HomeMy WebLinkAboutApprove Building Department 3rd Quarter Budget ReportPage | 1
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Commission Memorandum
REPORT TO: Honorable Mayor and City Commission
FROM: Bob Risk, Chief Building Official
Jason Shrauger, Fire Chief
Anna Rosenberry, Finance Director
Chuck Winn, Assistant City Manager
SUBJECT: Building Inspection 3rd Quarter FY09 Update
January 1 – March 31, 2009
MEETING DATE: May 11, 2009
RECOMMENDATION: Accept this report detailing the financial and workload position of
the Building Inspection Division for the quarter ending March 31, 2009.
DISCUSSION: Because of the difficulties estimating Building Inspection revenues and
workloads (plans reviews & inspections), we committed to make quarterly reports regarding
staffing levels and operating costs in the department.
The FY09 Budget was balanced with the following assumptions:
A. REVENUES: Without an increase in current fees, we estimated receiving approximately
$70,000/month. This estimate was based on building permit activity during the last quarter
(April-June) of FY08.
How much revenue we collect is a function of the number of permits sold and the type of
project being constructed. For the first quarter of FY09, actual revenues collected averaged
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$95,000/month, or 35% above our estimated amount. For the second quarter of FY09, actual
revenues collected averaged $52,000/month or 26% below the estimated amount. For the
third quarter of FY09, actual revenues averaged $70,000/month which equals the estimated
amount.
Basis for FY09 Budget Estimates – Actual Revenues 4th QTR FY08
April 2008 $68,000
May 2008 $63,000
June 2008 $88,500
Average Per Month: $73,000
Actual Revenues 1st QTR FY09
July 2008 $108,000
August 2008 $81,000
September 2008 $96,000
Average Per Month: $95,000
Actual Revenues 2nd QTR FY09
October 2008 $96,000
November 2008 $28,000
December 2008 $30,000
Average Per Month $52,000
Actual Revenues 3rd QTR FY09
January 2009 $83,500
February 2009 $24,000
March 2009 $103,000
Average Per Month $70,000
The average monthly revenue for the first nine months of FY09 is approximately
$72,500/month which exceeds our estimated amount.
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B. CASH RESERVE: The Building Inspection Fund Cash Reserve was $628,234 at the end of
March, which equates to 53% of the FY09 expenditure levels. The cash reserve balance is
down $45,991, or 7%, from the cash reserve balance of $674,225 at the end of the second
quarter.
· After the spending adjustments made in the 2nd Quarter, the Department’s budget was
reduced to an estimated $91,000/month for the remainder of the fiscal year. Actual
spending for the third quarter was $260,300, or an $86,766 per month. The lower
expenditure levels are attributed to in house reductions of our line item budget
spending.
· During the 3rd quarter, in response to existing workloads, building division staff was
reduced by an additional 2 FTE’s: 1 permit technician, and 1 building inspector.
After payouts for accrued leave time, these staffing changes will reduce department
expenditures by an estimated $19,200 through the end of this fiscal year.
C. BUILDING PERMIT NUMBERS: While the total number of new permits for the third
quarter FY09 decreased 22% from second quarter FY2009 levels, the new permit levels for
March 09 increased 25% over January 09 and February 09.
Permit Type 4Qtr FY08 1Qtr FY09 2Qtr FY09 3Qtr FY09
Building 192 358 298 184
Plan Check 200 205 141 101
Electrical 174 181 141 99
Plumb/Mech 228 259 148 146
Fire Systems 24 19 21 17
Moving 1 2 0 0
Demolition 6 8 3 7
Total Permits 825 1033 752 582
D. WORKLOADS: As of today, our inspection staff consists of 1 Chief Building Official, 2
Plans Examiners, 3 Building Inspectors, 1 Fire Inspector, and 1 Code Compliance Officer.
“Inspections per Inspector Day” has historically been used to measure the workload of
building inspectors. The accepted level of inspections per inspector day is 15. We reviewed
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the actual inspections per inspector day averages for FY05 through the 3rd quarter of FY09
and the results are in the table below.
Fiscal Year
Inspections/Inspector Day
Standard 15
2009- average to date 15.10
2008 15.45
2007
2006
2005
5 year average inspections per day-
12.56
13.01
14.27
14.08
Although December 2008, 2nd Quarter, saw an extremely low number of inspections (8.45)
per inspector day, our FY09 third quarter inspection numbers increased to an average 11.20
inspections per inspector day. See table below.
Fiscal Year 2009- 3rd Quarter
Inspections/Inspector Day
Standard 15
January 10.92
February 11.58
March
3rd Qtr average inspections per day-
11.11
11.20
The average number of inspections per inspector day for April 2009 was 11.79.
Staffing Plan: For the last six months, despite an inspector layoff, inspections per inspector day
have continued to fall below our workload standard. Based on the above trends the Building
Division recommends the following plan:
· The Fire Inspector position will be eliminated effective immediately, with inspection
workload being allocated to other staff.
· We will be monitoring building permit activity weekly and will make staffing reductions
if a seasonal increase in activity is not evident in the weeks of May and June. Based
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on the workload of the division, we anticipate up to three positions possibly being
eliminated in the following order:
· 1 Permit Technician
· 1 Building Inspector
· 1 Plans Examiner
Fully implementing our staffing plan will leave the Building Division with the minimum staffing
level necessary to provide required services to our customers by the end of the 4th quarter FY09,
assuming we see little-to-no seasonal increase in permit activity. That minimum staffing level
would include: 1 Chief Building Official, 1 Plans Examiner, 2 Building Inspectors, 1 Code
Compliance Officer, and 1 Permit Coordinator.
FISCAL EFFECTS: Although this report is meant to cover the activity of the department
through March, we feel it is important to include the month-end information for April. Building
Inspection revenue for April 2009 was $39,000 and expenditures are estimated at $80,000,
decreasing the reserve by $41,000, to a total of $587,000 at the end of April.
Our 4th Quarter estimated monthly expenditures for the department stand at $84,600/month.
There will be a 2-3 month delay in any financial savings that might come from the above
described staff reductions due to leave accrual payouts. This means that staff reductions made in
April, May, and June won’t decrease total expenditures until FY10.
Based on estimated revenues ($70,000/month) and anticipated expenditure levels
($84,600/month) we estimate the Building Inspection Fund reserve to decrease by
$14,600/month in May and June. This will leave an estimated FY09 ending balance of
$557,000. (Representing 46% of the FY09 Approved Budget; Representing 55% of the current
budget level, after the 3rd Quarter reductions.)
ALTERNATIVES: As suggested by the City Commission.
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