2023-10-19-minutes-finance-study-session

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Staff Report by: Brian Carlson Budget and Finance Director Topic: 2024 Budget Staffing Tactics for Retirements and Turnover Meeting Finance Study Session October 19th, 2023 Summary: • Management recognizes that turnover of key staff is, directly and indirectly, a significant cost driver. • This agenda topic brings two aspects of this issue to BOCC for consideration and inclusion in the 2024 budget. Background & Analysis: Succession and Transition Planning – Upper District Court • Request is to authorize partial-year staffing above the approved FTE roster, and to appropriate an additional $50K toward this initiative. • Three long-term employees will retire in mid-2024 • UDC request is to allow for six months of “overlap” staffing during 2024 to facilitate a more effective transition, whereby existing staff will move to vacated positions, and new hires will fill vacancies left by promoted staff • Budgeting convention is to reflect full-year salary & benefits for all approved FTE positions, therefore there are six months of savings in these highest-paid administrative positions to partially offset costs • If approved, staff will begin recruitment in 2023 to allow for new staff to begin by February, 2024 On-boarding Timelines and Chronic Vacancies – Sheriff, Corrections and Law Enforcement • Request is to authorize Sheriff’s Office to hire above its respective Law Enforcement and Corrections FTE rosters, up to two and three positions, respectively. o Owing to the frequency of turnover, and the convention of full-employment budgeting, Finance allows that this proposal may not drive costs over budget, as Sheriff Office roster will likely vacillate between over- and under-staffing throughout the year. o Sheriff, HR and Finance will report back mid-year with year-end estimates and related resourcing requests, if applicable. • Management observes that under-staffing in these area entails a high potential liability, as witnessed in jury awards and related corrective and/or evasive action by insurers. This is primarily a risk-mitigation proposal. • Corrections Division has historically been chronically under-staffed. The disruption is compounded by a required ten-week academy enrollment. • Law Enforcement programming is designed around a “fully deployed” roster. While law enforcement vacancies are typically fewer and lower-proportion than Corrections, its full deployment is undermined by a longer (nineteen weeks) academy enrollment. • These proposals are part of a multi-faceted approach to establishing a long-term improvement to each division’s “tenure profile”. Related proposals are under discussion and will be presented for BOCC consideration once they are fully designed.