Agenda - 02-12-2009 - 1 - Laserfiche WebLink

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4 • In keeping with one of the Board's January 20 adopted guiding principles (Attachment 1) — the County workforce is a valuable asset which should be protected — the County Manager has exempted permanent personnel related line items from the 10% formula. e In order to meet the 10% reduction target, the Manager expects department directors to look holistically at their department and propose reductions in, and in some instances elimination of, non-mandated services and activities. O As the first option, the Manager has directed departments to absorb costs associated with opening new facilities within their budget proposal for FY 2009-10. • This will likely mean substantial changes in current service delivery. ® For each service reduction and elimination, department directors must submit a Service Reduction Impact Statement. The Manager plans to share these statements with Commissioners during budget work sessions in March 2009. • The Manager has also directed departments not to submit requests for capital items in FY 2009-10. • b) Mandated and Non-Mandated Services During the early January retreat, staff shared a funding matrix identifying mandated and non-mandated services with the Board. Identifying mandated and non-mandated services and activities is a good first step. The majority of activities and services offered by the County are non-mandated. It is important to note, non-mandated does not mean the activities and services are not important — it simply means Commissioners have discretion over what level of service they wish to fund. As part of March 2009 budget work session materials, Commissioners will receive a final version of the Matrix to use as a decision making tool in discussing service delivery alternatives for the upcoming fiscal year. c) Board Priorities and Exchanges In addition to developing guiding principles at the retreat, Commissioners approved priorities for the County to pursue in FY 2009-10. Attachment 2 reflects, in priority order based on the number of votes, the approved priorities. At the January 29, 2009 work session, Commissioners and staff had the opportunity to discuss and clarify draft action plans and fiscal impact statements related to each of the Board's FY 2009-10 priorities. The County Manager recommended the Board consider funding for the fourteen new priorities separately from other budget components reductions. In accordance with the Board's guiding principles from the retreat, no new services can be added without exchanging them for current services or increasing taxes. To that end, the Manager has directed department directors to propose exchanging current activities or services for new Board priorities thereby resulting in a net budget impact of zero. As part of the upcoming March 2009 budget work sessions, staff plans to share final action plans and fiscal impact statements with the Board for approval.