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CR 88-108 Reguest Housing Specialist - Full Time ~ . ~ : , U . III June 1, 1988 .... ., Council Report: 88-108 o P K I ... REQUEST TO UP-GRADE HOUSING SPECIALIST TO FULL TIME Proposed Action. Staff recommends adoption of the following motion: Move that the Housinq Specialist position be up-qraded from 19.5 hours ~er week to full-time and that funds for the position come from the Housinq Rehab Fund. Section 8 Fund, and the Tax Increment Financing Fund. This action will ease the work load in the Community Development Planning and Economic Development division by adding an additional twenty hours of staff time. More time will then be available for long-term planning and economic development activities. B}1" dedicating more resources from non-general fund sources, there will be no impact on the general fund. QYervj,e,.,.~ " frhe City is experiencing a larger work load due to increased activities in the Economic Development area. An increased emphasis on redevelopment activities has made it. difficult for the Planning & Economic Development staff to complete . all of the requested projects. Analysis by the community Development Department has indicated that an additional twenty hours of statf'tillif would help to overcome the current overload on this department. The Housing Specialist position is currently a part-time position dealinq with Section 8 Housing and the Residential Rehabilitation Loan Program. By increasing this position to full-time, duties from three other positions could be shifted to the Housing Specialist making more time for long-term planning and economic developme.nt activities. Primary Issues to Consider. o What activities have caused the work load to increase? o What is the cost of up-grading the position to full-time? o What are the benefits of additional staff time? o Will twenty hours be sufficient to meet the demands of the work load? ~orting Information. o Staff analysis of issues o Alternatives ~ ~ ~ ~~--= steven C. M~elke Community Development Director -----~ - ~ . Council Report: B8-108 Page 2 Staff Analvsis of Issues. In response to the request to up-grade the Housing Specialist to full- time, staff offers the following analysis of the primary issuss: - What activities have caused the work load to increase? The City Council and staff' have placed a large priority on redevelopment activities of the downtownc In so doing, a large portion of the staffs time has been spent on specific projects such as the specialty Block, the Baton Development, the parking ramp, etc. Implementation of the downtown parking program has caused a 30 hour per week increase in staff time to administer the Parking Commission and the Parking System. The thirty hours is currently being absorbed by the Community Development Analyst position. Those hours were originally being spent on redevelopment activities and are therefore lost to those activities unless they are replaced by another position. The HRA has been quite active in redevelopment and rehabilitation of "' Dow Towers. This is a two to three year project which includes staff overview of the construction as well as requests for funding and the i. associated paper work with the federal government. The long-term Comprehensive Plan for the City has been slated to be ;: up-graded by City staff. It is estimated that this will require, at a 1D.inimum, ten hours of staff time per week in order to work with the consulting planner, who has yet to be hired. Staff is currently interviewing potential consultants for this position: however once the project begins, a lot of staff time will be necessary to co-ordinate activities with the consultant and the community. Some activities such as the Rehab loan programs and the zoning enforcement have not been actively pursued by the staff due to lack of time. These programs could be more effective if addditional time was available. - What is the cost of up-grading the position to full-time? It is anticipated that the current wage of $8.1S/hour will be in line with the Comparable Worth of the position. However the current part- time position does not receive health insurance benefits which would be allowE:d as a full-time employee; therefore the position will have an increased cost off $11,500 which includes wages and benefits. The revenue to support this additional staff time will come from a variety of sources including Section 8, the Resident;ial Re-hab Program, and the Tax Increment Financing Fund. . . Council Report: 88-108 Page 3 - What are the benefits of additional staff time? By allowing this additional twenty hours of staff time, the current work load can be shifted to allow for more economic development staff time and planning staff time. It is anticipated that the Housing Specialist would acquire the duties of Property Management of the HRA, some technical responsibilities for paper work for the HRA, and the full duti.es of the Residential Re- habilitation r~an Program. By assuming these duties, the Planner will be able to concentrate her II efforts on planning activities, both short term and long term, as well I as continue to administer the Hop-A-Ride Program. At present, the '1 long term planning has been left on the back burner and due to the I need to up-grade our Comprehensive Plan, it must be moved forward. '"1 The Community Development Analyst position, which currently handles ' the Parking Program, Property Management, Economic Development Activities, and both the Commercial anJ Sign Re-hab Loan Programs will . be able to spend more time on miscellaneous Economic Development activities. The parking Program will continue to be a major emphasis . of this position: however we hope to free-up the Analyst position for Economic Development activities by relieving him of the Property' Management ~esponsibilities. The Planning & Economic Development Directors position has major responsibilities for the Economic Development activities throuqhout .' the City and for the administration of the HRA. It is anticipated that by relieving him of some of the paper work necessary to comply with the HRA, he would ultimately be able to concentrate his efforts on Economic Development. He would continue to be the HRA Assistant Director and carry the responsibility for its completion but he would have less time spent on technical paper work and more time on Economic H;. Development activities. - Will twenty hours be sufficient to meet the demands of the work load? It is anticipated that this additional twenty hours will be sufficient to meet the current work load requirements of the department. As the work load increases in the economic development areas the twenty hours may not be sufficient to work on any new programs which may be adopted by the Council. . staff investigated the opportunity of l . ,-ing an additional full-time individual in place of this alternative. In our analysis it was felt that the types of activities needed to meet the current work load can be accomplished with the additional twenty hours. ! I ~, - lI'O"'IIIIlI r .. - . Council Report: 88-10e Page 4 Alternativ~sJ 1. Accept the staff rscornmendation and authorize the Housing Specialist position to be up-graded to full time. By accepting this alternative the Council will be allowing an additional twenty hours of staff time to relieve the current staff work load. 2. Deny the request for additionpl staff time and continue with the current staffing levels. By accepting this alternative the staff will be forced to prioritize projects which are currently underway or are anticipated. Some projects will not be able to be done due to a lack of staff time to accomplish them. 3. Authorize the staff to hire an additional full time person. Be accepting this alternative the counci.l will be ".. authorizing an additional forty hours of staff time. Although this would greatly reduce the work load, staff is of the opinion that this alternative is not necessary until additional programs are anticipated and authorized. . ...