Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 10-22-2007 special agenda — reading text

upcoming fiscal year. This amount can be saved through reallocation of work. Recommendation # 21: Eliminate one ( 1) staff position ( Inventory Control Specialist) in Purchasing. Alternative Services Delivery Study for Fort Walton Beach, Florida Page 6-3  Purchasing 6. 3Alternative Service Deliverv Options Contracting Out Finding: Private companies could supply the services currently provided by the Department. A private company could perform this type of work so it would be possible to contract out services being provided by the Department. This is not a typical approach for this function, as it is typically handled within the municipality. Contracting the purchasing function would result in some loss of control and may have some undesired side effects such as reduced quality of goods and services. It is not certain that substantial savings would be available by contracting this service. With the reduction of one ( 1) position, the cost of the purchasing function would be reduced to a level that a contractor would require. Cities smaller than Fort Walton Beach may rely more on the individual departments to engage in their own buying of goods and services, although some of the more complex purchases may be handled by an administrator. The more decentralized approach must be balanced against issues of accountability, favoritism, and the application of generally recognized standards. In an increasingly litigious and complex society, certain safeguards are desirable. Having professional staff with training in the field minimizes the exposure of the City to time consuming and potentially costly challenges. Recommendation # 22: Continue to provide purchasing functions through the Purchasing Department and four (4) personnel. Alternative Services Delivery Study for Fort Walton Beach, Florida Page 6-4  SECTION 7.0 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Management Advisory Group, Inc. 2007  7.0 Information Technology The Information Technology Department is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the City' s network, computers, servers, and website. There are 19 sites that are serviced, including 17 remote sites, and the City Hall and Annex. 7. 1 Oraanization and Staffina There are four ( 4) positions within the Information Technology Department. They include: Information Technology Director; Data Processing Coordinator ( 2); and, Network Analyst. All three ( 3) positions report directly to the Information Technology Director. The Data Processing Coordinators focus on managing the AS- 400 mainframe, install software on PC' s, help maintain the web site, serve as a liaison with HTE, and serve on- call during evenings and nights as needed. The Network Analyst is responsible for ensuring connectivity within the network and also providing hardware assistance. The level of service to Departments is excellent. Nearly all requests for service from City departments are answered within one day. Also, staff skills produce some savings, because staff has the ability to repair personal computers when they are broken or need new parts. This minimizes the cost of repairs. Exhibit 7- 1 on the following page represents the current structure as noted in the recommended City budget. Alternative Services Delivery Study for Fort Walton Beach, Florida Page 7- 1  Information Technology Information Technology CITY COUNCIL CITY MANAGER INFOR ATION TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR 1) DATA PROCESSING NETWORK COORDINATOR ANALYST ( 1) 2) FULL- TIME EQUIVALENT SUMMARY ACTUAL MID- YR BUDGET 03/ 04 04/ 05 05/ 06 06/ 07 07/ 08 MIS DIRECTOR 1. 00 1. 00 INFO TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR 1. 00 1. 00 1. 00 DATA PROCESSING COORDINATOR 2. 00 2. 00 2. 00 2. 00 2. 00 NETWORK ANALYST 1. 00 1. 00 1. 00 1.00 1. 00 FULL TIME EQUIVALENT ( FTE) TOTAL 4. 00 4. 00 4. 00 4. 00 4. 00 Alternative Services Delivery Study for Fort Walton Beach, Florida Page 7-2  Information Technology 7.2 Maior Policies and ODerationallssues Major Policies and Practices Finding: The Department's key practices are mostly consistent with recognized industry standards. The Department has established progressive policies and practices consistent with widely recognized public sector policies and practices. These include the application of precautions and security for the network, establishing virus protections, and establishing the ability to evaluate Internet sites ( for safety) prior to opening. The policies are firm but sufficiently flexible to enable Departments to operate successfully and without interruption. The one concern is that the City does not appear to be able to stay on a five ( 5) year replacement cycle for its computers. This leads to a practice of allowing computers to work " until they die". This creates additional work for IT staff as software becomes more progressive ( and data hungry), and older machines have difficulty using current software. Recommendation # 23: Continue existing information technology policies with periodic review for currency and adherence to modern standards. Seek to implement and adequately fund the five (5) year replacement cycle. Finding: The level of staffing in IT may be reduced without substantial impact on service levels. The assignment of four ( 4) positions to the IT function for a City the size of Fort Walton Beach is excessive. As a result, it appears that some positions may be underutilized. The work of a Data Processing Coordinator position could be covered by other staff, and duties reallocated to ensure an equivalent service level. Total wages and benefits for one of the positions, considering retirement, are anticipated at $ 70, 277 for the upcoming fiscal year. This amount can be saved through reallocation of work. Recommendation # 24: Eliminate one ( 1) staff position in Information Technology. Alternative Services Delivery Study for Fort Walton Beach, Florida Page 7-3  Information Technology 7.3Alternative Service Deliverv Options Contracting Out Finding: Private companies could supply the services currently provided by the Department. For example, the county school board has outsourced to a company named Titan. Staff must go through a help desk to determine the nature of the problem. There is a three ( 3) year replacement cycle, which is better than the City' s (intended) five ( 5) year replacement cycle. The current service level in the City is customized, while a provider would tend towards a generic approach and be more cost conscious. A provider may not support the firewall, web server, and e- mail with as much concern or responsiveness as current City IT staff does. A private provider would likely establish the equivalent of three ( 3) positions to provide service to the City. Recommendation # 25: Continue to provide information technology services through the Information Technology Department and its personnel. Given the current staff skills, service levels, type of hardware and software as part of the system, and the customized approach to service, maintaining the existing internal approach is in the City' s best interests at this time. To make the City' s current costs competitive with the level of cost that a provider may offer, a staffing level of three ( 3) positions is appropriate. Alternative Services Delivery Study for Fort Walton Beach, Florida Page 7-4  SECTION 8.0 GOLF COURSE Management Advisory Group, Inc. 2007  8.0 Golf Course 8. 1 Oraanization and Staffina The City of Fort Walton Beach Golf Club is an outstanding enterprise service to the community at a remarkably low price for the patron. Golf Diaest named it one of the best places to play golf, and has given ratings of three ( 3),and two and half stars ( out of five) for the two ( 2) courses. No Florida course received five ( 5) stars. The golf course operates as an enterprise fund with some small subsidy from the general fund. Organizationally, the Golf Club is divided into two ( 2) units: Operations and Maintenance. Operations: The Operations unit consists of the clubhouse, cashiers, cart attendants, operations, and the driving range. It contracts out the retail, food and beverage functions. The club has five- year contracts and is paid by contractors based on the square footage used and a percentage of the profit of the contractor's business. Almost all the employees of the unit are minimum wage or volunteers. Only three ( 3) employees are full time. Maintenance: The Maintenance unit takes care of the greens and mechanical needs of the Golf Club such as the irrigation system. It has 20 full time employees and one ( 1) part- time employee. There is only one ( 1) administrator and the rest are hourly employees. They indicated that their compensation is competitive with other organizations that need similar skills. Exhibit 8- 1 on the following page represents the current structure as noted in the recommended City budget. No major changes are recommended for the structure. Alternative Services Delivery Study for Fort Walton Beach, Florida Page B- 1  Golf Course Exhibit 8- 1 Golf Course Current Organization Chart Golf CITY COUNCIL