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INSTITUTIONAL ALTERNATIVES <br /> One of the tasks of the TDP is to examine how OPT is structured institutionally and how it may <br /> benefit from alternative institutional arrangements. <br /> Current Structure <br /> OPT is a County agency,within the Department on Aging. Its employees are County employees. <br /> It currently has 8.5 Full-Time Equivalent Employees (FTE). It has a policy advisory board, but ultimate <br /> decision-making is in hands of the County Commissioners. The system has grown considerably, and now <br /> represents a major portion of the Department on Aging. The Department head is responsible for both <br /> programs (OPT and Department on Aging), and allocates his time between them. <br /> In interviews for this TDP, organizational issues have addressed the question of whether the <br /> program has grown sufficiently to become a separate County department. Conversations with the County <br /> Manager reflect a County desire to not create any additional departments, and reflect a realization that the <br /> current organization appears to be providing the desired services in a cost-effective manner. <br /> Administrative expenses (not including vehicle insurance) amount to about 16 percent of the total <br /> operating and administrative costs, which is not excessive. Options could include 1) turning the system <br /> over to TTA to be operated as part of the regional transit system, or 2) contracting with a private <br /> management company to operate the OPT system,including dispatch,vehicle operation, and maintenance. <br /> TTA Operation: TTA was formed primarily to operate regional public transit and ridesharing, <br /> not coordinated human service transportation. If the County requested that TTA take over OPT, it might <br /> be open to the possibility (TTA was asked by Wake County to operate its coordinated system, but the <br /> system has recently been rebid). TTA would likely want the same level of continued County funding <br /> ($138,400), and means would have to be devised to insure continued responsiveness to Orange County <br /> needs and issues. An alternative possibility might involve turning the scheduled public routes over to <br /> TTA at some future point, while retaining agency-related services within the County. This would likely <br /> involve the loss of the Section 18 funding for OPT ($92,349 in operating and administrative funding, <br /> varying capital amounts that are equally significant) because it would no longer have general public <br /> service. Many of the advantages of the coordinated system in sharing administration and vehicles with <br /> the general public service would be lost. <br /> 10 <br /> -37- <br />