Bellwether LLC. Presents

Transcription

1 Bellwether LLC Presents

2 County Government Fee Review County Clerk County Recorder Sheriff Dept

3 County Fees are regulated by state and federal guidelines Fees are set to ensure that the cost of providing specific services are not borne by the county as a whole, but are paid by those receiving the service Illinois State laws define the maximum fees allowed without further cost based documentation. Federal OMB Circular A-87 describes the methods required to appropriately calculate and document the costs of providing the service. All calculations and documentation are available for public review and audit. Similar statutes address the Recorder and Sheriff fees. Fee prices are defined by state laws and county ordinances. County governments may charter cost studies to review the appropriateness of these fees and make adjustments to meet actual expenses. The process and authority to adjust these fees are addressed in laws of the State of Illinois - 55 ILCS 5/ (from Ch. 34, par ) (County Clerk Fees), prescribing: The county board may, however, by ordinance, increase the fees allowed by this Section and also the notary public recordation fees allowed by Section of the Illinois Notary Public Act and the indexing and filing of assumed name certificate fees allowed by Section 3 of the Assumed Business Name Act and collect such increased fees from all persons and entities other than officers, agencies, departments and other instrumentalities of the State if the increase is justified by an acceptable cost study showing that the fees allowed by these Sections are not sufficient to cover the cost of providing the service. A Statement of the costs of providing each service, program and activity shall be prepared by the county board. All supporting documents shall be public record and subject to public examination and audit. All direct and indirect costs, as defined in the United States Office of Management and Budget Circular A-87, may be included in the determination of the costs of each service, program and activity. Contact@BellwetherAdvantage.com

4 Fees are fixed - Costs are Variable Cost of service increases can be linked to gradual influences such as the cost of fuel or salaries, or immediate influences such as additional required documentation or specialized equipment. Even modest across the board salary adjustments can impact costs. $ 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% In as little as five years your cost for service can increase significantly. 15% Increased requirements to meet state and federal statutes can impact costs. $ 10% Specific requirements for added processing, specialized equipment or software can add significant cost. 15% Increased third party costs can impact costs. $ 30% fuel Maintenance Increases in the cost of consumable materials and services can add significant cost. Contact@BellwetherAdvantage.com

5 County Clerks and Recorders and Sheriff Departments struggle to provide needed services in a constrained budgets December November October September October September August July June Every month that goes by places more strain on the General Fund and more pressure on the elected official Ensuring fee accuracy is key to providing services during budget shortfalls.

6 Services become a burden on the General Fund Budget constraints are everywhere. Inaccurate fees cause a drain on the General Fund and applies unnecessary stress on the Department Head. Only the actual cost of providing the service can be used in the fee calculation. The remaining, non-feeable services, must be paid from the General Fund. The impact of out-of-date fees to the General Fund increases over time. The Department Head is challenged to provided the required services with diminishing resources Example Mix of Funding General Fund 30% General Fund 55% Service Fees 70% Potential Impact of Inaccurate Fees Service Fees 45% Contact@BellwetherAdvantage.com Example Illustration Only Individual Percentages Vary

7 Bellwether LLC provides insight into your fee potential How can a county elected official know for sure if their fees meet their needs? Elected Officials can confirm their suspicions with a low cost preliminary review. Our methods use leading indicators to estimate the potential value of a full fee review. Align your fees with your costs with a full fee study. Our use of remote data collection tools, conference calls and interviews help you align your fees with minimal interruption to your office. Avoid the big change scenario with infrequent fee reviews. Keep your fees aligned with minimal effort and cost using our virtual program. Bellwether LLC developed a service model designed to meet the needs of local governments with no-regrets pricing: Preliminary Fee Profile A rapid, low cost review of high level data to determine if there is a need for a fully compliant fee study. Take the guess work out for less than $1,000. Full Baseline Fee Study A comprehensive fee study to analyze direct and indirect costs attributed to each service and user fee. Ongoing Virtual Program This annual program allows for periodic updates and use of data for staffing model and planning. Contact@BellwetherAdvantage.com

8 Take the guess work out of your review with Bellwether s GPS Preliminary Review Data is collected using online tools Conference calls provide insights Bellwether analysts use leading indicators to forecast the potential value of adjusted fees on the department current year budget Preliminary Reviews are completed in three weeks and cost less than $1,000 per dept

9 When should you update your fees? Bellwether s GPS Preliminary Review Estimates the Funding Gap created by inaccurate fees Bellwether s remote process for a preliminary review allows the Elected Official to understand their potential for fee changes BEFORE engaging in a full review. A final report includes presentation materials for the Department Head to use as needed. Funding Gap The funding gap was projected using: Expense side budget data Assumptions related to the percentage of expenses (including labor) that may be attributable to fee related services Assumptions related to likely indirect expenses that may be attributable to fee related services Fee revenues from FY2011 The aggregate fee funding gap for the XXXXX County Clerk s office is projected to be approximately $115,730. It is not likely that this entire amount can be attributed to services for which a fee can be collected. However, capturing 25%-40% of the gap is a reasonable expectation ($28,932 to $46,292 annually). Realizing additional fee revenue is entirely dependent on the decisions of XXXXX County elected officials after a full cost study is performed.

10 Drill down into the details with Bellwether s GPS Full Review Data is collected using online tools Conference calls provide insights An in-depth review of your processes help us to document the actual costs An in-depth review of third party costs helps us to uncover any hidden costs Expense Item General Management & Administrative Time Allocation Process The cost of management time, training time, and other administrative time was allocated to the services under review based on the amount of time employees spend providing the services under review. Not all management and administrative time was allocated to the services under review as other work is conducted within the office that is not subject to service fees. General Equipment, Telephone and Supplies The cost of equipment and supplies that are used to provide multiple services within the office were allocated based on the volume of transactions in the office, and the estimated consumption of the resource per transaction. General Facilities The costs associated with office/building space and operations & maintenance that could not be allocated to specific services were distributed based on the amount of time that employees spend providing various services. Not all indirect facility costs were allocated to the services under review as other work is conducted within the office that is not subject to service fees.

11 Document your actual cost to provide services Drill down into the details with Bellwether s GPS Full Review Recorder s Fees Fee Cost Justification Document Recording Real Estate $73.99* 43min employee time ($21.17), Document Label ($0.24), RHSP State ($9.00), Recorder s RHSP ($0.50), General Fund RHSP ($0.50), County GIS ($20.00), Recorder GIS Collection ($1.00), County Automation ($5.30), Recorder Doc Storage ($3.00), DevNet ($2.49), allocated indirect costs ($10.79) Document Recording Financing statement (UCC) Document Recording Termination of financing statement Document Recording Plats & Maps Document Recording Other Copies of Recorded Documents (Pre 1990) Copies of Recorded Documents (Post 1990) Genealogical Fees $60.54* $24.89* $60.54* $51.19* $15.90 $5.65 Record copy before 1916 $ min employee time ($17.72), Document Label ($0.24), County GIS ($20.00), Recorder GIS Collection ($1.00), County Automation ($5.30), Recorder Doc Storage ($3.00), DevNet ($2.49), allocated indirect costs ($10.79) 17min employee time ($8.37), Document Label ($0.24),DevNet ($2.49), Recorder Doc Storage ($3.00), allocated indirect costs ($10.79) 36min employee time ($17.72), Document Label ($0.24), County GIS ($20.00), Recorder GIS Collection ($1.00), County Automation ($5.30), Recorder Doc Storage ($3.00), DevNet ($2.49), allocated indirect costs ($10.79) 17min employee time ($8.37), Document Label ($0.24), County GIS ($20.00), Recorder GIS Collection ($1.00), County Automation ($5.30), Recorder Doc Storage ($3.00), DevNet ($2.49), allocated indirect costs ($10.79) Assumes average document page count of 4-11min employee time for search ($5.41), 3min employee print/copy time ($1.47), Paper and Consumables ($0.08), allocated indirect costs ($8.94) Assumes average document page count of 4-3min employee time for search ($1.47), 3min employee print/copy time ($1.47), Paper and Consumables ($0.08), allocated indirect costs ($2.63) Assumes average document page count of 4-14min employee time for search ($6.89), 3min employee print/copy time ($1.47), Paper and Consumables ($0.08), allocated indirect costs ($2.63) Search Fee (known date) -- Included in record copy fee above Search Fee (unknown date) $ min employee time for search($11.32)

12 Support Board Action to authorize new fees Bellwether s GPS Full Review Support for your Board Approval Process Department Heads are provided a full description of the evaluation process, including: Current fees and distribution Full description of direct and indirect costs Proposed fees and rationale Board proposal documents Presentation support if required

13 ELIMINATE THE LOSS YEARS A county s fees can be off by 1 3% within 12 months after a fee review State requirement changes occur regularly. Your county may be subsidizing state requirements through your General Fund By the time a county chooses to complete another review they have often lost over 15% of fee earning per year for 6 9 years. MAKE YOUR DATA USABLE Update your data every year using the easy online submission. Use your data to estimate the labor savings from technology investments. Complete staffing models and develop what if scenarios for department heads. Avoid the big jump in fees with smaller annual changes.

14 Call today to begin your County Government Fee Review Bruce DeLashmit