DATE: December 17, 2024
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Paul Nerland, County Administrative Officer
SUBJECT: Salary Resolution Amendment
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Approve Amendment to the Salary Resolution adding one Program Manager and one Administrative Analyst in Group 4 and one Program Technician in Group 6 to the County Administrative Office, Org 0120 effective December 23, 2024, as reflected on Appendix “L”; and
2. Approve a salary adjustment of 5% for the Administrative Analyst series in Group 4 effective December 23, 2024, as reflected in Appendix “L”.
REPORT
The first recommended action restores capacity and additional departmental and project oversight taken on by the County Administrative Office (CAO Office) to ensure efficient execution of Board policy, the growing demand for services along with centralization of oversight projects. The second recommended action follows through on your Board’s direction to ensure that the CAO’s Office is a destination for the most experienced and talented Analysts in the County based on the size, complexity and impact of the work required of a CAO Analyst.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Should your Board not approve the recommended actions, the CAO Office capacity for work would remain the same and the Analysts would remain at the same compensation as other Analysts in the County.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The estimated Net County Cost (NCC) associated with the recommended actions is approximately $265,565 for the remainder of FY 2024-25. The increase in NCC will be absorbed by estimated salary savings. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues are included in the CAO’s Org 0120 FY 2024-25 Adopted Budget and will be included in future budget requests.
DISCUSSION:
The CAO Office is responsible for implementing the Board of Supervisors mission, developing legislative platforms that are priorities for the citizens of the County; developing, monitoring, and coordinating the County’s $5.2 billion budget; and empowering County departments to administer services efficiently and effectively by managing 8,414 positions countywide dedicated to providing outstanding public service. These functions include administrative and operational services, fiscal and budget services, and intergovernmental relations. Over the last three years, your Board has supported adding responsibilities to the CAO Office in an effort to create greater oversight and coordination of functions across local, state, and federal levels. For example, as one of the largest Counties in California and one of the largest organizations in the San Joaquin Valley, it is important that the County develop a more proactive approach to communications and work specifically to “tell our story” to both the community we serve and our own employees. Your Board approved the addition of positions to help create a dedicated Communications team that has proven to be efficient, effective, and proactive. Additionally, your Board approved the addition of a Program Manager dedicated to coordination and oversight of the County’s efforts addressing the complex issue of homelessness working across jurisdictions. Finally, your Board approved the addition of an Analyst dedicated full-time to oversight and administration of the County’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocation of $194 million, which as the ARPA program moves towards conclusion, we are transitioning this position to train on CAO Analyst work. These dedicated resources have been very effective; however, restoring capacity to handle the core functions of the CAO Office has not been addressed. At the same time, the workload and expectations in oversight of County departments, state and federal level mandates and issues have grown with the demands of a large and multifaceted organization that services a population of over one million in our County.
To put this in historical perspective, in FY 1979-80, when the County had a total budget of approximately $218 Million and 5,725 positions, the CAO Office had a total of 18 positions supporting core CAO Office functions. The staffing number was reduced to a total of 11 positions by FY 2011-12 during the aftermath of the Great Recession. Although the CAO Office currently has 17 positions, it should be noted that five of the positions added in the last three years were for new functions and responsibilities that did not address core functions. This has resulted in fewer positions supporting those functions then were in place 45 years ago. Practically, this has required leadership positions in the CAO Office to take on many functions that have traditionally been handled by Analysts taking away capacity for the attention to oversight needed in other areas.
It is important to restore resources, support core CAO functions, and help with the additional oversight being taken on by the CAO Office. To help achieve this, the first recommended action adds a total of three positions:
• CAO Program Manager - The proposed position would function as a Project Manager for the oversight and coordination of the most critical, large projects in the County. Examples include large capital projects, the Property Tax System replacement, Code Enforcement, implementation of complex multi-faceted legislation, grant coordination and the most important Board priorities.
• Administrative Analyst - The addition of an Administrative Analyst will allow for additional focus and oversight of departments on agenda items, budget oversight and forecasting, legislation impacts and Board priority projects.
• Program Technician - The CAO Office has operated with an Executive Assistant to the CAO and a Program Technician serving the entire CAO Office. While the workload has continued to grow exponentially, the support staff providing support to the CAO Office has not. Practically, the Executive Assistant to the CAO is unable to fulfill that role due to the demand of other functions. The addition of a Program Technician will address this shortage and provide more direct support to the Deputy CAOs enhancing their ability to focus on bigger issues and enabling the Executive Assistant to the CAO to truly serve in that capacity.
The CAO Office will continue to take on additional responsibilities with the intent of centralizing and streamlining functions making for better oversight of the County of Fresno as an organization.
The second recommended action follows through on your Board’s direction to ensure that the CAO Office is a destination for the most experienced and talented Analysts in the County based on the size, complexity and impact of their work. Analysts in the CAO Office handle not only a higher volume of work, the complexity, impact, and expectations of timely results on work product are significantly higher than that of a departmental Program Manager/Staff Analyst position. Additionally, CAO Analysts are expected to work directly with department heads and elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels requiring extensive discretion. The recommended actions will assist with attracting and retaining the highest quality Analysts for these critical assignments.
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Salary Resolution Amendment - Appendix “L”
CAO ANALYST:
Samantha Buck