To: Board of Supervisors
From: DHHS: Administration
Agenda Section: Consent
Vote Requirement: Majority
SUBJECT:
title
Approval of an Exception to the Hiring Freeze to Hire Six Total Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) in the Administrative Analyst I/II, Budget Specialist, Accounting System Analyst, Mental Health Maintenance Custodian, and Payroll/Personnel Supervisor job classifications for the Behavioral Health (BH) and Social Services (SS) branches of the Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS)
end
RECOMMENDATION(S):
Recommendation
That the Board of Supervisors:
1. Provide an exception to the hiring freeze to fill and begin recruitment for the position of Administrative Analyst I/II (class 0626, salary range 444), Budget Specialist (class 0117, salary range 482), Accounting System Analyst (class 0692, salary range 444), Mental Health Maintenance Custodian (class 0269, salary range 345) and Payroll/Personnel Supervisor (class 0941, salary range 428).
Body
STRATEGIC PLAN:
This action supports the following areas of your Board’s Strategic Plan.
Area of Focus: Core Services/Other
Strategic Plan Category: 9999 - Core Services/Other
DISCUSSION:
On June 4, 2024, your Board approved a hiring freeze for positions allocated under a fund with a negative fund balance, including Social Services 1160 and Behavioral Health 1170. In light of budget challenges, DHHS continues to find ways to reduce its overall budget by evaluating its core operations and determine if there is a better structure to provide services. The department has taken every opportunity to reevaluate the most effective staffing model to achieve the necessary workload but also provide operational savings as we move forward in this budget deficit and beyond. With this in mind, the department has identified three (3) classifications in need of filling to efficiently provide services to the county.
The Administrative Analyst I/II position will soon be vacated in December 2024 due to retirement and is a critical position for the Behavioral Health (BH) Fiscal department that supports many fiscal functions with a focus on Grant reporting, reconciliation, and tracking. This position determines analytical techniques, information-gathering processes and obtains required information for analysts.
The Budget Specialist position will also soon be vacated due to retirement in March 2025 leaving a crucial impact on the Behavioral Health Fiscal Branch. This position oversees all activities affecting BH Fiscal including, budget preparing, budget monitoring and budget submitting as well as ensuring County is complying with State/Federal regulations and contract management. The BH Budget Specialist also supports programs in tracking and analyzing fiscal data as well as providing recommendations for cost-saving measures and provides necessary supervision to the BH Fiscal team.
The Accounting Systems Analyst position is another critical position for the Claims Data Management division as this position will directly support billing efforts for the DHHS. The Accounting Systems Analyst position performs various duties in implementing, maintaining, testing and troubleshooting the business and financial components of Electronic Health Record system, supports completion of Revenue Cycle Management, as well as other professional accounting duties. This position was recently vacated due to a voluntary demotion.
The Mental Health Maintenance Custodian position provides routine and emergent custodial services for the 24/7 Psychiatric Health Facility, Sempervirens and other Behavioral Health Branch locations. This job class has a small pool of staff that is shared between locations and is currently short two staff members, leaving locations unable to get the services needed and impacting staff and clients.
The Payroll/Personnel Supervisor job classification supervises and trains Payroll/Personnel Specialist staff. This position is also responsible for processing payroll, implementing processes, and recruitment tasks. This position has been vacant since July 7th, 2024 due to an internal promotion, and while efforts were made to make it work by cross training staff and share duties, it has been discovered these efforts are not enough and the department needs to recruit.
Therefore, DHHS recommends that your Board provide an exception to the Hiring Freeze for one Administrative Analyst II, one BH Budget Specialist, one Accounting Systems Analyst, two Mental Health Maintenance Custodian and one Payroll/Personnel Supervisor for the current fiscal year (FY) 2024-25.
SOURCE OF FUNDING:
Mental Health Fund 1170-424, revenue lines 640000, 707254, 515001/507085, 515120
Social Services Fund 1160-516, revenue lines 526000, 507000, 507025
Public Health Fund 1175-424/400, revenue lines 515120, 707254, 507025
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
|
Expenditures (Fund, Budget Unit) |
FY24-25 |
FY25-26 Projected* |
FY26-27 Projected* |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
$189,298 |
$541,396 |
$595,535 |
|
Total Expenditures |
$189,298 |
$541,396 |
$595,535 |
*Projected amounts are estimates and are subject to change.
|
Funding Sources (Fund, Budget Unit) |
FY24-25 |
FY25-26 Projected* |
FY26-27 Projected* |
|
State/Federal Funds |
$189,298 |
$541,396 |
$595,535 |
|
Total Funding Sources |
$189,298 |
$541,396 |
$595,535 |
*Projected amounts are estimates and are subject to change.
Narrative Explanation of Financial Impact:
The Administrative Analyst I/II allocation in Fund 1170, Budget Unit 424, is supported through Federal and State Grants, BH Realignment and MHSA funding; 50%, 44% and 6% respectively. The position allocation and associated revenues and expenditures are included in the approved FY 2024-25 budget at $91,953 for the Administrative Analyst II position. This total is based on a full year of salary and benefits. As this FY is now nearing the third quarter, and the process to fill a recruitment takes time, fiscal projections assume an anticipated start date of Feb. 16th, 2025, if approved by your Board. It will be likely this current FY 2024-25 impact will be $35,366.
The Budget Specialist allocation in Fund 1170, Budget Unit 424, is supported through Federal and State Reimbursement for Specialty Mental Health Services, Grants, BH Realignment and MHSA funding; 42%, 9%, 43% and 6% respectively. The position allocation and associated revenues and expenditures are included in the approved FY 2024-25 budget at $111,155 for the Budget Specialist position. This total is based on a full year of salary and benefits. As this FY is now nearing the third quarter, and the process to fill a recruitment takes time, fiscal projections assume an anticipated start date of Feb. 16th, 2025, if approved by your Board. It will be likely this current FY 2024-25 impact will be $42,752.
The Accounting System Analyst allocation in fund 1170, Budget Unit 424, is supported through Federal and State Reimbursement for Specialty Mental Health Services, Grants, Realignment and MHSA Funding; 47%, 10%, 22% and 21% respectively. This position allocation and associated revenues and expenditures are included in the approved FY 2024-25 budget at $91,953. This total is based on a full year of salary and benefits. As this FY is now nearing the third quarter, and the process to fill a recruitment takes time, fiscal projections assume an anticipated start date of Feb. 16th, 2025, if approved by your Board. It will be likely this current FY 2024-25 impact will be $35,366.
The Mental Health Maintenance Custodian allocation in Fund 1170, Budget Unit 424, is supported through Federal and State Reimbursement for Specialty Mental Health Services, Realignment and MHSA funding; 47%, 32% and 21% respectively. The position allocation and associated revenues and expenditures are included in the approved FY 2024-25 budget at $56,110 for each of the Mental Health Maintenance Custodian positions. This total is based on a full year of salary and benefits. As this FY is now nearing the third quarter, and the process to fill a recruitment takes time, fiscal projections assume an anticipated start date of Feb. 16th, 2025, if approved by your Board. It will be likely this current FY 2024-25 impact will be $43,162 for the two positions at $21,581 per position.
The Payroll/Personnel Supervisor position is allocated based on a pre-determined sharing ratio between Social Services, Behavioral Health and Public Health. The allocations in Fund 1160, Budget Unit 516, are supported through Federal and State claiming, Grants, Realignment and MHSA funding; 49%, 11%, 38% and 2% respectively. The position allocation and associated revenues and expenditures are included in the approved FY 2024-25 budget at $84,897 for the Payroll/Personnel Supervisor position. This total is based on a full year of salary and benefits. As this FY is now nearing the third quarter, and the process to fill a recruitment takes time, fiscal projections assume an anticipated start date of Feb. 16th, 2025, if approved by your Board. It will be likely this current FY 2024-25 impact will be $32,652.
In the financial impact chart, the figures are based on 1.0 FTE of Administrative Analyst I/II classification, 1.0 FTE Budget Specialist classification, 1.0 FTE of Accounting Systems Analyst classification, 2.0 FTE Mental Health Maintenance Custodian classification, and 1.0 FTE Payroll/Personnel Supervisor classification for which the exception is requested for an assumption of 20 weeks of service in the current FY 2024-25. This projection is based on an assumed start date of Feb. 16th, 2025, if approved by your Board.
There is no negative budget impact in FY 2024-25 as the positions that DHHS is requesting to fill are already budgeted for. DHHS has already taken steps to freeze hiring, make budget cuts and reorganize the department’s interdepartmental cost structures. Early indications point to these budget reduction strategies reducing the fund balance deficits in the current FY and eliminating them entirely in coming FYs.
STAFFING IMPACT:
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impact:
Only vacated positions already budgeted in the adopted FY 24-25 budget are being requested for exemption to the hiring freeze, after ensuring the position would be utilized to meet mandates and to allow staff to continue to generate revenue.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
None
ALTERNATIVES TO STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS:
Your board could choose not to authorize the exemption to the hiring freeze for the 6 positions, however, this is not recommended. Leaving these positions unfilled could lead to lack of compliance with state mandates, a loss of federal and state claiming and leaves DHHS vulnerable to non-compliance by not meeting internal staffing needs.
ATTACHMENTS:
N/A
PREVIOUS ACTION/REFERRAL:
Meeting of: June 10, 2024, June 25, 2024
File No.: 24-956, 24-1012