Questions for staff (some Answers!)

[dhyatt]

Answers will be inserted in place once received

Answers from staff for many of the questions below can be found here:

http://carypolitics.org/Responses_to_Questions_5-10-05.pdf

What were the staffing levels of each department versus population for last ten years?
Have any of the departments ever submitted plans for productivity improvements? If so have we measured the departments against those plans?
Have we ever compared our staff’s cost of doing business with a private solid waste collection company?
Have we ever compared our staff’s cost of doing business with a private IT firm?
What are the terms of debt already issued (schedule for repayment)? This is to see if we could postpone some capital projects until some debt is paid off.
Would like to get the actual tax rate growth for the past few years vs. the budget for the last few years. This relates to the proposed 1.6 rate being used by Staff.
Where/how the allocated $5M for the aquatics center has been “set aside” – is it just a future bond commitment or is it cash sitting somewhere?
Need to find out where/how the allocated $5M for the aquatics center has been “set aside” – is it just a future bond commitment or is it cash sitting somewhere? (I believe that Mr. Finn & Mr. Weinbrecht found that it is cash sitting somewhere, but may want to confirm)

[Brent]

When will the computerized/fiber optic traffic signalization begin operation? What is an estimate of how much traffic will be alleviated as a result of this going online? What is an estimate of benefits we can expect from this system with respect to travel times, pollution, capacity and levels of service?

[StanN]

Some more questions:

Where does staff see major opportunities for improvements in produtivity and efficiency - regardless of their state of funding?

Where does staff see major initiatives that are likely to raise operating margin - regardless of state of funding? This could include existing initiatives that could benefit from increased effort.

Do the road projects include all those staff considers worthy of consideration or only those that they consider to be fundable?

What measures does staff propose to increase high quality jobs in Cary?

What measures, not already proposed, does staff recommend for consideration that would attract high quality (positive operating margin) additions to Cary's tax base?

What changes would staff propose to the budgeting process that would increase focus on increasing operating margin?

And a comment. In my experience, senior management would be insisting staff answer questions like this before coming to ther own judgement. Staff has the most information. In theory they should have the best answers. How can we complain about staff not being focused on the outcomes of insufficient operating margin, if the responsibility for answering such questions is not required of them? I understand that senior management is ultimately responsible and accountable for such determinations. The easiest thing for staff to do is to delegate upwards. The CTC needs to determine if it wants to allow such upward delegation.

stan

[StanN]

Some more questions:

Who is accountable for the quality of forecasts of revenues and expenses? e.g. “other taxes”, i.e. largely sales taxes received from the county, were misestimated by 19% or $3.8M. Largely as a result of this mis-forecast, total revenues were underestimated by $5.3M. Is the forecast the responsibility of the Budget Director?, the Town Manager? the CTC? Is there a staff committee that reviews forecasts?

What is the explanation for unfavorable variances of 12% in General Government expense and 14% in PRCR expense in 2005 est. vs. 2005 as budgeted? Were these variances a result of CTC actions and votes or were they a result of mis-forecasts. Are the expense forecasts the responsibility of the department managers, the Town Manager, the budget director, or a staff committee?

What benchmarks are used for various classes of expenditures? Are the data bases of benchmarks used available to the public? If so, what are they?

Other than the Town’s external auditors, are there internal auditors? If so, is there an internal auditing committee who receives and analyzes the reports? If so, who are its members? Are those reports available to the public? If so, where? What procedures are used by internal auditors to determine compliance with laws and regulations?

When there are negotiable expenditures between the town and developers, who is responsible for conducting such negotiations? An example would be redevelopment expenses pertinent to utility infrastructure. Is there a system of hierarchal system of authorization limits and controls for the negotiation of such expenditures? What are those limits?

Is there a hierarchal system for authorizing purchases, contracts and other transactions? If so, what are the authorizing limits for key town employees? Is there a level of purchases that requires the approval of the Mayor or CTC? If so, please describe same. Are competitive bids required above a certain level of purchases? Are such requirement waivable and, if so, who has authority to do so?

stan

edited to ad contracts and transactions

[dhyatt]

Staff has provided answers to many of our initial questions. The following caution comes from Mike (and I agree):

You will see by the detailed response that this could easily consume a lot of Staff time. I would ask that your questions remain focused on the budget process and relate to your ability to make recommendations for this years budget priorities.

As you know, you can ask any question you want as citizens. If any questions seem out of place from our budget priority goals, I may ask you to submit your questions to Staff directly. I want this group to remain focused on the process and not any "special interest" questions. I do not want us to bog down Staff with so many questions that we do not get to the core questions or reason we are gathering. My goals focus around what staff is proposing for FY06 and debating/deciding about this particular budget year.

That said, the answers are here:

http://carypolitics.org/Responses_to_Questions_5-10-05.pdf