Monthly Archives: February 2014

Analysis of Courthouse Housekeeping Options

On Wednesday, March 5, the County Board’s Committee on Transportation, Public Works and Transit will consider a proposal to authorize the Facilities Management Division of the Department of Administrative Services to provide housekeeping services in the Courthouse with County employees. Those services are presently provided by a private vendor. In October of 2013 the County Board considered and ultimately rejected a contract with a new vendor that would have provided housekeeping services in county facilities, including the Courthouse, for as long as three years.

Based on analysis of the two options for housekeeping services in the Courthouse,  the proposal to be considered on March 5 would increase taxpayer costs by $1.9 million (see below) over what the County would pay a private vendor during a three-year period from April 2014 to March 2017.

Comparison of three-year Fiscal Impact – In-House Service vs. Private Contracted Service

The contract that was considered and rejected in October 2013 would have provided housekeeping services at the County Courthouse for $39,052 per month, or $492,541 on an annualized basis. The contract would have expired on July 31, 2014, but would have included two optional one-year renewal terms. The maximum allowable annual rate increase would have been 3 percent. For the purpose of this comparison, it is assumed that the Contract would now start in mid-April, the same time at which County employees would provide the service under the proposed resolution.

Assuming each of the one-year extensions were exercised at the maximum allowable rate of three percent, the total cost of the contract over the three-year period would be approximately $1.43 million.

The Office of the Comptroller has provided a fiscal analysis of the proposal to utilize County employees to provide housekeeping at the Courthouse. Based on this analysis, and assuming the annual salary and fringe benefit cost increases included in the most recent version of the County’s five-year fiscal forecast (3.2 percent and 7 percent, respectively), the total three-year cost of this proposal would be $3.29 million.

As a result, the net annual cost to taxpayers of utilizing the County employee staffing model envisioned in the proposal is approximately $1.86 million. See the chart below for the annual variance between the two proposals.

(Click to Enlarge)

Courthouse 14-17

Fiscal Impact of Contracting, 2010-2013

Analysis by DAS-PSB indicates that the existing contract has reduced taxpayer costs for Courthouse housekeeping by as much as $4.4 million over the four-year period from 2010 to 2013. This analysis assumes the service level proposed in both the contracted and County employee options were maintained.

An Overview of Milwaukee County’s Transportation Function

Milwaukee County’s transportation function is served by one department, the Department of Transportation, whose mission is “providing excellence in the construction and maintenance of the physical infrastructure that provides for the public’s health and safety.”

The Milwaukee County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) is a diverse Department charged with developing and maintaining Milwaukee County’s vast infrastructure needs based on the diverse talent and qualifications of its staff. There are five distinct divisions within the Department, each with a unique role in serving the needs of the County. The Department consists of the:

  1. Airports, which runs General Mitchell International Airport, Lawrence J. Timmerman Airport, and the former WI 440th Air Refueling Wing base, now known as the Milwaukee Regional Business Park
  2. Director’s Office, which provides essential management and support to the other DOT divisions
  3. Fleet Management, which maintains and purchases vehicles, fuel, and parts for Milwaukee County’s more than 2,200 vehicle inventory
  4. Highways, which plans and maintains County, and State highways
  5. Transit Services, which administrates public transportation services through both fixed route and para transit services.

The largest tax levy component within MCDOT is the Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS), at approximately $18.5 million.  Both MCDOT and MCTS continually strive to balance the needs of the transit users, employers whose employees rely on a dependable transit system, and the tax payers. In contrast, the Airport Division is funded entirely by user fees and other indirect revenues such as concessions on rental car operations and parking; the Highway Maintenance Division is almost entirely funded by the State of Wisconsin through reimbursement of costs to maintain the freeway system and State trunk highways. The Fleet Management Division has a net levy return of nearly $1 million due to charges for debt service on County-owned vehicles.

In the 2014 Adopted Milwaukee County Budget, the Transportation function accounts for more than 450 County positions, $228 million in expenditures, and $18.6 million in tax levy.

For a detailed breakdown of the funding of each of these offices, please click here to view an infographic we have prepared.

Below is an interactive Prezi presentation showing the organizational structure of the Public Safety function and it’s component units.

Milwaukee County Child Support Services 2013 Performance – All Time High Achievement

The Milwaukee County Department of Child Support Services ended 2013 having achieved some of their all-time best results in its State and Federal performance measures. As a result, the agency was named Agency of the Year by the Wisconsin Child Support Enforcement Association for 2013.

The Federal Government provides incentive funds to States for child support programs that are allocated among the states based on these performance measures. As the largest Child Support agency in Wisconsin, our performance plays a significant role in determining our state’s share. Wisconsin will receive approximately $13.6 million in federal incentive revenues in 2014, of the  which will  of which Milwaukee County will receive approximately $4.2 million.

We have achieved this performance despite having one of the highest caseloads per employee in the United States. Milwaukee County Child Support Services will serve approximately 900 cases per employee in 2014. In comparison, the following large cities have approximate caseloads per employee as shown below:

  • New York City:  300
  • Las Vegas:          425
  • Los Angeles:       200
  • Chicago:              400

For more detailed information on our Child Support Services program and its performance measures, including how we operate and how we provide such great service, please take a look at this Power Point presentation.

DAS-Performance, Strategy and Budget Customer Service Survey Results

The 2014 Budget for the Department of Administrative Services – Office of Performance, Strategy and Budget (DAS-PSB) includes the development of a customer service satisfaction survey to gauge our performance during the 2014 budget process.

A total of 50 individuals, including department heads and elected officials were surveyed, and 29 completed responses. Four of the questions were either yes-no questions and one asked respondents to rate our performance on a 5-point scale.

We value all suggestions on how to improve the process, and will take these recommendations into account as we prepare for the 2015 Budget process.

Q1: Did you feel DAS-PSB staff acted professionally and respectfully during the 2014 budget process?

Yes:     28 (97%)

No:      1 (3%)

Q2: Did you feel that DAS-PSB staff was knowledgeable and able to answer your questions related to the 2014 budget?

Yes:     27 (96%)

No:      1 (4%)

Q3: Did DAS-PSB respond to your concerns or questions about the budget adequately?

Yes:     26 (90%)

No:      3 (10%)

Q4: Was the 2014 Budget Narrative written in concise, easy to understand language?

Yes:     22 (76%)

No:      7 (24%)

Q5: Overall, how would you rate your experience with DAS-PSB during the 2014 budget process?

  • 1 = Poor:                                             1 (3%)
  • 2= Needs Improvement:                 2 (7%)
  • 3 = Adequate:                                    5 (17%)
  • 4 = Satisfactory:                               11 (38%)
  • 5= Excellent:                                     10 (35%)

Average: 3.93

Thank you to all who participated!

Milwaukee County Functional Areas

Milwaukee County is a large and complex organization. One of the goals of this blog is to help people understand how Milwaukee County operates.

One of the ways the County is structured is by “functional area”. A functional area is a group of departments or other organizational units that perform similar tasks. For instance, the County’s Zoo, Parks Department, and support of non-profit arts and culture groups are included in the “Parks, Recreation and Culture Function”. This grouping of similar organizational units is one way that taxpayers, stakeholders, and policymakers can grasp how the County divides its resources among many very important service areas.

The County’s operations are structured by the following 8 functions:

  1. Public Safety Function
  2. Courts and Judiciary Function
  3. General Government Function
  4. Transportation Function
  5. Legislative & Executive Function
  6. Administration Function
  7. Health Function
  8. Parks, Recreation & Culture Function

Below is a prezi presentation that shows our operational functions and their relationships with each other. Feel free to click on the different elements in the presentation to zoom in and learn more about what each department does.

An earlier post provided some broad information about how the County allocates its resources among the different functional areas. In future posts, we will provide additional detail about what each function seeks to accomplish, which departments are included, and how resources are allocated within each area.