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Finance and Utility Billing StaffingTHE CITY OF Dubuque -~ DUB E "'~"~ ~ r Masterpiece on the Mississippi m 2007 TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager SUBJECT: Finance and Utility Billing Staffing DATE: June 24, 2009 Finance Director Ken TeKippe has recommended some staffing changes to replace Financial Analyst Rick Till, who has been appointed to the Assistant Budget Director position. Since the recommendation involves the creation and elimination of some civil service classifications, City Council approval will be required. Rick supervised the Utility Billing activities with the assistance of Utility Billing Coordinator Rose Hoerner. The Financial Analyst position will not be filled and the Utility Billing Coordinator will be reclassified as a Utility Billing Supervisor. I recommend an additional Accountant position be created to take over the finance and accounting duties that were previously performed by Rick. The total number of full time equivalent employees in the Finance Department would not change as a result of this recommendation. However, if approved, the staffing changes would result in an annual salary savings of approximately $8,000. The classifications of Utility Billing Coordinator and Accountant are covered by civil service. In order to implement the recommendation, (respectfully request that the City Council create one additional Accountant position in the Finance Department and eliminate the position of Utility Billing Coordinator. Mich el C. Van Milligen MCVMaIb cc: Barry Lindahl, City Attorney Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager Ken TeKippe, Finance Director Randy Peck, Personnel Manager THE CITY OF Dubuque ~.>d ~T ~"~ ~ AH-AmericaGiiy L,J Masterpiece on the Mississippi 2007 TO: Mike Van Milligen, City Manager FROM: Ken TeKippe, Finance Director ~^^- C ~~~' SUBJECT: Finance & Utility Billing Staffing DATE: June 19, 2009 Assistant Finance Director Jean Nachtman and I have been reviewing staffing to replace Rick Till, Financial Analyst, after he moves to the new full-time Assistant Budget Director position on July 1. After discussion with Rick Till and Rose Hoerner, I am submitting a suggested arrangement to cover Rick Till, Financial Analyst's duties. Additional detailed information from Jean Nachtman is enclosed. I recommend Rose Hoerner, Utility Billing Coordinator be reclassified to Utility Billing Supervisor @ salary grade GE-33. Currently Rose is at salary grade GE-30. Rick's current salary grade is GE-35. The proposed classification of a Utility Billing Supervisor would be exempt from overtime and Civil Service. A suggested job description is enclosed. I recommend an Accountant position, salary grade GE-30, be established to absorb the Finance part of the Financial Analyst position which would be eliminated. A civil service test would be required. I recommend that the examination be limited to City employees since there are qualified and interested candidates. This arrangement would be consistent with the previous examination rules for the Utility Billing Coordinator and Accountant positions which were filled in 2005. Jean and I will be supervising the work of the Accountant. Selected job responsibilities of the Accountant are enclosed. A job description already exists. The overall impact of implementing these changes would be to reduce our department payroll dollars. The employee FTE's for Finance/Utility Billing will not change. Information detailing the positive budget impact is enclosed. A percentage of Jean and/or my time would be charged to Utility Billing for our supervisory work. Thank you for your consideration. I am available to discuss at your earliest convenience if any questions. KT/jg Enclosures . cc: Randy Peck, Personnel Manager THE CTTY OF ~~T~ ~ ~ Masterpiece on the Mississipp2 TO: Ken TeKippe, Finance Director FROM: Jean Nachtman, Assistant Finance Director SUBJECT: Staffing DATE: June 15; 2009 ,~ ~° Dubuque All-llmerica City 2007 BACKGROUND After discussions with Rick, Rose and you, I am suggesting the following p{an for replacing the Financial Analyst position in the Finance Department. Utility Billing will be going through major modifications in the next two years. A system upgrade to CommunityPlus version 8.3 for the Utility Billing accounts receivable and customer information system is scheduled for Fiscal Year 2010. With this upgrade Utility Billing will analyze the existing web based on-line bill payment system and possibly switch from WebQA as a vendor to GovQA through Sungard Pentamation. At the same time Utility Billing will begin switching to the automated meter reading (AMR) system requiring the change out of 22,000 meters and the installation of associated hardware and software. The AMR will have its own software to communicate and interface with the Utility Billing system. This is anticipated to be a two-year project. The implementation of both systems will require an employee who is thoroughly knowledgeable with current Utility Billing billing and procedures, with a demonstrated ability to understand the complicated technical aspects of each system, and has a strong accounting background to insure financial reporting needs are met. Utility Billing will .need an individual who can manage the work flow in both systems during the transition, work with parallel systems, balance accounts receivable, perform system .interfaces, coordinate fieldwork with billing cycles, assist information services, engineering consultants and vendor technicians, and still be available to assist staff with customer support, collections and billing adjustments. Finance is facing similar challenges. Recently, Finance has taken over the administration of the AmeriCorps Grant. This summer two new related grants may be added for Youth Build and a second AmeriCorps. The general ledger system upgrade to FinancePlus version 4.3 is scheduled for this fall. Implementation of the procurement card system is anticipated to begin simultaneously with the system upgrade. In addition, Finance will have to begin planning for the internal preparation of the financial statements for the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). Finance has always prepared the preliminary work papers for the statements, but in the past, our external auditors have always prepared the statements. Because of new auditing regulations, our auditors may not be able to continue auditing and preparing statements. This will dramatically increase staff work {oad, and require extensive annual training to stay abreast of all FASB and GASB rules effecting governmental reporting. RECOMMENDATION Based on an analysis of the Financial Analyst duties and the knowledge, background and capabilities of. the current Utility Billing staff, 1 propose the following: Split the duties currently assigned to the Financial Analyst. Create two new positions; Utility Billing Supervisor and Accountant that would split his/her time 50%Utility Billing and 50% Finance. Eliminate the Financial Analyst and the Utility Billing Coordinator positions. Increase the time spent by the Finance Director and/or the Assistant Finance Director overseeing the operations of Utility Billing. Utility Billing Supervisor: The current Utility Billing Coordinator (Rose Hoerner) has assumed the primary supervisory role when the Financial Analyst (Rick Till) was devoted full-time to the budgeting department. Rose is thoroughly aware of all aspects of the Utility Billing and collection procedures. She is knowledgeable on all the City Utility Billing ordinances, Utility Billing policies and procedures, and workflow necessary to efficiently run the customer service area. Rose has taken the lead on problem solving system and equipment obstacles and handling difi'icult customer and personnel issues. Rose is well qualified to handle the supervisory portion of the Financial Analyst duties. Accountant The analytical portion ofi the Financial Analyst duties requires a degreed accountant who understands the intricacies of an accounts receivable software sub ledger and the interfaces with the general ledger. Related duties include demonstrated ability to implement new systems and system upgrades, ability to create system generated reports to improve information and work flow, work independently or with Information Services and outside support staff to solve software problems as they arise. The Accountant must also be able understand the issues and make continuous improvements to the City's web based bill payments. The on-line payments requires coordination between three vendors, City's Information Services, web software provider- GovQA and the banking and credit card provider-Transaction Central through Dubuque Bank and Trust. The accountant must identify the problem, isolate the vendor or vendors involved, and test solutions to be sure the system performs as City and citizens expect. A thorough working know{edge of the Sungard Pentamation CorrmmunityPlus and FinancePlus products, Cognos Impromptu Report Writing product, Microsoft Excel and Laserfiche is essential for this position. The Financial Analyst position was 65% Utility Billing and 35% Finance, with a portion of the Finance time devoted to budget. When Rick was working on budget, Utility Billing relied heavily on Rose and the Account Clerk (Lisa Demmer) to fill the void. Although Rick was primarily Utility Billing he was given special Finance projects. Recently Rick took over th'e administration and reporting for the AmeriCorps grant. Finance was relying on Rick's accounting experience to assist in preparation of CAFR statements. Both these duties require a background in accounting and/or finance. As Finance will rely more on the accountant position to cover special projects,. it is expected that others in Finance will have to assist Utility Billing. Finance and Utility Billing have distinct duties but the staff of both can be used interchangeably to smooth the peak times in both areas. This coordination will require more time of the Finance Director and thus a portion of the Finance Directors' time should be allocated to Utility Billing to make up the difference,. We suggest that this accountant position be the same job class as GE-30 Accountant. The job description is broad enough to cover the duties that the position will be performing in Utility Billing as well as Finance. I suggest that the prior GE-33 Utility Billing Customer Service Supervisor job description be modified to accommodate the duties expected of the supervisor. Implementation of these personnel changes will save the City approximately $7,964 annually. The savings calculation is for comparative purposes only and assumes pay for all positions at the top step. Rick was scheduled and Rose is to be at Step F in FY'10, but it is highly unlikely the new positions would be filled at that level. Therefore, for several years the payroll savings would be greater. JN/ Utility Billing Supervisor GENERAL STATEMENT OF DUTIES: Supervision and performs work in processing utility bills and parking violations; assists with the collection of delinquent accounts and fields customer comments, questions and complaints. Performs related work as required. DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF THE CLASS: The employee in this class is responsible for the day to day supervision and coordination of the Utility Billing staff and Water Meter Service Workers, is responsible for technical work involving utility biifing operations and collecting parking tickets. The work requires the exercise of independent judgment and is performed with relative independence. The employee reports to the Finance Director. Work is reviewed by the Finance Director through oral and written reports, conferences and results achieved. EXAMPLES OF WORK (ILLUSTRATIVE ONLY): ESSENTIAL: Supervises the daily work of the Utility Billing staff. Coordinates and assigns work to staff. Updates accounts receivable and customer information tables in the data base. Works with Information Services and Finance staff to implement changes to the Utility Billing data base and utility policy procedures. Coordinates work with Water Department, Engineering, Public Works and Water Pollution Control personnel. Insures that legal, administrative and procedural policies are followed. Assists staff when needed with the daily work in utility and parking violation by taking requests, receiving and recording payments, handling complaints, cashiering and researching information, maintaining vehicle information for parking tickets, preparing collection, property liens and utility shut-off lists, sending out delinquent bills, receiving customers at the counter or over the telephone, authorizing utility turn-ons and shut-offs, processing and records data into an on-line computer system, assisting with bill correcting and seting up new accounts, entering data into computer, issuing final bills, reconciling the daily receipt batches and preparing daily deposits, assisting with audit work papers at fiscal year end and maintaining Utility Billing web pages. KNOWLEDGE. SKILLS AND ABILITIES: ESSENTIAL: Knowledge of the City's utility rate schedules, billing calculations, billing cycles, and collection, shut-off and tax lien procedures; knowledge of utility billing software database, including cycle and final billing, billing adjustments, payment processing, and system interfaces; knowledge of accounting principles and the ability to apply such knowledge to utility customer accounting transactions; knowledge of bookkeeping principles and procedures; ability to plan, assign, coordinate and supervise the activities of employees within utility billing; ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with employees and the general public; ability to apply accounting principles to the maintenance of fiscal and accounting records; ability to understand and carry out complex oral and written instructions; ability to make decisions, to recognize established practices and to use resourcefulness and tact in solving problems; ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing; ability to perform a variety of tasks without close supervision; demonstrated ability to follow a management philosophy that is input oriented and values problem solving and the development of partnerships; ability to perform detailed work involving written and numeric data and to make arithmetic calculations rapidly and accurately; considerable knowledge of the occupational hazards and safety precautions related to the duties and responsibilities of this position; a desire to be part of an organization that values service, people, integrity, responsibility, innovation and teamwork. ACCEPTABLE EXPERIENCE AND TRAINING: Experience in municipal accounting and utility billing operations; graduation from an accredited college or university with major course work in accounting, business administration or related field; or any equivalent combination of experience and training which provides the essential knowledge, skills and abilities. s-~ s-os 1 City of Dubuque Finance/Utility Billing Based on Compensation Rates Effective July 1, 2009 -June 30, 2010 Current Staffing Financial Analyst Utility Billing Coordinator Maximum Salary Grade Step Yearly Salary GE-35 F $ 69,097.60 GE-30 F 52,873.60 $12,971.20 Proposed Staffing Financial Analyst Utility Billing Coordinator Utility Billing Supervisor Accountant Maximum Salary Grade Step Yearly Salary GE-33 F $ 62,129.60 GE-30 F 52,873.60 $115,003.20 Proposed staffing budget savings-compensation FICA savings (7.65%) 1PERS savings (6.65%) Total $ 6,968.00 996.42 $ 7,964.42 Tf~e above assumes all employees are at step F. In reality, employees would start at a lower step, so savings would be greater for several years. June 16, 2009 City ofi Dutauque Finance/Utility Bi[[ing Based on Compensation Rates Effective July 1, 2009 -June 30, 2010 Current Staffing Finance Utility Billing Financial Analyst (35%) $24,184.16 (65%) $ 44,913.44 Utility Bii[ing Coordinator. - 52,873.60 $ 24,184.16 $ 97, 787.04 Proaosed Staffina Financial Analyst Utility Billing Supervisor Utility Billing Coordinator Accountant Finance Director* Finance Utility Billing $ - $ - - 62,129.60 (50%) 26,436.80 (50%) 26,436.80 (-10%) (10,054.72) (10%) 10,054.72 $16,382.08 $ 98,621.12 Total $ 69,097.60 52,873.60 $121,971.20 Total $ - 62,129.60 52,873.60 $115,003.20 The above assumes all employees are at step F. [n reality, employees would start at a lower step, so savings would be greater for several years. "With the proposed staffing, Finance Director time will be spent and allocated to Utility Billing. June 16, 2009 `• ~ ~ City of Dubuque Selected Accountant/ Utifit~ 8iifing Responsibilities ' (would use current Accountant job description} Prepares and reviews bank reconciliations • Prepares. bi-monthly sales tax returns for utilities • Prepares and reviews work papers and data for annual external audit a Assist with preparing daily cash receipts and posting of daily payments • Oversee Utility Billing tax [lens filing and turning over accounts to collection agency o Assist and backup Utility Billing Customer Service Supervisor • Prepare monthly Library Trust reports ® AmeriCorps Grant o Monthly and semi-annual reports o Monthly drawdowns o ~ Prepares invoices for payment • Youthbuild Grant o Anticipate receiving; would include reports and drawdowns ;- • Testing for implementation, training and maintenance of Utility Billing CommunityPlus version 8.3 system upgrade • Assist with testing for implementation, training and maintenance of FinancePlus version 4.3 system upgrade • Key employee with Utility Billing Supervisor to implement Water Meter Change Out Program software • Prepare Utility Billing refunds account -month end reconciliation journal entry • Monthly reconciliation of payments received by collection agency and process payment to agency • Prepare monthly analysis of accounts receivable/billings/collections • Assist with City preparing annual financial statements s Familiar with other Accountant/Finance Department • Finalize reports for Dubuque initiatives and related entities • Special projects June 16, 2009