Sacramento County Grand Jury • 2009-2010 • Agency Response
Response to: The City of Sacramento and Proposition 218 The Law is the Law

William B. Sponable Fire Chief August 16, 2010 Hon. Steve White, Presiding Judge Sacramento County Superior Court*

Published: August 16, 2010 6 pages
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Findings and Recommendations 5 findings

F1 Page 2
0 Independent Special Districts (ISD) directors perform valuable service at minimal cost. However, this survey reveals inconsistent behaviors regarding compliance with sound management practices.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Page 2
1 Directors should review their by-laws every four years to assure compliance with applicable laws, ethical practices, and appropriate behavior. <b>District Response</b>; As part of its ongoing Board education program, the District will ensure that all Directors review the board policies related to the operation of the Board not less than every four (4) years.
F2 Page 3
0 Some ISDs grant monetary awards for education and training; many have inadequate evaluation of employees' degrees and certificates. District Response; Compensation for educational or training accomplishments is reviewed under approved District policies and bargaining unit memorandum's of understating (MOU) and associated resolutions. Specifically; 1.) Certification Tracking - Administrative Policy 130.01 2.) Continuing Education Program - Administrative Policy 141.01 3.) Education Incentive - Procedures are incorporated in bargaining unit MOU's approved by the Board of Directors 4.) March 7, 2007 Letter of Understanding Re: Article 11 Incentives and Allowances
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Page 3
1 All ISDs should encourage education and training, but should not make direct monetary (cash) awards for educational achievement. District Response; Existing MOUs with the Districts bargaining units contain provisions for compensation for educational accomplishment. When these agreements expire the District will present options on employee compensation for educational achievement to the Board of Directors.
F3 Page 4
0 ISD pension awards and Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) have increased markedly in the last decade. Some of these awards are unfair and unsustainable. <b>Recommendation 3.1</b> All ISDs should adopt pension and OPEB plans that are fair, affordable and sustainable. <b>District Response</b>; Existing MOUs with the Districts bargaining units contain provisions for pension and Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB). The District is currently negotiating with its labor groups for a shared contribution for pension and OPEB. When these agreements expire the District will present options on pensions and OPEB to the Board of Directors. <b>Recommendation 3.2</b> To minimize unfair pension boosting, all ISDs should ensure that calculations of employees' base pension awards are on actual base salary earnings over their highest 36 months of earnings and urge CalPERS to promote this standard. <b>District Response</b>; Existing MOUs with the Districts bargaining units contain provisions for highest 12 months of earnings. When these agreements expire the District will present options on final year's calculations to the Board of Directors.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
Page 4
3 All ISD pension/OPEB changes should be made only after analysis and full disclosure to all parties of the fiscal ramifications. District Response; The total cost of all aspects of the District's budget is clearly presented to the Board of Director before implementation. Ongoing costs and fund balances are reported to the Board regularly. Serving Sacramento and Placer Counties Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District 2101 Hurley Way Sacramento, California 95825-3208 Phone (916) 859-4300 Fax (916) 859-3700
F4 Page 5
0 The majority of the ISDs surveyed in this study are neglecting their fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers and ratepayers by excessive use of no-bid purchasing.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
Page 5
1 Every ISD in Sacramento County should establish and adhere to a goal of minimizing no-bid purchasing. Essentially all purchases except utilities and emergency construction should be by contracts awarded to the lowest responsive responsible bidders. <b>District Response</b>; The District's policy is to refer any procurement that receives less than three (3) bids to the District's general counsel for consideration, review and determination of the validity of the procurement process. If in the opinion of the general counsel the process was fair and open and less than three (3) bidders are available to bid an award is made in the best interest of the District. Serving Sacramento and Placer Counties <b>Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District</b> 2101 Hurley Way Sacramento, California 95825-3208 Phone (916) 859-4300 Fax (916) 859-3700
F5 Page 6
0 ISDs have not consistently conducted and reported required Independent Financial Audit Reports and management audits.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
Page 6
1 All ISDs must complete and file the required annual Independent Financial Audit. District Response; The District is current on all its Audited Financial Statements and other audit requirements.

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.