Agenda - Council - 06/14/1994 - Laserfiche WebLink

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MEMORANDUM TO:. Ryan ~¢hroeder, City Administrator FM: Kay l~cAloney, Administrative Services Manager RE: Five- ~y~a.r Staff'nag Plan DT: April $, 1994 Attached is th~ most current copy of the Recommended 5-Year Staffing Overview, which has the addiri~bnal line of "Pan-time and/or Temporary" to those departments not having such designafibn. I have also included a copy of the Requested 5-Year Stuffing Overview. For the past ~ouple of years the general staf£mg policy has been that of not adding additional full,,tim,e, staff, but as stated in your November 24, 1993 memorandum regarding Five Year Pla0s, 'I believe the general }one of all of our work plan documents should be enhancing efficiency of existing staff.' One of the primary objectives of the Mission Statement in ge 1994 Work Plan is "to provide pro-active delivery of municipal services to the citizens fo~ a cost at or below the Metropolitan median for delivery of similar services." To achieve t$is objective, you suggest administrative and supervisory changes and technological '~,anprovements. Council, for tt/e most part, has declined to arbitrarily accept industry standards for staffing, such as a stan~tard per capita comparison used elsewhere, or adding additional full-time staff merely b{cause of growth in services or expansion of infrastructure. "That's how we have always dbne it" is not an acceptable answer to the question of how things are being done and how!we can increase efficiency. Our current level of staffing can be viewed as 'basic service l~vel'. Any sporadic or temporary increases in level of service must be filled by interns, pal-t-time temporary or contract service employees. Part-time temporary positions mus~be used for those 'peak' times. Using the Corriparison of 1993 Staffing and Expenditures for Selected Metro Area Cities as provided in th§ 1994 Work Plan, Ramsey has the second lowest Employee per population ratio and by f~ the lowest in 1993 Expenditures per Capita. What this indicates to the reader is that l~;amsey is either more efficient than other cities in the way that services are provided or ~ at Council may not offer the same level of service as some other cities. Either case is a policy decision made by Council. Reflecting on my experience with Ramsey, I bet::eve that the Council and Management make conscious decisions not to automatically [11 a position with a full-time person, but take the time necessary to review the organizafi( n each time a staffing opportunity arises. As Ramsey has experienced dramatic grow h in the last five years, Council and Management have had to "review the organization" otn a continual basis. The purpose of this memorandum is to address the requests of Department Heads and Supervisors fo~ additional personnel in the 5-Year Staffing Overview. For the 1994 General Fund l~udget, almost 58% is in personal services. There is no reason to expect this number to,range dramatically up or down during this five year period as most cities experience between 60% and 80% of their General Fund 'Budget in the area of personal services. Ther~are some significant program targets projected during the next five years and without anf increase in staffing (full-time or otherwise), there will need to be some innovative steps toward further efficiency by provision of either training and/or technolog3, or a change in the way we deliver services. Page