MEMORANDUM 06-62

TO: Mayor Hornaday and Homer City Council

THRU: Walt Wrede, City Manager

FROM: Sheri Hobbs, Personnel

DATE: April 5, 2006

RE: Community Schools Budget

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At the Council’s request we met with Mike Illg the Community Schools Coordinator and reviewed the budget prepared for Council at the last meeting. Mike advised that his salary as a summer temporary was included in temporary instructor category of the Borough budget. He also stated that $905.31 in 2004 and $513.30 in 2005 were one time purchases. We removed his salary from the instructor category in the borough budget and placed it under the full-time category. We did not reduce the supply budget as there will always be one time purchases and budgets increase annually due to inflation. Also at this time we do not have a written agreement from the Borough advising if they will continue to pay for all office supplies and provide reductions on rental fees so we have budgeted for these additional costs. We have not included expected costs from Administration or Finance to set up and administer this program. Listed below are options that have been discussed.

1. Hire Full-Time Position but eliminate part-time. As you can see from the Borough budget employee backup is necessary. Eliminating the part-time raises concerns in the event the full-time employee is ill, quits or has a family emergency. Relying on casual on call employees is not always the best option.

2. Hire Coordinator as a Temporary with no benefits. The City of Homer Personnel Regulations and our PERS contract state full-time employees are eligible for benefits. Temporary employees are defined as seasonal summer hires or positions less than 6 months in duration. We could hire a Coordinator as a Temporary with no benefits but only for 6 months. Without benefits it is likely we would be hiring a new employee every year.

3. Contract the position. Contracting the position would require the Contractor to purchase supplies, hire instructors and provide payroll and tax services. The City would also want to require the Contractor to provide liability insurance for the Contractor and any employees or instructors hired. As I stated in my earlier memo I believe this will be cost prohibitive.

4. Hire Full-Time position for 9 months with benefits. To reduce the budget we could hire the Coordinator for a full-time 9 month position with benefits but we would need to eliminate the summer program. It would require advertising and hiring every year. Without pay and benefits in the summer it is possible we would be hiring a new employee every year.

A revised budget with options for eliminating the part-time position and hiring a 9 month position are attached. Actual costs of the 2004 and 2005 Borough budget are also included for reference. If the City approves a full-time position we are required to advertise.