Score: +7 (7/0/0)
Mariposa County Grand Jury • 2012-2013

2012-2013 Midterm Report (pdf)*

Published: January 31, 2013 39 pages
View Original PDF

Findings and Recommendations 20 findings

F1
Mariposa County's annual pension costs have increased dramatically over the past decade. These increases have been experienced by most California governmental entities.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
The County should consider reducing or eliminating the employer paid member contributions. This could reduce the County's pension costs by around $1.5 million per year.
F2
Mariposa County increased employee pension benefits in 2001 and retroactively applied those increases to the current employees. Pension benefits for employees hired after 2011 have been reduced.
No recommendations for this finding
F3
The County has been paying the required pension plan contributions in full every year.
No recommendations for this finding
F4
County employees have 100% of their required pension contribution paid for by the County.
No recommendations for this finding
F5
The pension unfunded actuarial accrued liability has rapidly escalated. This is mainly a result of poor performance of CalPERS investment funds and the retroactive increases in employee pension benefits.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
The County should consider reducing or eliminating the employer paid member contributions. This could reduce the County's pension costs by around $1.5 million per year.
F6
The County provides a post-employment healthcare benefit to retirees. This benefit is funded using a pay-as-you-go strategy.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
The County should investigate the benefits of prefunding retiree healthcare costs through participation in an investment program, such as CalPERS' California Employers' Retiree Benefit Trust (CERBT) Fund25. ^{1} Nation J (2011) Pension math: how California’s retirement spending is squeezing the state budget. Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, Stanford, California. Online link: http://siepr.stanford.edu/system/files/shared/Nation%20Statewide%20Report%20v081. pdf 2 Bornstein H, Markuze S, Percy C, Wang L and Zander M (2010) Going for broke: reforming California's public employee pension systems. Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, Stanford, California. Online link: http://www.stanford.edu/group/siepr/cgi- bin/siepr/?q=/system/files/shared/GoingforBroke pb.pdf 3 Lahey KE and Anenson TL (2007) Public pension liability: why reform is necessary to save the retirement of state employees. Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy 21(1):307-333. Online link: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract id=1019843 4 Contra Costa County Grand Jury (2012) City retirement plans: an unsustainable benefit? Report 1209. Online link: http://www.cc- courts.org/ data/n 0038/resources/live/rpt1209.pdf 5 Marin County Grand Jury (2011) Public sector pensions: a perspective. Online link: http://www.co.marin.ca.us/depts/GJ/main/cvgrjr/2010gj/public sector pensions.pdf 6 San Mateo County Grand Jury (2011) Controlling the County's escalating retirement costs. Online link: http://www.sanmateocourt.org/documents/grand jury/2011/retirement costs.pdf 7 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury (2011) Local government post-employment benefits in Santa Barbara County: complicated and costly. Online link: http://www.sbcgj.org/2011/PostEmployBenefits.pdf 8 Santa Clara County Grand Jury (2012) An analysis of pension and other post employment benefits. Online link: http://www.scscourt.org/court divisions/civil/cgj/2012/pension.pdf 9 Mariposa County (2012) Annual Financial Reports. Available at: http://www.mariposacounty.org/index.aspx?NID=769 10 CalPERS (2010) Actuarial Reports. Available at: http://www.calpers.ca.gov/index.jsp?bc=/about/forms-pubs/calpers-reports/actuarial- reports/browse-results.xml&strCatId=1&q=mariposa-county 11 Monahan A (2012) Statutes as contracts? The "California Rule" and its impact on public pension reform. Iowa Law Review 97:1020–1083. Online link: http://www.uiowa.edu/~ilr/issues/ILR 97-4 Monahan.pdf ^{12} Dollar amounts adjusted for inflation using the consumer price index for all urban consumers in the western United States. Online link: http://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet?data_tool=dropmap&series_id=CUUR0400S A0,CUUS0400SA0 13 Davis R (2006) An introduction to pension obligation bonds and other post-employment benefits. Orrick, Herrington, and Sutcliffe LLP. Online link: http://www.orrick.com/fileupload/247.pdf 14 Ibid. Governmental Accounting Standards Board (2012) Summary of Statement No. 45. Available at: http://www.gasb.org/st/summary/gstsm45.html 16 California Legislative Analyst's Office (2006) Retiree health care: a growing cost for government. Available at: http://www.lao.ca.gov/2006/ret hlthcare/retiree healthcare 021706.htm 17 Eide S (2012) Reform before revenue: how to fix California's retiree health-care problem. Civic Report No. 73, The Manhattan Institute, New York. Online link: http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr 73.htm#.UMYP0KWG7wz 18 Cal Watchdog (2012) California retiree health care time bomb is ticking. Available at: http://www.calwatchdog.com/2012/08/03/calif-retiree-health-care-time-bomb-is- ticking/ 19 Tatum A (2012) Our cities need preventive care too: how pre-funding and policy changes can help California's 20 largest cities manage growing retiree benefit costs. California Common Sense, Los Altos, California. Online link: http://cacs.org/images/dynamic/articleAttachments/16.pdf 20 Ortiz J (2012) Judge says Stockton bankruptcy can break retiree health guarantees. Sacramento Bee. Online link: http://blogs.sacbee.com/the state worker/2012/08/column- extra-judge-says-stockton-bankruptcy-can-break-retiree-health-guaran.html 21 Gustafson C (2011) Ruling on retiree health care could spur negotiations. San Diego Union-Tribune. Online link: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2011/apr/29/judge- retiree-health-coverage-not-mandatory-curren/ 22 Sforza T (2012) Lifetime medical perk can be altered for public workers. Orange County Register. Online link: http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2012/09/19/lifetime-medical-perk- can-be-altered-for-public-workers/160250/ 23 Weber J (2011) For Vallejo, bankruptcy isn't exactly a fresh start. The New York Times. Online link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/us/23bcweber.html 24 CalPERS (2012) FAQs: Pension Reform Act of 2013. Available at: http://www.calpers.ca.gov/index.jsp?bc=/member/retirement/faq-pra-2013.xml 25 CalPERS (2012) California Employers' Retiree Benefit Trust (CERBT) Fund. Available at: http://www.calpers.ca.gov/index.jsp?bc=/employer/retiree-ben-trust/overview.xml Planning Department Introduction The Planning Department was selected as a County Administration Department for an oversight review by the Grand Jury. Members of the Grand Jury visited the Planning Department on August 30, 2012 and interviewed the Department Head and one of the Planners. A request for items was given to the Department Head, and employee surveys were distributed at a later staff meeting.
F7
The County has taken steps to reduce retirement costs and liabilities, specifically by reducing pension benefits for new employees, reducing the number of full-time employees, requiring 20 years of employment to receive full vestment in healthcare benefits, and paying down unfunded liabilities on an accelerated schedule.
No recommendations for this finding
F8
Recent pension law reforms should assist in stabilizing pension costs.
No recommendations for this finding
F9
At present plans to resolve these issues designed by Provost and Pritchard have been submitted to the State Water Quality Control Board. If they are approved, they will be put out to bid, and the question of how to pay for a second major re-build will have to be answered.
No recommendations for this finding
F10
A meeting of all the interested parties including the State Water Board, Provost and Pritchard, the Public Works Director and staff, the Board of Supervisors (who are the Directors of the Maintenance District), property owners in Yosemite West, and the general public is scheduled for Feb. 5, 2013. Conclusions The property owners of Yosemite West have been poorly served by the County. The Public Works Director acknowledges that maintenance of the facility has been lacking, and clearly the design of the $3-4 million rebuild was deeply flawed. The fact that the subdivision is far from the town of Mariposa and has a large transient occupancy may make it easy to ignore. However, it should also be noted that the large transient occupancy does lead to a very large amount of annual Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) and Business Improvement District Assessment (BID) revenue flowing to the County. For the fiscal year July 2011 to June 2012 the total was $679,549.19. So far in the current fiscal year $450,803.44 has been collected. Any notion that Yosemite West is a net drain on County resources should surely be put to rest by these figures. It is also relevant that should the County fail to right all that is wrong with the Waste Water Treatment Plant, the state could certainly impose severe limits on the use of the sewage system in Yosemite West. This would surely have a significant effect on TOT revenue coming to the County from Yosemite West. Looking forward, what are the property owners in Yosemite West to do? One possibility raised in the December 13, 2012 Yosemite West Maintenance District Advisory Committee meeting with County officials would be to sue the engineering firm Psomas that produced the faulty design. However, it was quickly pointed out that their defense might be that the County reviewed and signed off on that design and then failed to adequately maintain the plant. A second possibility might be that the Yosemite West property owners sue the County for providing them with such a faulty product and then failing to maintain it. Yet this would essentially require the five individuals who are the directors of Yosemite West to sue the same five individuals who are the County Board of Supervisors. It simply won't happen. However, were it to happen or were a group of Yosemite West property owners to file a class action suit against the County for negligence, a court would have to rule on the degree to which the County is financially responsible for righting what is now so terribly wrong. Obviously it would be preferable to avoid such costly proceedings and arrive at a just financial resolution through fair, objective analysis such as a court might provide. For better or for worse, the property owners of Yosemite West appear to be wed without alternative to a County that has consistently failed them on this and an array of other matters (the current absence of safe drinking water being high on the list). To restate the important central fact of the relationship, it is the County's responsibility to maintain the water, fire hydrants, sewage system and roads of Yosemite West, and all in are apparently serious disrepair at present. To fix the most pressing problem, the sewage system, in the short window before the snow flies in the autumn will require an extraordinary effort by the County. Those repairs must be designed, approved, financed and fully implemented in just ten months. Can this be done? We certainly hope so. The remarkable speed with which the Pizza Factory rebuild has been approved and implemented alerts us to the County's ability to move quickly when it confronts a crisis. It is the opinion of this Jury that the problems with the Yosemite West Waste Water Treatment Facility, though so different in nature, represent a crisis demanding an equally dedicated response by the County. The Feb. 5 meeting is ideally scheduled as a starting point for this decisive action.
Related Recommendations (4)
R3
The Department Head could tell the department employees her 3 strongest values so they can make choices when she isn't there knowing that she will support these choices. For example, one value might be to always be honest when communicating with customers. Continue to increase cross-training to improve timeliness and efficiency of responses and to build employee morale.
R4
Several departments use the Geographical Information System (GIS) and need staff assistance; therefore, it is recommended that the current staff member be made full- time and be available to all departments throughout County Administration with recharges according to utilization. The cost of increasing this GIS technician's salary and benefits would be $1,059 per month.
R9
Consider moving Technical Services to a larger more secure facility where servers will be secure and new staff can be added as needed.
R10
An additional position would be helpful to the department, but space is not available. The Department Head indicated that one technical staff member for every 75 to 100 computers is needed. The County has approximately 400 computers; therefore four staff members would be best.
F11
The County has considered outsourcing email and productivity applications to third-party vendors, such as Google or Microsoft. The Human Services Department does use Google Apps. The Technical Services Director felt that outsourcing was not cost-effective for the County as a whole because the County must maintain computer servers for other purposes even if the servers are not providing email, plus the County utilizes the software licenses it purchases for several years, while an outsourced option would require a yearly payment for each license.
No recommendations for this finding
F12
The County has a policy directing that emails be automatically deleted after 6 months. Some departments expressed a desire to extend the retention time since they often need to refer back to older emails.
No recommendations for this finding
F13
The County has deployed an Internet web filter that helps protect users from malicious software and blocks access to unauthorized web sites. Policies limiting personal use of the Internet, such as for shopping or accessing websites like Facebook and YouTube, are at the discretion of department heads. For example, law enforcement accesses Facebook for some investigations.
No recommendations for this finding
F14
Internet bandwidth is limited and expensive in Mariposa County. The County pays $2000 per month for Internet access that has a capacity similar to residential connections in larger cities and costs around $50 per month.
No recommendations for this finding
F15
Cellular voice and data coverage are also limited within the County, and cellular phone companies are unlikely to expand service because of the small population and rugged terrain. Cellular communication is increasing used by law enforcement, such as for transmitting data between patrol vehicles and to avoid radio communications that can be scanned by criminals. The County is participating in a multi-agency intercommunications project that is establishing additional microwave communications towers. The additional coverage will provide enhanced voice and data communications for safety and law enforcement agencies.
No recommendations for this finding
F16
County employees are not required to take information technology security training. They are provided the County's security policy document when hired and they sign- off indicating their agreement.
Related Recommendations (1)
R7
Since security issues are constantly evolving along with changes in technology, we recommended that all employees be required to review and acknowledge the County's current written security policies on an annual basis and/or when there are significant changes made to the policies.
F17
The Sheriff said, "We stay in tune with today's technology and what is around the corner." The Sherriff's Department maintains case files and evidence in a computerized tracking system. This facilitates easy transfer of the information to other entities, such as the District Attorney, defense lawyers, and the courts.
No recommendations for this finding
F18
The Treasurer/Tax Collector/Elections Department Head said that the enterprise management software is "good enough." He stated that the cash-receiving module works well. Other counties use tax programs that cost between $550,000 and $750,000.
No recommendations for this finding
F19
The Planning Department employees gave their opinions regarding the enterprise management software and said, "I find that the modules are very limiting in searching capabilities and security." This employee went on to say, "We have experienced problems with our land use module with people being able to go in and change land use and zoning codes. And we requested that it be secured and it is not." Regarding accounting, she went on to say, "Because we don't do our own invoice inputting [the auditor does this] we cannot search for specifics if the specifics are not input by the auditor. We have to keep an entirely separate set of "books" using an Excel spreadsheet so that means that we are doing double work every time we pay a bill." Another employee indicated that they need a software program that tracks the transient rentals, Bed and Breakfasts, motels, hotels and interfaces between Planning and the Tax Collector. "Microsoft Access will not cost anything, [an employee] knows how to design a program that we can use and it is robust enough to hold all of the TOT's."
Related Recommendations (2)
R5
Replace the Sungard/HTE software with a current system that not only meets the needs of the Planning Department, but also integrates with all other county departments. The department head for Technical Services said that this would cost $100,000 to $500,000 to replace everything except the tax program. A new tax software program would add another $500,000.
R8
Purchase a new enterprise management software system within the next two years. Add a budget item as soon as possible to begin this process.
F20
The Tax Assessor Department Head Assistant said that the computer system was antiquated, cumbersome and looks old to the public. A concrete example of its inefficiencies is that they are not able to make queries. He thought that new computers and training were needed. For his department, drawing programs are needed as well as comparative reports. He thought that Technical Services provided good support and responded quickly.
Related Recommendations (1)
R8
Purchase a new enterprise management software system within the next two years. Add a budget item as soon as possible to begin this process.

Additional Recommendations 1

These recommendations are not explicitly linked to specific findings.

Agency Responses 1

Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.

* 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.