Title
a. Support amending the Department of Public Works, Facilities and Parks Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-25 Adopted Budget for the Road Fund 002, Appropriation Unit PFP004 to add one (1) FTE Senior Civil Engineer and increase appropriations by $252,393 funded by the Road Fund; and
b. Support directing the County Administrative Office and the Auditor-Controller to incorporate the approved position changes in the FY 2024-25 Adopted Budget and the Human Resources Department to implement the changes in the Advantage HRM system.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended the Budget Committee:
a. Support amending the Department of Public Works, Facilities and Parks FY 2024-25 Adopted Budget for the Road Fund 002, Appropriation Unit PFP004 to add one (1) FTE Senior Civil Engineer and increase appropriations by $252,393 funded by the Road Fund; and
b. Support directing the County Administrative Office and the Auditor-Controller to incorporate the approved position changes in the FY 2024-25 Adopted Budget and the Human Resources Department to implement the changes in the Advantage HRM system.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
Relatively recent approvals to increase the Maintenance of Effort (MOE) for Road Fund by increasing the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) proportion to the County Road Fund in FY 2024-25 to 25% of the County’s total TOT, have resulted in increased revenues for funding road purposes to the County. The additional amount of TOT beyond previous Fiscal Years, has been designated for use for the Local Road Rehabilitation Program v.2.0, consistent with the County Board Policy G-135 Local Road Rehabilitation Program v.2.0 Policy.
In evaluating the current workload, the existing PWFP Road/Bridge Project staffing is at capacity and delivering the maximum number of road infrastructure projects given available staffing. Therefore, there are no staff resources available to handle additional road projects. The PWFP team also uses consultants to assist with project delivery, but consultant resources must also be managed by PWFP staff. In performing local road rehabilitation projects over the course of the past two (2) Fiscal Years, it has been staff’s experience that community members and “high touch” community concerns require an Engineering employee to devote particular time and attention to both public notification, and addressing community member concerns. While field inspections can be conducted by consultants, a PWFP Engineering staff member must still manage these resources. Additionally, it is envisioned that this position will also assist with the preparation of Engineer’s Reports and management of the Prop 218 rate increase processes for various County Service Areas (CSAs).
Moreover, the County is the recipient of outside one-time funding sources. PWFP is managing two Federal Earmarks and a State planning grant from the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). Federal Earmark for Pajaro County Sanitation District (PCSD) was awarded the end of FY 2023-24, for approximately $1.5 Mil. Currently, the detailed preliminary workplan and other required forms are in their early stages. The State planning grant for CSA-75 Chualar from the SWRCB is in its final stages of grant definition. After exchanges with SWRCB staff, and revisions through the State budget process, the County’s CSA-75 is anticipated to receive a $2.5 Mil grant for a study that explores construction of a sanitary sewer pipeline to consolidate with the City of Salinas sewer system; this prospectively would replace the sewage ponds operated by staff and at their permit capacity limits. Furthermore, a Federal Earmark for a study of the San Lucas Water District Clean Drinking Water Project, for approx. $960k.
Upon further review of the PWFP Engineering organization, PWFP has determined that it will be more effective to have an additional Senior Civil Engineer. This will allow creation of a new work group within the Engineering Team to implement the Local Road Rehabilitation Program v.2.0 projects, in addition to the Federal Earmarks and SWRCB grant. Therefore, PWFP requests addition of one (1) Senior Civil Engineer position.
The existing and proposed organization charts for the PWFP Public Works Engineering Team are provided in Attachment B.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The Human Resources Department has reviewed and concurred with the recommended position addition.
FINANCING:
The recommended addition of a Senior Civil Engineer position will result in additional salary and benefits expenses of $252,393 in the Road Fund 002, Appropriation Unit PFP004. The Road Fund has sufficient revenues to finance this position. Any work performed for Special Districts will be reimbursed to the Road Fund.
Prepared by: Randell Ishii, MS, PE, TE, PTOE, Director of Public Works, Facilities and Parks
Enrique Saavedra, PE, Chief of Public Works
Reviewed by: Jessica Cordiero-Martinez, Finance Manager III, Public Works, Facilities and Parks
Approved by: Randell Ishii, MS, PE, TE, PTOE, Director of Public Works, Facilities and Parks
Attachments:
Attachment A - Current and Proposed Organization Charts