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Morgan Hill, California
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Zucker Systems
53.
Recommendation:
The Building Official should closely monitor inspection
request delays and quickly intervene with additional inspection resources
as necessary to achieve next-day inspections at least 90% of the time.
Unfortunately, given that most municipal budgets are only modified once per year, an
inaccurate assessment of anticipated staffing needs could result in an extended period
of time when the community cannot receive the level of service they expect. The fact
that the Building Division is funded from the 206 Special Funds may provide
Management with some level of flexibility not afforded to other Departments that rely
on the General Fund for revenue. Under the current set of circumstances, the Building
Division should be pursuing an approach to staffing that recognizes the need to make
rapid adjustments to staffing levels when service demands rise. The increased demand
for service, assuming the current permit fees accurately represent the cost of services,
should result in an increase in revenue commensurate with the additional services to
be provided. Approving an annual budget should include provisions that allow
periodic adjustments based on fluctuating service level demands and the confirmation
that fees for services will be sufficient to support the cost of additional staff resources.
54.
Recommendation:
The Building Official should work with the City to allow
adjustments more frequently than the traditional budget cycle. This
should be done soon to meet performance standards and customer
expectations.
While the Building Division has not identified specific work units for the purpose of
determining staffing needs, they have engaged in a process that might help them yield
this type of information for use in the future. The City is in the process of conducting
its third fee study in the last five years. In broad terms, the fee study strives to identify
the amount that should be charge for a particular type of permit based on an
assumption of the amount of time that will be required to perform the needed services
by all of the employees contributing to the process. Consultants that provide this
service utilize a large database of information collected from other jurisdictions to
generally identify the amount of time needed to complete specified tasks. This
information should be utilized to initiate the process of determining workload units.
55.
Recommendation:
The Building Official should take advantage of the data
collected during the recent fee study to develop measurable work units
than can be used to better determine appropriate staffing levels.
Appropriately staffing to meet the anticipated needs of the Fire Plan Review and
Inspection program may prove to be challenging due to the limited experience the
Building Official has in managing such a program. The current arrangement involves
a highly experienced part-time expert providing these services. As the responsibilities
transfer to the newly trained Building Inspector a general reduction in efficiency
should be anticipated until the new Inspector gains experience and confidence.