Confidential Account Clerk - Additional Position Request Copyrighted
October 16, 2023
City of Dubuque Consent Items # 014.
City Council Meeting
ITEM TITLE: ConfidentialAccountClerk-Additional Position Request
SUM MARY: City Manager recommending City Council approval to eliminate the 0.25
full-time employee, Lease Management I ntern Position and add a non-
exempt (hourly), full-time Confidential Account Clerk position.
SUGGESTED Suggested Disposition: Receive and File;Approve
DISPOSITION:
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Type
MVM Memo City Manager Memo
Staff Memo Staff Memo
Dubuque
THE CITY QF �
All-Meriea Ciry
DLT B E ; . � . �
�� � �
MaSt� Z�C� aYd t�Q Mt55ZSSZ Z zoa�•zoiz•�ai3
YP pp za��*zai�
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Confidential Account Clerk - Additional Position Request
DATE: October 12, 2023
City Engineer Gus Psihoyos is recommending City Council approval to eliminate the
0.25 FTE Lease Management Intern Position and add a non-exempt (hourly), full-time
(1.0 FTE) Confidential Account Clerk position.
One FTE accounts for 2,088 working hours in a year. The total cost of this requested
position is $61,246.00 per year or $29.33/hour including wages & benefits. It is
proposed that this position would be funded by recharging to capital projects and
eliminating the intern position.
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
�
Mic ael C. Van Milligen
MCVM:sv
Attachment
cc: Crenna Brumwell, City Attorney
Cori Burbach, Assistant City Manager
Gus Psihoyos, City Engineer
Bob Schiesl, Assistant City Engineer
Dubuque
THE CITY OF �
All•America Cily
DuB E r1�:.�k��ti�
���� �m,
I I
Maste iece on the Mississi i z°°''Z°iZxz°13
�P pp za1�*zoi9
TO: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM: Gus Psihoyos, City Engineer
DATE: October 12, 2023
SUBJECT: Confidential Account Clerk - Additional Position Request
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this memo is to request permission to eliminate the 0.25 FTE Lease
Management Intern Position and add a non-exempt (hourly), full-time (1.0 FTE)
Confidential Account Clerk position. The proposed change to the Engineering
Department's personnel compliment will both save money by reducing overtime costs and
help address the backlog of capital project administrative tasks (i.e., managing grants and
project budgets, working through the process of executing
agreements/amendments/change orders for design professionals and construction
contractors, etc.). This additional Confidential Account Clerk position will help meet the
demands of the department's assigned capital improvement program projects along with
helping to expedite the processing of lease, license, and broadband agreements.
BACKGROUND
There are currently three (3) administrative professional staff members within the
Engineering Department, supporting a department of 41.5 Full Time Equivalent positions.
The Department's administrative professional staff support two primary job functions:
• Provide traditional job functions related to the operating budget duties of the
department including but not limited to payroll processing, in person and on the
phone customer service support, P-card processing, travel requests, appointment
scheduling, ordering office supplies, miscellaneous office support, etc.
• Capital project support: perform a variety of diverse job duties related to supporting
project managers/civil engineers with the processing of project contract
administration paperwork and financial project budgeting. Work includes but is not
limited to coordinating bid tabulations, bid results, notices of award, notices to
proceed, contract execution, bond review, insurance compliance requirements,
purchase order processing, progress payment processing, change order
processing, project close out documentation, legal agreement management, city
council project memos, and other similar related tasks.
DISCUSSION
Over the last 18-24 months the Engineering Department has experienced a measurable
amount of growth in administrative tasks and workload. The growth in workload is
attributed to the following primary factors:
• Growth of Capital Project Grant & SRF Loan Management: In the past 10 years
the percentage of sanitary sewer capital projects funded by SFR loans has grown
exponentially. Each loan agreement creates additional hours of capital project
budget management work beyond managing a traditionally funded capital project.
The Engineering Department has also experienced growth in the percentage of
stormwater utility projects funded by SRF loans. In addition, the City's success
in being awarded major capital project grants (STREETS, RAISE, Schmitt Island
Amphitheater, lowa Flood Mitigation Sales Tax Increment Funding, USEPA
brownfields, USEDA Kerper Pump Station, East/West Corridor Capacity
Improvements) has also increased the project administration workload of the
department. So much so that administrative staff is relied upon heavily by the
senior engineers of the department to manage project budgets in relation to these
grants, loans, and bonds, and for accounting compliance reporting and timely
grant and loan draws.
• Success of the Facility Management Team: With the addition of the Facility
Manager to the Engineering Department, the department's small capital project
management workload related to the maintenance of assigned buildings has
increased by approximately 25% because of the Facility Manager's ability to
identify and resolve problems in a timely manner. In addition, over the past 6-12
months other departments including Fire, Police, Information Services, W&RRC,
and the Sustainability Office are now requesting to leverage the technical
expertise of the Facility Manager. When the Building Services Department was
dissolved several years ago, their administrative support staff was transferred to
the Office of Construction and Inspection Services. The administrative tasks
related to facility management building capital project and operational
maintenance work were absorbed by the existing administrative staff within the
Engineering Department.
• Updates to City accounting and auditing requirements: Over the past 18 months
needed changes to the City's contracting and purchasing procedures to meet
updated audit requirements have added an estimated 10%-15% in additional
workload. In the past, small projects were often handled by simply processing a
completed work invoice within the department. Current standards require a short
form contract to be completed, insurance be submitted, reviewed, and approved,
and a memo be created to request execution of the contract. Responsibility for
assembling requisite information and coordinating loan and grant draws has
transitioned from the Finance Department to the Engineering Department. This
process creates 1-4 hours of additional work per contract agreement.
2
• Growth in private development in combination with the desire for highly
responsive customer service: The combination of seeking to provide highly
responsive services to private development inquiries, reviews, development
agreement & lease negotiations, and broadband partnering service agreements
while also experiencing a growth in the volume of private development projects
over the past 36 months has created a measurable amount of new work for the
department. The increasing time being allocated by staff to support development
work is reducing their availability to focus on both capital project delivery and
contracted maintenance programs. A recent analysis of capital projects assigned
to the Engineering Department shows there were 165 budget projects with a
value of more than $75 million. But due to limited staff resources, work is only
progressing on a little more than half of the assigned projects.
Adequate support staff is required to effectively manage the above noted capital projects
and other programs. The Engineering Department's last increase in administrative
support staff FTEs occurred 12 years ago — in FY12.
RECOMMENDATION
Based on the additional project volume our department is experiencing now and for future
projects, I recommend eliminating the 0.25 FTE Lease Management Intern Position and
creating an additional non-exempt (hourly), regular, full-time (1.0 FTE) Confidential
Account Clerk position (GE-25) within the Engineering Department.
BUDGET
One FTE accounts for 2,088 working hours in a year. The total cost of this requested
position is $61,246.00 per year or$29.33/hour including wages & benefits. It is proposed
that this position would be funded by recharging to capital projects.
ACTION TO BE TAKEN
I request authorization to eliminate the 0.25 FTE Lease Management Intern Position
create and create an additional non-exempt (hourly), regular, full-time (1.0 FTE)
Confidential Account Clerk position (GE-25) within the Engineering Department.
cc: Bob Schiesl, Assistant City Engineer
3