DEPARTMENT: Mayor and City Council
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Christopher Callanen
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City Wide
SUBJECT:
City Council Staffing Level Modifications
SUMMARY:
This item, if approved, will authorize an increase in the number of full-time City Council Aides for the Mayor and each Councilmember from 6 Full Time Equivalents (FTE) to 7 FTE in the FY2018 Annual Operating and Capital Budget.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
At the October 18, 2017 meeting of the Governance Committee, City Staff briefed the Committee on certain operations of the City Council office: (1) City Council Staffing Levels and (2) City Council Project Fund policy.
The Mayor and City Council Members’ operating budgets currently allow for each office to employ Council Aides up to a maximum of 6 Full Time Equivalents (FTE). The operating budgets for each office currently fully fund benefits - parking allowance, car allowance, cell phone allowance, health care stipend, individual retirement account match and tuition reimbursement - for 6 Full Time employees. Prior to FY 2011 the maximum number of Council Aides per District was 5 FTE’s.
The Governance Committee moved forward to the full City Council a recommendation that to increase the number of allowable City Council Aides for the Mayor and each Councilmember from 6 FTE to 7 FTE.
The Governance Committee also directed staff to bring back to a future Committee meeting recommendations for improvements to the CCPF Ordinance that would provide exemptions to the election year moratorium for funding Wellness Events that are associated with entities that provide larger scale wellness activities and that are not branded with the elected officials’ name, along with other additional exemptions for events that are also impacted by the election year moratorium such as arts and cultural events. Staff will do that in early 2018.
ISSUE:
Several Council Members expressed desire to modify the number of FTE’s that can be hired by a particular elected officials’ office.
ALTERNATIVES:
The City Council may elect not to modify the current number of maximum number of FTE’s.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Currently the Mayor and Council district budgets fully fund 6 FTEs, including benefits. Allowing for an additional FTE would require funding for those salaries and benefits to be managed from within the existing budgets. This could require salary adjustments or budget cuts in other areas of the district budgets to accommodate the additional FTE. There could also be impacts to equipment such as additional computers and office supplies as well as physical office space needs such as desk telephones and furniture. This ordinance would not modify funding allocated in the FY 2018 Adopted Budget for Mayor and Council support.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends increasing the maximum number of aides for Mayor and each Council District from 6 FTE to 7 FTE.