know what individual division’s costs are. Costs are down because they changed vendors.
Lui said that very little money is spent on equipment, the largest category being computers and computer equipment, which only came to about $30K in the last couple of years. In previous years’ budgets, the equipment line was unspent, so it was given back in order to help balance the budget. ’03-’04 was the first year they purchased computers.
Quest: can LCRS be temporarily closed, people moved back up here. How much can be saved, if any. Comm Queen said that he recalled such an analysis was done before, when the idea of closing LCRS came up. B. Johnston felt that the Dept couldn’t do anything while the other bodies were looking into the situation. Comm Stiglich wanted to have an analysis of the costs for that option.
Comm Hale said the courts want to politicize the situation They choose which kids get placed there, and therefore can dictate how Log Cabin operates.
At the curtain level of funding ($1.7mil) it can serve up to 30 youth. B. Johnston calculated that if you had 70 youth there, at an added $1 mil, that would average out per youth, about $40K/yr, which is not an unreasonable cost. (but that would be entirely general fund $ and no reimbursable costs).
Re-classification of counselors could help out with the OT problem.
Is $45K necessary for the fire alarms? Yes. Is $17K for repairs actual? It probably is more than that.
Travel line: POs have to visit their charges where they are placed, monthly. Some reimbursement is available.
Comm Queen asked if the Controller’s office could be a part of these discussions. The analyst said possibly for the larger discussion and not the detailed ones. Comm Hale said there should be a meeting with the CBOs to give them a heads up on what’s in store.
B. Johnston mentioned Prop 63, (mental health monies) and talk about possibly using one of the units in the new facility as a mental health unit.
(public comments)
there were none.
|
