Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 19-127 TO IMMEDIATELY DISCONTINUE MUNICIPAL PROVISION OF PASSPORT SERVICES BY THE CITY OF CARSON (CITY COUNCIL)
Body
I. SUMMARY
The City of Carson through the City Clerk Office has been providing passport services to the public since 2016. The City Council has decided to terminate the passport services offered at the City immediately.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
WAIVE further reading and ADOPT a Resolution No. 19-127, “A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARSON, CALIFORNIA, TO IMMEDIATELY DISCONTINUE MUNICIPAL PROVISION OF PASSPORT SERVICES BY THE CITY OF CARSON.”
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III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE any other action deemed appropriate.
IV. BACKGROUND
In June 2016, the City Council reinstated a Part-Time Office Clerk to support the City offering passport services to the community. The Passport Acceptance Facility officially opened in December 2016. The passport services ramped up in January 2017. In the 2017-2018 Fiscal Year, the passport services generated $55,268 in revenues compared to $95,148 year-to-date 2018-2019 Fiscal Year.
In an effort to address a variety of service demands from the public and City staff, the City Clerk’s Office (CCO) proposed an enhancement of services by expanding the passport acceptance hours by an additional 5 hours per day (20 hours a week) Monday-Thursday from 7:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. By expanding the time allotted for passport services, the City realized an exponential increase in its passport acceptance volume. In addition to offering increased hours for passport photo services, the City Clerk’s office increased walk-in notary services as well as offered live scan operation and recordation at the service counter.
In prior years, the CCO organizational chart included adequate clerical staff. As a result of the immediate change in business needs of the office, additional staff support was required. The CCO proposed the reclassification of a Part-Time Office Clerk to a Full-time Senior Clerk. This reclassification allowed the CCO to provide maximum flexibility of clerical duties for the expanded passport hours, assist with other clerical duties as assigned and provide support when other CCO staff were absent for an extended time. The fully burdened rate for the reclassification of this role to a Full-Time Senior Clerk was $18,173 for the remainder of FY17/18.
Based on the information and data collected, the CCO’s proposal of increased passport hours, additional services provided to the public and the reclassification of existing personnel; it was confirmed that this would be a self-supporting function. It was therefore requested that the City Council approve the reclassification of the existing Part-Time Office Clerk position to a Full-Time Senior Clerk position to accommodate the enhanced services provided by the CCO. The CCO’s proposal of enhanced services, the Senior Clerk reclassification and the cost analysis associated with service counter revenue actuals and projections was properly vetted through AFSCME Local 809, Finance, Human Resources and the City Manager.
In March 2018, the City Council approved the reclassification of a part-time Office Clerk to a full-time Senior Clerk position. In the same City Council motion, an additional fulltime Senior Clerk position was approved. The reclassified Senior Clerk started working full-time in March 2018, and the subsequently approved Senior Clerk role was filled at the end of August 2018. The total personnel actual expenditures for two full-time Senior Clerks totaled $41,088 in Fiscal Year 2017-2018 and $106,720 year-to-date 2018-2019.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
None
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Resolution No. 19-127 (pgs. 4-6)
Prepared by: Sharon Landers, City Manager