TO: CCCDA Governing Board , Participating Municipalities & Residents
FROM: Jeff Troyer, Executive Director
Calhoun County Consolidated Dispatch Authority
DATE: Monday, November 10, 2014
SUBJECT: 2015 Fiscal Year Budget
INTRODUCTION
I hereby present to you for consideration, my recommendation for Calhoun County Consolidated Dispatch Authority’s (CCCDA) Fiscal Year 2015 Budget. This proposal was prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and in compliance with the Uniform Budget and Accounting Act, as well as CCCDA’s Fiscal Policies. The following Public Hearing Notice is posted on CCCDA’s website at www.calhouncounty911.org and will be published in the Battle Creek Shopper and the Ad-visor & Chronicle:
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING – 2015 BUDGET
The Calhoun County Consolidated Dispatch Authority’s Governing Board of Directors will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, December 9th at 3:05 p.m. The purpose of the hearing will be for public to comment on the proposed budget for fiscal year ending December 31st, 2015. The 2015 proposed budget includes $3,604,587 in revenues and expenditures totaling $3,604,539.
The hearing will be held in the Law Library Conference Room on the third floor at the Calhoun County Administrative Building, 315 W. Green St., Marshall, Michigan. A copy of the proposed budget may be obtained and examined on our website at www.calhouncounty911.org or from the Calhoun County Consolidated Dispatch Authority Administrative Office (315 W. Green St., Room #1-800, Marshall, Michigan) between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.; Monday through Friday.
SUMMARY
The recommended 2015 Budget includes estimated revenues of $3,640,587 and expenditures totaling $3,640,539; resulting in a $48 surplus. The following information is key factors in this budgetary proposal.
CALL FOR SERVICE FORMULA GUIDELINES
In January 2013, CCCDA adopted the Call for Service (CFS) Formula Implementation Guidelines depicting how revenue is generated utilizing the CFS formula. As a matter of transparency for the implementation of this formula, section III (CCCDA Annual Budget) of the guidelines addresses a strict annual budgetary process to encourage service user participation and budgetary restrictions for fiscal years 2014, 2015, and 2016.
In accordance with the CFS Formula Implementation Guidelines, CCCDA’s expenditure cap for 2015 is computed utilizing the State Tax Commission’s Inflation Rate Multiplier for 2015 – 1.6% plus the 2014 operational budget. This equates to an expenditure cap for the forthcoming year equal to $3,734,968. The 2015 expenditures proposed herein are less than this expenditure cap by $94,429.
Page 1 of the proposed budget is an analysis of these budgetary restrictions and further illustrates the 2015 expenditure cap under the same. Pages 2 and 3 are the Department of Treasury State Tax Commission’s 2015 Inflation Rate Multiplier bulletin.
REVENUES
An itemized list of revenue sources is listed on page 4 of the proposed budget. I anticipate we will see the local 9-1-1 surcharge revenues decrease slightly and for the first time in four years, we are anticipated to see a small decrease in State surcharge monies. The State surcharge revenue dedicated to training PSAP personnel is forecasted to remain neutral.
I am pleased to announce this proposal, for the second year in a row, holds the CFS formula “Revenue to be Generated” constant. In 2013, the CFS formula generated $1,235,124 from Service Users (municipalities) over a six month period; equal to an annualized amount of $2,470,248. In 2014, the formula generated $2,469,000; a slight decrease from the previous year. I am recommending this same amount – $2,469,000 – for 2015.
The Net Budget Summary on page 23 reveals a 4.4% decrease in overall revenues from 2014. This is slightly offset when you consider CCCDA utilized $133,520 of fund balance for projects that were carried over from 2013 (started in 2013 and were completed in 2014). If you subtract this carry over amount, you are left with 2014 total revenues of $3,676,150. For 2015, CCCDA’s anticipated revenues will total $3,640,587; a 1% decrease or $35,563 less than 2014.
INSURANCES
CCCDA will continue to offer the same self-funded Health, Vision, and Dental plans (with minimal plan changes) to full-time employees. In addition, full-time employees electing the health insurance can participate in the CareHere Health and Wellness Center. This clinic provides an opportunity for employees to pick up prescriptions, see doctors for colds or chronic conditions, and generally improve their health.
Health
This proposal complies with Public Act 152 of 2011 by electing the “Hard Cap” option. Page 4 identifies the cost limitations for Public Employer Contributions to Medical Benefit Plans for calendar year 2015. The employer paid hard cap limitations increased 2.3% from last year.
CCCDA’s 2015 renewal rates fluctuated depending on the health plan. The CB1 plan decreased 17.6% and the CB3 dropped 14.4% while the FB3/HSA plan increased 7.3%. Page 6 identifies the health insurance costs anticipated for all full-time employee groups based on a projected 2015 enrollment.
Dental
CCCDA will continue to offer full-time employees the core (base) Dental plan as well as a buy-up option. CCCDA will pay for the CORE option and if the employee elects the buy-up option, he/she is responsible for the cost of the buy-up. The only plan change for 2015 is class I services have been removed from the annual maximums. Page 7 summarizes the renewal rates for the base and buy-up plans. CCCDA’s illustrative rates increased 5.5% over 2014.
Vision
CCCDA will continue to offer full-time employees vision insurance at no cost. Page 8 summarizes the renewal rates for CCCDA’s vision plan which decreased 17.25%.
PERSONNEL/POSITION BUDGET
The 2015 personnel proposal includes the same number of positions approved in 2014 but recommends one status change: convert the part-time Administrative Assistant position to full-time. The following is a list of positions by classification:
26 - Full-time Emergency Telecommunicators
2 - Part-time Emergency Telecommunicators
4 - Full-time Dispatch Supervisors
1 - Full-time CAD Administrator
1 - Full-time Administrative Assistant
1 - Full-time Deputy Director
1 - Full-time Executive Director
As part of this proposal, I recommend the following wage scale adjustments (cost-of-living adjustments):
- Full-time Emergency Telecommunicators – 1.5% wage scale increase as of January 1, 2015 (agreed to in the collective bargaining agreement).
- Part-time Emergency Telecommunicators – 1.5% wage scale increase as of January 1, 2015.
- Full-time Dispatch Supervisors – 1.5% wage scale increase as of January 1, 2015.
- Full-time CAD Administrator - 1.5% wage scale increase as of January 1, 2015.
- Full-time Administrative Assistant – add a step to the top of the existing wage scale – Step 6 (fifth year) $16.76.
- Full-time Deputy Director - 1.5% wage scale increase as of January 1, 2015.
- Full-time Executive Director – no change.
Pages 9 thru 15 provide a summary of position budgeting costs as it relates to each position’s wages, taxes, and fringe benefits (only includes retirement costs associated to employees participating in a defined contribution plan).
DEFINED BENEFIT RETIREMENT COSTS
Page 16 and 17 are excerpts from CCCDA’s annual actuarial valuation conducted by Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (MERS) for our three defined benefit plans/divisions (which were all closed in 2009). The plans/divisions are funded at the following percentages: 01-Admin – 100.5%, 10-Supervisors – 110.2%, & 11-Emergency Telecommunicators – 128.4%. The actuarial resulted in a required minimum employer contribution of $865 (to the Supervisors division).
It is my recommendation CCCDA makes the following monthly contributions for 2015:
01-Administrators $200
10-Supervisors $965
11-Emergency Telecommunicators $100
Monthly TOTAL: $1,265
This equates to an annual contribution of $15,180 and is illustrated on page 21; line item account 725.010 – Retirement CCCDA MERS DB.
MAINTENANCE/SERVICE CONTRACTS
Page 18 details all maintenance and service contracts with vendors. Our contractual services remain relatively low in comparison to categorical totals for 2012 and 2013. This is primarily due to the implementation of a new Computer Aided Dispatch System in late 2013 which reduced our contractual services annually by $75,000.
OPERATIONAL PROJECTS
There are five (5) operational projects recommended as part of this proposal (detailed on page 19):
Local Area Network (LAN) computers are located at each dispatch console for a total of nine (9). These are mission critical CPU’s that are five (5) years old and their operating system (Windows XP) is no longer supported. This project request totals $6,000.
The Technical Advisory Committee has requested for CCCDA to implement a test lab for various MCT’s, tablets, smartphones, and internet service provider devices. The intent is for CCCDA to make recommendations to agencies on which devices and configurations work best with the MCT application (SunGard) provided for primary dispatch functions. This project request totals $10,000.
- Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) Battery Replacement
Our primary PSAP has a single Eaton Powerware 9390 UPS unit which supplies power to the center during the timeframe from AC power fail until the back-up generator starts. In the event the generator fails to start, the UPS unit provides a constant source of power for up to four (4) hours. This unit consists of 36 valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA) batteries which have a life expectancy of five (5) years. All 36 batteries have a manufacture date code of 09/2009. This project request totals $13,000.
- Advanced Authentication Solution
Law Enforcement agencies that access CCCDA’s system utilizing the MCT application are subject to increased CJIS Security Policy requirements if the device connecting is not in a “secured location”. This includes smartphone devices, tablets, and MCT’s if they are not docked and locked in the vehicle. This project request totals $12,000.
In 2015, we plan to implement Phase II of the County Fire Simulcast System. This will include a simulcast repeater site in south-central Calhoun County, converting the existing site in Athens to simulcast, and end-user device (radios and pagers) reprogramming. Depending on the site chosen in south-central Calhoun County, site preparation/work may vary. This project request totals $240,000.
DEBT SERVICES
2015 marks the last year CCCDA will incur a debt service (capital lease) payment to the City of Battle Creek as a result of a long term Equipment Lease Agreement both parties entered into in December of 2009. The capital lease payment equals $466,380 and is reflected on page 22 of this budget under Debt Service; line item accounts 992.010 – Leases Principal, and 992.020 – Leases Interest.
CONCLUSION
This memorandum is to be utilized as a guide while reviewing the budgetary documentation and itemized spreadsheets (23 pages) that will further explain CCCDA’s anticipated revenues and expenditures (personnel, maintenance and service contracts, projects, and debt services) for the forthcoming fiscal year.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this budgetary proposal, please feel free to contact me at (269) 781-9713 or via email at jtroyer@calhouncountymi.gov.
