Agenda - 05-18-1999 - 9f - Laserfiche WebLink

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BUDGET NOTES FISCAL 1999-00 18 ASSUMPTIONS/ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ~ 1) SOLID WASTE DEPARTMENT REORGANIZATION At this time, decisions are pending regarding the reorganization of the Solid Waste Management Department. It is possible that these decisions will be made in the current year and that there will be expenditures associated with the reorganization which will be incurred in Fiscal 1999-00. We have not included any funding for expenses related to any reorganization in the 1999-00 budget request and have assumed in the base budget the continued management of Solid Waste by the Town of Chapel Hill. Any additional funding required for the reorganization can be adequately provided from the remaining undesignated surplus in the fund. No expenditures have been assumed for relocation of or new administrative offices due to a possible reorganization. Due to the enterprise fund nature of the Solid Waste Management Department and the corollary need for full cost accounting to support the enterprise, most typical overhead costs are already paid by the fund either directly to the vendor (ie. janitorial services), are charged directly to our accounts by the Town for Town managed services (vehicle fuel and parts, telephone, electricity, office supplies, or are covered by the non-departmental "Charges by the General Fund" for administrative, personnel, legal, and financial support. In the event that we are asked to assume that reorganization expenses should be included in the 1999-00 budget, we have estimated that the items we would recommend for inclusion would total about $37,750 for next year, or about $36,300 assu**+~ng an October 1, 1999 transfer date. Each additional quarter year delay would reduce the amount by about $1,400. It should be noted that any expenses related to payroll adjustments for transferring staff is not included. Preliminary transition meetings were held by Orange County and Chapel Hill staff more than a yeaz ago to begin ironing-out transitional details, including costs. These meetings stopped when discussions regarding the reorganization reached an impasse, with most work incomplete. Therefore, the $37,750 results from a preliminary '~• assessment by Chapel Hill staff regarding several possible reorganization related expenses resulting from staff s best guess, given the existing knowledge of our department and some of the issues discussed in our preliminary meetings with Orange County. We feel that the order of magnitude presented by the suggested expenses is a reasonable expectation. Items addressed in the estimate fnclude labor for Public Works maintenance of vehicles and building, increased fuel costs due to need to contract with Public Works, legal expenses, phone system maintenance, new letterhead/uniform insignias/vehicle decals, human services consulting services, and miscellaneous expenses. It is assumed that existing budgeted Charges by General Fund account will fiord routine overhead charges until Orange County analyzes its adequacy and recommends changes in subsequent budget years. 2) DEVELOPMENT OF CONSTRUCTION & DEMOLITION LANDFILL The proposed budget does not include fimding_for the purchase or development of a C&D landfill. The timeline of the C&D Site Selection Work Group indicates a decision on and acquisition of a site during the current budget yeaz. The Work Group has identified two final candidate sites on which exploratory work will be scheduled, once ongoing negotiations with owners are complete. Assuming that one of these two sites will ultimately be selected and approved by the governing boards, we are presenting below the estimated costs of buying and developing each of the two sites. It is also assumed that most of the costs for acquisition and development of the selected site would be funded by through the Reserve Fund -Acquisitions and Construction (estimated current balance = $868,550). We would recommend that site acquisition costs be made available in the current budget year through a budget amendment from the Acquisitions and Construction Reserve Fund (est. $476,000 for Eubanks site and est. $439,000 for Northern 86 site).