HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 7/30/2007 - Finance and Personnel Committee FINANCE AND PERSONNEL COMMITTEE MEETING
�- Monday,July 30,2007
Aldermen's Conference Room, 6:30 p.m.
In Attendance:Committee Members: Chairman Alderman Murgatroyd, Alderman Peterson. and
Alderman Schaefer. Absent: None.
Also in Attendance: City Administrator Maxeiner, Director of Finance Black, Deputy Chief Pechous and
City Clerk Jones.
Chairman Alderman Murgatroyd called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
Alderman Wimmer arrived at 7:18 p.m.
Discussion Regarding Dispatch Service Fees
Chairman Alderman Murgatroyd informed the Committee that the topic of tonight's meeting would be
the continued discussion of dispatching service fees. He then turned the meeting over to Director of
Finance Black.
Director Black reiterated that during the Committee meeting on June 18, 2007, there appeared to be
general agreement that dispatching fees charged to other entities should be based on a cost recovery basis
(for salary and benefits of the dispatchers). At that time, the Committee requested additional data on call
volumes and past fees. Director Black continued stating that issues requiring further discussion included:
� Setting a fee recovery policy;
• Determining how quickly the rates should be adjusted to become compliant with the policy; and
`- • How�to evaluate new requests for service from outside entities, assuming they are willing to
comply with the cost recovery policy.
Director Black stated that Staff has prepared information to address the Committee's request for
additional data relative to call volume, cost and different rate increase scenarios to assist in setting fee
levels. Additionally, Director Black noted that information has been included relative to the dispatch
center's staffing level and workload to further assist in the evaluation regarding whether or not the City
should add new service recipients.
Director Black provided the Committee with a table showing calls for service data for the City of
McHenry Police Deparhnent and the three agencies it cunently serves as a dispatch provider:
• McHenry Fire
• Johnsburg Police
• McCollum Lake Police
It was noted that with the exception of the year 2004, the volume of calls has increased steadily over a
five-year period.
Director Black informed the Committee that the salary and benefits costs for dispatching services are
budgeted at $764,900 for the current fiscal year. In 2005/2006, the City received approximately$69,500
from outside agencies. In November 2006, Staff communicated with representatives from the other
agencies and informally agreed to a 6% fee adjustment for 2007/2008. He stated the current fee levels do
not provide adequate cost recovery and are significantly below the per call fees charged by other
agencies.
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Director Black suggested that in order to ensure a more appropriate level of cost recovery, Staff
recommends setting fees based on the City's added personnel costs for providing services to other
agencies. The City requires eight full time staff dispatchers, a supervisor(0.5 sergeant position),and 50%
of the current overtime and part-time employee amount to dispatch for the McHenry Police Department.
Accordingly,the remaining cost,which is approximately 22.5% of the total,would be allocated to outside
agencies based on their call volume. This method would allow the City to recover its incremental costs of
providing services to other agencies and is competitive with fees charged by the Sheriff's Department.
Director Black provided the Committee with a table illustrating the fees to be assessed to each agency
based on the cost recovery proposed above, assuming the City's costs increase 5% annually. He also
presented a table illustrating the annual percentage increase necessary for fee recovery, broken
incrementally into 1-year, 3-year and 5-year periods.
Additionally, Director Black noted that the issue regarding whether the City should be amenable to
adding new service recipients, if entities are willing to pay a share, should be addressed by the
Committee. Staff recommends that new service recipients be considered only if it does not require the
City to hire additional Staff. Director Black informed the Committee that the salary and benefits for an
entry level dispatcher are approximately $50,000 annually. Consequently, adding entities that would
require the hiring of additional personnel,would drive up the fees for all outside entities not just the entity
requiring the additional personnel.
Director Black stated the Village of Lakemoor, which has a call volume similar to the Village of
Johnsburg, whom we currently service with dispatch, has indicated that they are willing to pay up to
`- $50,000 annually for dispatching service.
Responding to an inquiry from the Committee,Deputy Chief Pechous stated that the Police Department is
able to provide the additional service to the Village of Lakemoor in 2007/2008 without adding an
additional dispatcher. However,he indicated it is difficult to determine whether Lakemoor's call volume,
combined with the increasing call volume for the existing agencies, would require an additional
dispatcher for 2008/2009.
Staff recommends the following:
• Setting a dispatching fee policy that recovers the personnel expenses required to provide dispatch
services to outside agencies;
• Pursue increases in dispatching fees to other agencies that will comply with the dispatching fee
policy within three years(i.e.,2010/2011 fiscal year); and
• Discuss the request of the Village of Lakemoor for dispatching services.
Chairman Alderman Murgatroyd inquired about whether the 6%rate increase, informally agreed upon in
November 2006, was in effect. Director Black informed the Committee that the rate increase was not in
effect because th�Intergovernmental Agreements are not in effect.
Responding to an inquiry from Alderman Peterson, City Administrator Maxeiner stated that should the
City's dispatch service ever become overloaded the County would cover additional calls.
A discussion ensued regarding the fee sh-ucture and the request of the Village of Lakemoor for dispatch
services. Chairman Alderman Murgatroyd suggested first the Committee address the fee recovery policy
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and how the rates should be adjusted then move on to a discussion regarding the Village of Lakemoor's
request.
Responding to Alderman Schaefer's inquiry regarding the benefits of a 3-year versus a 5-year adjustment
period, City Administrator Maxeiner stated with a 3-year adjustment period, in essence, the City of
McHenry would be subsidizing the serviced entity for two additional years.
Responding to an inquiry from the Committee, Deputy Chief Pechous explained the allocation of an
officer's time when dispatched. He continued, explaining various calls and their impact on dispatch.
Deputy Chief Pechous stated he believes with current manpower calls can be effectively dealt with. He
noted the addition of the Village of Lakemoor to the dispatch service would have little impact.
A discussion ensued regarding the methodology best suited to the City:
• Increases over a 3-year or 5-year period; or
• Increase based upon call volume.
o With the cost of overtime factored into the amount.
It was the consensus of the Committee that a 1-year recovery would be onerous on the entities and a 5-
year recovery is too long a period of time. Alderman Peterson and Alderman Schaefer indicated they
could support a 3-year recovery period.
Motion by Schaefer, seconded by Peterson, to recommend to full Council an increase of dispatch fees
based upon a 3-year recovery period.
�-' Aye: Murgatroyd,Peterson, Schaefer.
Nay: None.
Absent: None.
Motion carried.
Alderman Wimmer arrived at 7:18 p.m.
Chairman Alderman Murgatroyd, continued the discussion regarding adding the Village of Lakemoor to
dispatch services, stating he is leery of adding any other entities until the new fee structure has been
formally established.
Responding to an inquiry from Alderman Peterson,Deputy Chief Pechous stated the Village of Lakemoor
has 8 officers and a Chief of Police. Deputy Chief Pechous informed the Committee that the Village of
Lakemoor would have to completely restructure their system and add equipment at a cost in excess of
$100,000 if they are forced to use McHenry County dispatch services.
City Administrator Maxeiner suggested the methodology approved by Council could be implemented for
entities currently served and the Village of Lakemoor could be brought in with the understanding that the
additional cost would be $50,000 annually plus, possibly the cost of an additional dispatcher. A brief
discussion ensued.
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Motion by Peterson, seconded by Schaefer, to deny the Village of Lakemoor's request to be added to the
City of McHenry's dispatch service for the fiscal year 2007/2008
Aye: Murgatroyd,Peterson, Schaefer.
Nay: None.
Absent: None.
Motion carried.
Adiournment
Motion by Peters��n, seconded by Schaefer,to adjourn the meeting at 7:25 p.m.
Aye: Murgatroyd,Peterson, Schaefer.
Nay: None.
Absent: None.
Motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
. ��'-'/'l.l:..Tt'.r.. `--
Steven C.Murgatroyd, Chai an
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