To: Board of Supervisors, County of Sonoma
Department or Agency Name(s): Emergency Management
Staff Name and Phone Number: Jeffrey DuVall / 565-1152
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Department of Emergency Management Grant Program Analyst
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Adopt a Personnel Resolution upgrading one Time-Limited Administrative Aide to a permanent Department Analyst within the Department Allocation list of the Department of Emergency Management effective July 11, 2023.
end
Executive Summary:
As part of its ongoing programming intended to expand and increase efforts to further develop and enhance the existing Department of Emergency Management Grant Program, the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) seeks to convert an existing vacant 1.0 FTE Administrative Aide Time-Limited position, currently scheduled to expire on June 30, 2024, to a 1.0 FTE Department Analyst position.
The cost differential, as well as future year costs for this position can be funded through grants awarded to and managed by the department. This position will be funded by a mix of the overhead Management and Administration (M&A) allocations the department receives from administering $16M in grants and from future anticipated grant awards. Existing and future grants are primarily associated with FEMA Homeland Security Grant Program and Housing and Community Development Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding. The mix of total grant revenues is currently sufficient to fund the position and is expected to increase in the coming fiscal years.
The department has experienced ongoing challenges filling a time-limited position at the existing Administrative Aide classification for the level of programmatic skills and experience needed and made the determination to convert it to the Department Analyst classification too far into the recent budget cycle to include in the FY2023-24 budget.
Discussion:
Since the department’s inception in 2019, DEM has increased the amount of grants it manages from approximately $1 million annually to $16 million in total awards currently. Based on the number of new additional grant applications submitted, the department anticipates this will increase to over $21 million by fiscal year 2024-25.
At the inception of the department, when existing annual grants were approximately $1 million, the new department was allocated 1.0 FTE Administrative Aide to manage the grant program. As the grant program expanded, during fiscal year 2021-22 budget hearings, the department requested conversion of the Administrative Aide position to 1.0 FTE Grant Program Analyst (CST: Department Analyst) and requested an additional 1.0 FT Administrative Aide Time-Limited to support the growing scope of the program.
Since that time, and with the sharp increase in complexity with federal grant reporting, procurement, and fiscal management, the department has determined that the Administrative Aide position is no longer a suitable job class to support the level of analysis, budget development, research, procurement and systems improvement necessary to perform these duties, and that a second ongoing 1.0 FTE Department Analyst is needed to successfully administer this scope of a grant program and meet federal grant regulatory requirements.
Human Resources has reviewed the duties of this position and agrees that a Department Analyst is the more appropriate job class.
In addition to needing to update the job class, the department is also seeking to remove the time-limited designation due to recruitment challenges combined with the fact that longer-term grant revenue to support this position is anticipated. The time-limited Administrative Aide position has been vacant for ten months.
Due to the time-limited factor, the department has faced many challenges trying to recruit candidates for the position and has had many highly qualified candidates withdraw from the hiring process mid-recruitment. As a result, the department is requesting to both update the job class for this position and remove the time-limited designation.
In collaboration with the County Administrator’s Office, the department has reviewed both current and upcoming anticipated grants and is confident that sufficient funding will be available to support this position for the foreseeable future.
Strategic Plan:
N/A
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
No
Prior Board Actions:
06/15/2021: Adopted the Fiscal Year 2021-22 Budget for all Governmental Entities adding 1.0 FTE Time-Limited (through June 30, 2024) Administrative Aide to the Department of Emergency Management’s Position Allocation List.
03/12/2019: Adopt a Resolution formally establishing the Department of Emergency Management and a Personnel Resolution establishing the Department Allocation list for the Department of Emergency Management.
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY 23-24 Adopted |
FY24-25 Projected |
FY 25-26 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
$27,617 |
$185,632 |
$193,057 |
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
|
|
|
|
Total Expenditures |
$27,617 |
$185,632 |
$193,057 |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
|
|
|
|
State/Federal |
$27,617 |
$185,633 |
$193,057 |
|
Fees/Other |
|
|
|
|
Use of Fund Balance |
|
|
|
|
Contingencies |
|
|
|
|
Total Sources |
$27,617 |
$185,633 |
$193,057 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
The FY2023-24 fiscal impact represents the cost differential between the current Administrative Aide and the Department Analyst job class. Since the Administrative Aide position ends on 6/30/2024, the full cost for a department analyst is reflected in the FY2024-25 and FY2025-26 table above. The cost of the Department Analyst will be covered by various state and federal grant sources.
|
Staffing Impacts: |
|
|
|
|
Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
|
Department Analyst |
$6,250.92 - $7,598.86 |
1.0 |
|
|
Administrative Aide - Time-Limited |
$4,939.52 - $6,003.95 |
|
(1.0) |
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
The 1.0 FTE Department Analyst position will replace a time-limited position that expires on June 30, 2024, to continue to support the department grant program.
Attachments:
1. Resolution amending the Department Allocation List for Department of Emergency Management
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None.