HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-02-25 Cost of Government Commission Agenda (2)
COST OF GOVERNMENT COMMISSION
c/o Office of the Corporation Counsel, 101 Aupuni Street,
Suite 325, Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720
AGENDA
Friday,February 25, 2011 –10:00 a.m.
Liquor Control Conference Room
Hilo Lagoon Centre
101 Aupuni Street, Suite 230
Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720
1.CALL TO ORDER
2.STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC
3.APPROVAL OF MINUTES (January 14 and 28, 2011)
4.DISCUSSION, AND QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION WITH ERIC
TANOUYE, AGRICULTURAL ADVISORY COMMISSION REGARDING HIS
RESPONSE DATED DECEMBER 9, 2010TO QUESTIONS IN THE COST OF
GOVERNMENT’S AUGUST 5, 2010 LETTER
.
5.CORRESPONDENCE
A.Comm. 2011-001: Response from Toby Taniguchi, Fire Commission Re:
August 5, 2010 letter requesting responses.
6.REPORTS FROM SUBCOMMITTEES
A.Operations, Budget, and Consolidation (G. Wong, G. Matsuda)
B.Revenue Enhancement and Collections (K. Armour, P. Provalenko)
C.Technology Recommendations and Adoption (E. O’Hara, M. Nicholson)
7.DISCUSSION REGARDING ITEMS PREVIOUSLY RECOMMENDED TO BE
PLACED IN DRAFT REPORT
Review of the complete compensation package for employees
A.
1)Allow employees to work 10 hours/4 days per week.
Potential impacts: save on electricity, reduce overtime costs for staff
required to attend evening public meetings.(January 14, 2011
meeting)
2)Institute performance-based reward program. Rewards might be a
bonus, time off, raise, etc.(January 14, 2011 meeting)
3)Set the work week at 40-hours a week rather than eight hours a day,
and allow an employee to flex their work schedules and reduce
overtime. (January 14, 2011 meeting)
Hawai‘i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer
4)Link pay cuts to an economic index that would restore cuts as the
economy improves. (January 14, 2011 meeting)
5)Focus work-hour cuts or shift personnel in departments that have less
demand for their services in a slow economy to department or tasks
acquiring additional man hours. (January 14, 2011 meeting)
6)Establish a ‘voluntary temporary furlough’ program. Suggested format
is:
a)Department head decides which positions or whether any
positions can accommodate the personnel time reduction on a
temporary basis only.
b)Any employee may apply.
c)Maximum of one day per week (two days per pay period) per
full-time employee.
d)Minimum of one day per month (one day per payperiod) per
full-time employee.
e)90-day commitment period per agreement, renewal by application
at least 20 days prior to expiration (for accounting management
needs). Manager may require reduction to minimum (one day per
month) or deny, based on personnel needs.
7)Review and reduce number of paid holidays. (January 14, 2011
meeting)
8)Reduce monthly accrual of vacation or sick leave from 14 hours per
month (4.5 weeks per year for each) to 10 hours per month
(three weeks per year).(January 14, 2011 meeting)
9)Consider consolidating vacation and sick time into personal time off.
Potential impacts would allow employees more flexibility to schedule
personal time off, would reduce abuse of sick time. (January 14, 2011
meeting)
10)Establish an early retirement incentive plan. (January 14, 2011
meeting)
Suggest a review of reimbursements and per diem policy
B.
1)Eliminate on-island meal reimbursements. (January 14, 2011 meeting)
2)Replace set per diem with actual expenses, capped at per diem
amount. (January 14, 2011 meeting)
County examine their policies on travel and vehicle use
C.
1)Limit attendance at off-island conferences and/or hold off-island
conferences via Skype or video conferencing.Hold department and
division meetings via video conferencing, multimedia communication in
lieu of a face-to-face meetings to reduce on and off-island travel.
(January 14, 2011 meeting)
2)Restrict the use of county take home vehicles. (January 14, 2011
meeting)
Review current staffing and explore opportunities for staff
D.
consolidation
1)Recommend that the enforcement responsibilities of Planning
Department, Building Department, Real Property Tax, Environmental
2
Management and the Department of Health (as contracted effort from
the state to the county since this is a state function) be consolidated
into an Enforcement Division (November 17, 2010 meeting and Comm.
210-105)
2)Recommend creating a position dedicated to focusing on health care
and education industries.(Operation, Budget and Consolidation
subcommittee report on October 8, 2010; and Comm. 2010-123;
December 10, 2010 Minutes, page 43)
3)Centralize grant writing efforts by creating a Grant Specialist position to
work with all departments in the county to improve the county’s ability
to receive funds from various sources.(Operation, Budget and
Consolidation subcommittee report on October 8, 2010; December 10,
2010 Minutes, page 45)
4)Review and streamline the procedures for disciplining and releasing
employees. (January 14, 2011 meeting)
5)Cross train employees to perform multiple functions.(January 14, 2011
meeting)
6)Pool clerical staff where possible. (January 14, 2011 meeting)
7)Encourage the recruitment and use of volunteers and volunteer groups
at all levels of County operations. (January 14, 2011 meeting)
8)Eliminate vacant funded positions.(January 14, 2011 meeting
Hoffman)
9)Introduce a hiring freeze for six months and then review that hiring
freeze to see if it should be lifted. (January 14, 2011 meeting Hoffman)
10)Try to identify all those jobs and tasks that are mandated by state and
federal governments as well as in the County Charter and consider
eliminating positions that don’t fall within those mandates.(January 14,
2011 meeting Hoffman)
11)The county propose a resolution to the state allowing each county to
negotiate collective bargaining contracts on behalf of the county.
(January 14, 2011 meeting Hoffman)
12)Consolidate similar functions such as project managers, engineers,
maintenance personnel from various departments. (January 14, 2011
meeting Hoffman)
Miscellaneous
E.
1)Recommend the county establish a schedule for reviewing and
updating the County Code.(November 17, 2010 meeting and Comm.
2010-105; December 10, 2010 Minutes, page 39)
2)Boards and commissions evaluate the scheduling of their meetings
monthly to quarterly or otherwise.(Operation, Budget and
Consolidation subcommittee report on October 8, 2010)
3)Implement a county-wide technology management plan.
(November 17, 2010 meeting)
4)Continue to update and enforce the county’s internet use policy for all
employees. (December 10, 2010 meeting, Comm. 2010-144; page 27)
5)Implement the use ofLaserfiche for all departments when and where
practical. (Operation, Budget and Consolidation subcommittee report
on October 8, 2010)
3
6)Solicit employees suggestions and recommendations on a regular
basis including cost saving suggestions. (January 14, 2011 meeting)
7)Request the department heads to do three different budget scenarios.
One based on continuing with the current budget. Another budget
would be reflecting five percent increase. And the other would be a
10% decrease. (January 14, 2011 meeting Hoffman)
8)Do budget reviews either semi-annually or quarterly to make needed
adjustments. (January 14, 2011 meeting Hoffman)
Department-specific suggestions
F.
1)Review the process for qualifying agricultural property tax exemptions
and consider including financial documentation to show agricultural
activity. (November 3, 2010 Minutes, page 25; December 10, 2010
Minutes, page 34)
2)Implement software solutions to coordinate collection of tipping fees at
the scale house and insure accounting systems are able to read the
data.(November 3, 2010 Minutes, page 25; December 10, 2010
Minutes, page 34)
3)Department of Environmental Management regulate septic and grease
haulers and collect an annual fee for registration commensurate with
fees of other counties in Hawai‘i.(November 3, 2010 Minutes, page 25;
December 10, 2010 Minutes, page 35)
4)Explore annual renewal fee for solid waste haulers and require all
haulers to be current on solid waste bills to reduce delinquencies.
(November 3, 2010 Minutes, page 27)
5)Eliminate Homeowner’s Real Property Exemption for Unpermitted
Dwellings.(November 17, 2010 meeting and Comm. 2010-105)
6)Require that all commercial buses that accommodate 40 passengers
or more when registered in the County of Hawai‘i for use are required
to demonstrate that they comply with trade-in program.(November 17,
2010 meeting and Comm. 2010-105;December 10, 2010 Minutes,
page 38)
7)Recommend that the first time a vehicle is registered in the county an
auto salvage fee is assessed.(November 17, 2010 meeting and
Comm. 2010-105; December 10, 2010 Minutes, page 38)
8)The County of Hawai‘i allow standardized modular housing that meets
the minimum health and safety requirements and may include such
things as minimum square footage, composting toilets and water
catchments.(November 17, 2010 meeting and Comm. 2010-105;
December 10, 2010 Minutes, page 41)
9)Have the Fire Department investigate implementing a jet ski program
with our Ocean Safety Division, including the cost effectiveness of
implementing a jet ski program. (December 10, 2010 meeting,
Comm. 2010-144, page 29)
10)Streamline the re-contracting process for continuing, part-time
temporary staff. (P&R) (January 14, 2011 meeting)
11)Eliminate the yearly physical exam requirement for continuing,
re-contracted temporary employees. (P&R) (January 14, 2011
meeting)
4
12)Consolidate at least one DEM divisions’ administrative offices with the
primary DEM Administrative and Business Services section. (DEM)
(January 14, 2011 meeting)
13)In the Solid Waste Division, create separate position for heavy
equipment operators who work only at landfills and don’t need a CDL
license from those who drive off-site and do need a CDL license (this
recommendation carried forward from prior COG report). (DEM)
(January 14, 2011 meeting)
14)Eliminate the Personnel Officer position for smaller departments and
centralize this task with a specialist in Human Resources. (HR)
(January 14, 2011 meeting)
15)Reorganize the Human Resources Department to decrease staffing
needs. (HR) (January 14, 2011 meeting)
16)Base fuel reimbursement for all Police Department personnel on actual
mileage rather than an open mileage for higher ranking officers. (PD)
(January 14, 2011 meeting)
17)Develop a notification system for police officers who have been
subpoenaed for court hearings to let them know if the hearing has
been cancelled or postponed, thus avoiding unnecessary travel and
overtime pay. (PD) (January 14, 2011 meeting)
18)Cut the monthly car allowance for police officers and replace it with a
yearly servicing and maintenance allowance. (PD) (January 14, 2011
meeting)
19)Use a hiring agency to staff temporary election clerk positions. (Clerk)
(January 14, 2011 meeting)
20)Examine overtime policies within the Fire Department to determine if
the policies are fair, unambiguous, and effective in reducing overtime.
(Fire) (January 14, 2011 meeting)
21)Consolidate enforcement functions for zoning, subdivision, SMA and
building code violations. (PL) (January 14, 2011 meeting)
22)Do a top to bottom review of the property tax base. (January 14, 2011
meeting Hoffman)
8.DISCUSSION REGARDING ITEMS TO BE ADDED TO THE LIST OF
RECOMMENDATIONS TO BE PLACED IN DRAFT REPORT
Discussion and recommendations may encompass anyitem contained or
discussed inany communication (Comm. 2010-001 through Comm. 2010-158),
or subcommittee report or presentation given at any prior meeting (see previous
Agendas and Minutes).
Contracting
A.
1)Review internal processes that are currently in use to reduce change
orders. (January 14, 2011 meeting, page 9)
2)Review internal processes that are currently in use to ensure that
contracts are renewed on a timely basis. (January 14, 2011 meeting,
page 9)
5
Agricultural exemptions
B.
1)Contract with an independent agency to aggressively review 5%-10%
of the designated agricultural lands in each district to determine if the
lands are being used in a manner that entitles them to the agricultural
exemption. Fine and/or revoke exemptions for violators and continue
or expand program if abuses seem to be widespread. (January 14,
2010 Minutes, page 11)
Videotaping of County Council meetings
C.
1)Assess the cost of videotaping County Council meetings through
providing this service in-house versus contracting for this service.
(January 14, 2010 Minutes, page 11)
S
D.uggestions from the Operations, Budget, Consolidation Committee
1)Executive Assistant/Volunteer Coordinator
a)Volunteer Program
i.Volunteer Benefits Coordinator –(inside)
iiVolunteer Coordinator –(outside, financed by corporate
sponsors)
b)Community Workshop for Volunteer Action Projects
2)Executive Assistant/Grant writer.(centralized and cooperative is more
effective )
a)Grant writer for department projects –Mayor’s Executive
Assistant.
3)Create position in Research and Development to pro-actively address
Healthcare and Education Industries.
a)Healthcare has great employment needs; UH has significant
potential for economic gain and grants/funding.
b)Examples: Beacon grant program = $16MM; MD and RN
shortage in Hawai‘i in excess of 3200; military training and
increased activities planned for Pohakuloa; international research,
etc.
4)Combination/consolidate/modification of Commissioners into less
Boards and/or less meetings.
a)Work toward terminating Cost of Government Commission within
three years.
b)If Commissions and Boards decrease, Corporation Counsel’s time
decreases; budget decreases.
5)Look into privatizing some Parks and Recreation and Office of Aging
programs (might be financed by cause-marketing corporate sponsors)
a)If Parks and Recreation decreases, staff budget decreases.
b)Parks and Recreation and Office of Aging seniors can be
productive in volunteer programs and Hawai‘i Community College
programs.
c)County can support volunteer and Hawai‘i Community College
programs without managing/owning them.
d)Volunteer program can be set to create programs to utilize
“meaningful” socialization for seniors, productive community
6
service programs for youth (especially on furlough days), and
training for variety of workforce development.
6)At monthly Executive meeting, department heads report to Mayor for
continuous Quality Improvement and accountability within their
departments:
a)How customer service can be improved.
b)How paperwork or procedure can be deleted or improved.
c)(Department Head require staff to report in, prior to)
7)Can Council representatives be combined in districts for four instead of
nine districts? North, South, East and West.
a) If Council representatives decrease, County Clerk time and
representatives’ salaries decrease.
8)Convert/Create Districts into Neighborhood Boards. Government to
facilitate community leaders, businesses, faith-based groups, and
individuals to address community planning and development.
a)Funding needed –available.
9)Ombudsman/Information/Complaints in the Human Resources to
prevent poor morale and improve communication between
administration and community.
10)Decrease Human Resources department staff. Assess technology
support instead. (Human Resources’ budget has significantly
increased over past 10 years)
9.DISCUSSION REGARDING CONSOLIDATION OF BOARDS AND
COMMISSIONS
A.Review summary of the Hawai‘i County Boards and Commissions provided
by Operations, Budget, and Consolidation Committee, including but not
limited to:
1)Consolidation of Board/Commission:
a)Committee on Aging and Committee on People with Disabilities
b)Board of Appeals and Fire Board of Appeals
c)Each Community Development Plan Action Committee and Each
Community Development Plan Steering Committee:
(Kona CDP Action Committee, North Kohala CDP Action
Committee, South Kohala CDP Action Committee, Puna CDP
Action Committee, Hamakua CDP Steering Committee, Kau CDP
Steering Committee)
2)Termination of Board/Commission:
a)Cost of Government Commission
b) Family Violence Advisory Commission (inactive)
c)All Community Development Plan Action Committees and All
Community Development Plan Steering Committees
3)All Boards and Commissionsto review the need of timely meetings to
a minimum. For example, a Board that meets monthly could consider
quarterly meetings if that schedule can still fulfill its duties.
7
10.DISCUSSION REGARDING APPROACH TO TAKE TO TIMELY ACCOMPLISH
MANDATE OF THE COST OF GOVERNMENT COMMISSION
A.Subcommittee progress, problems, further definition of subcommittee
needed, further information needed, etc.
B.Community Workshop for Cost of Government recommendations and action
projects or article in Hawaii Tribune-Herald inviting mail or e-mail.
C.Recommendation for next Cost of Government Commission.
11.DISCUSSION REGARDING FUTURE MEETING DATES
12.ITEMS TO BE PLACED ON NEXT AGENDA
13.ANNOUNCEMENTS
The next meeting of the Cost of Government Commission will be held on Friday,
March 11, 2011, at 10:00 a.m., at the Liquor Control Conference Room, Hilo
Lagoon Centre, 101 Aupuni Street, Suite 230, Hilo, HI 96720.
14.ADJOURNMENT
NOTE: If you require an accommodation or auxiliary aid and/or services to
participate in this meeting (i.e., sign language interpreter, large print, etc.)
please call 961-8251.
SUBMITTING TESTIMONY
Those wishing to testify in person must register with the Commission Secretary at the meeting.
Those submitting written testimony at the meeting should bring ten (10) copies for distribution. Testimony
may also be submitted (1) by mail to Sandy Arriola c/o Corporation Counsel, 101 Aupuni Street, Suite 325,
Hilo HI 96720; (2) by facsimile to (808) 961-8622; or (3) by e-mail to sarriola@co.hawaii.hi.us.Please
submit separate testimony for each item. Copies will be distributed by the Commission Secretary at the
meeting only if they are received before 12:00 noon on the business day prior to the meeting. All oral
and written testimony will be public record.
NOTICE TO LOBBYISTS
If you are a lobbyist, you must register with the Hawai‘i County Clerk within five days of becoming a
lobbyist (Article 15, Section 2-91.3(b), Hawai‘i County Code).
A lobbyist means “any individual engaged for pay or other consideration who spends more than five hours
in any month or $275 in any six-month period for the purpose of attempting to influence legislative or
administrative action by communicating or urging others to communicate with public officials.” (Article 15,
Section 2-91.3(a)(6), Hawai‘i County Code.)
Registration forms and expenditure report documents are available at the Office of the County Clerk-
Council, 25 Aupuni Street, Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720.
8