Ord. 1467-A(2) 2013-02-11ORDINANCE NO. 1467-A(2)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
PEARLAND, TEXAS, AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 1467-A, THE 2012-
2013 ANNUAL BUDGET ORDINANCE, BY; AUTHORIZING THE CITY
MANAGER OR HIS DESIGNEE TO TAKE ALL ACTIONS NECESSARY
TO FACILITATE THE CHANGES IDENTIFIED HEREIN WITHOUT
FURTHER APPROVAL OF CITY COUNCIL; PROVIDING A SAVINGS
CLAUSE, A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, A REPEALER CLAUSE, AND
AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the City Council is authorized by law to make adjustments in the City
budget for municipal purposes and for emergency appropriations to meet a pressing
need for public expenditure to protect the public health, safety, and welfare as a result
of unusual and unforeseen conditions; and
WHEREAS, said amendments are necessary to reflect changes to the General
Fund for fiscal year 2013; now therefore,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PEARLAND, TEXAS:
Section 1. That the General Fund for fiscal year 2013 is hereby adjusted as
set out in Exhibit A, attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference for all
purposes, as authorized by law for municipal purposes.
Section 2. That the City Manager or his designee is authorized to take all
actions necessary to facilitate the changes identified herein without further approval of
City Council.
Section 3. Savings. All rights and remedies which have accrued in favor of
the City under this Chapter and amendments thereto shall be and are preserved for the
benefit of the City.
ORDINANCE NO. 1467-A(2)
Section 4. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase
or portion of this Ordinance is for any reason held invalid, unconstitutional or otherwise
unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a
separate, distinct, and independent provision and such holding shall not affect the
validity of the remaining portions thereof.
Section 5. Repealer. All ordinances and parts of ordinances in conflict
herewith are hereby repealed, but only to the extent of such conflict.
Section 6. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective
immediately upon its passage and approval by the City Council.
PASSED and APPROVED ON FIRST READING this the 28th day of
January, A. D., 2013.
TOM REID
MAYOR
ATTEST:
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ORDINANCE NO. 1467-A(2)
PASSED and APPROVED ON SECOND AND FINAL READING this the 11th day
of February, A. D., 2013.
ATTEST:
TOM REID
MAYOR
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APPROVED AS TO FORM:
DARRIN M. COKER
CITY ATTORNEY
3
Ordinance No. 1467-A(2)
PEARLAND MUNICIPAL COURT
TO: Bill Eisen, City Manager
FROM: Claire Bogard, Director of Finance
Rick Overgaard, Assistant Director of Finance
VIA: Pat Riffel, Court Administrator
DATE: January 11, 2013
RE: Return of Full Time Deputy Court Clerk position to Municipal Court
For 2011 and 2012 budget years, Municipal Court lost a full time deputy court clerk position and
reclassed a full-time position to part-time due to budgetary constraints. This loss, coupled with
the increase in workload, has become problematic. Though we have recently returned a part time
position to the staff in FY 2013 it is not sufficient to keep up with the workload.
The police department continues to add patrol officers, 5 over the last 3 years, including FY 2013.
This increases the workload of the court staff in many areas. There has been an increase in
citations in the last year of 14%. There has been an increase in trial settings (Judge and Jury) of
over 60%. We have also witnessed an increase in warrant production of 12%, coupled with an
increase in warrant officer productivity of 10% over last year (see attached).
Excluding state court fees, court collections have increased 17%, but collecting fines/fees is time
consuming and staff intensive; requiring letters, phone calls, processing payment plans,
processing warrant recalls, jail time credit, etc. Due to the size of our now normal arraignment
dockets (250-350) four staff members are required to be in courtroom and four at the windows—
leaving only two to answer phones this has lead to inadequate customer service and an increase
in complaints—also, lobby lines on court dates often consists of 30 or so people, causing security
concerns as they get anxious and upset due to the wait.
Due to increased traffic and workload we have been unable to do some of the things that help us
be effective, such as sending delinquency letters, setting show cause hearings, newspaper
publication of warrants, warrant cards. There has been no opportunity for development, for
example; adequate training, juvenile programming, bond forfeiture dockets.
The increase in workload has caused the court staff to be strained beyond many of the staff's
abilities. Due to the workload and the "hurriedness" errors have been increasing, this
unfortunately leads to disciplinary issues, which in turn lead to lower morale and turnover. In the
past month a 19 year veteran and a 16 year veteran have left the court for other city positions—
both commented that the clerk job is not the job it was when they signed on and the volume is too
much to handle. Another employee has an interview this week for another position as well.
The cost of a new position being hired at mid year and next year is as follows:
Deputy Court Clerk!
Hourly Rate
Annual Rate
Workers Comp
Social Security
TMRS
Medical
AD&D/LTD
SUI
Total
8 Months
FY2013
$ 13.00
18,027
19
1,118
2,306
3,383
60
261
$
25,173 $
FY 2014
$ 13.39
27,851
28
1,727
3,562
5,075
90
261
38,594
Ordinance No. 1467-A(2)
The revenues have increased on a yearly basis; as shown below, and with additional staff we can
follow up on missed court dates, collection delinquencies, warrant cards, etc. This will also lead
to additional collections.
FY2010
FY 2011
FY 2012
2,310,041
2,714,216
3,164,068
I respectfully request a mid -year authorization of one additional Deputy Court Clerk that can be
funded from increasing revenues. I believe to proceed without returning to staffing levels of three
years ago will cause current staff to consider other employment—it will further lessen the
effectiveness of our customer service, will cause increasing complaints and upset customers, lead
to errors, all of which affects the efficiency and reputation of the department.