HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-09-28; City Council; 12417; EMPLOYEE CAPITAL EQUIPMENT COMMITTEE REQUEST FOR CAPITAL PURCHASESCw OF CARLSBAD - AGEWA BILL 2 T- (' f s \"
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REQUEST FOR CAPITAL PURCHASES DEPT. FIN
TITLE:
MTG. q/sl8,4C EMPLOYEE CAPITAL EQUIPMENT COMMITTEE
DEPT.
CITY A
CITY N I I I
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
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Approve Resolution No. 93-2W appropriating funds for purchase of capital equipment.
ITEM EXPLANATION:
Capital equipment purchases have been almost eliminated from the operating budget for the
past few years because of tight budget constraints. Capital equipment purchases are a
necessary investment which can improve public safety, increase employee productivity or
service levels, and provide value to the City over time.
The City Manager recognized the need for additional capital purchases within the City and
in January 1993 announced the Employee Capital Equipment Purchase Plan (see Attachment
A. The goal of the program is to give all employees an opportunity to identify equipment
purchases which will help them to perform their jobs more effectively, safely or at a reduced
cost to the City. The plan also provides an opportunity for employees to be involved in the
decision-making process. Any employee may submit a capital equipment request, genera$
for items between $500 and $25,000. The request must contain documentation of how th
purchase will achieve one or more of the following goals:
1) Increase efficiency
2) Save time and/or money
3) Allow the maintenance of service levels with decreased work hours
4) Increase employee safety
5) Increase service levels with the same staffing levels
The Manager appointed a review committee from each service area of the City, with tht
Finance Department serving as facilitator. Volunteers submitted an application explainin2
why they wanted to serve on the committee, the Manager then selected the followin$
employees:
Administration Kevin Davis (Purchasing) Community Development Clint Phillips (Redevelopment) Culture & Recreation Dave Millikan (Parks Recreation)
Public Works Allan Packer [Streets)
Safety Nancy Rojek (Police)
Committee Recommendations
To date, the committee has considered seven employee requests and submitted three capit2
equipment recommendations to the City Manager for approval. Each of these request
meets the goals of increasing efficiency and saving time and money. The City Manage
concurs with the committee's three recommendations:
1) AutoCAD equipment - Enheerinn Department $4,800
Upgrades current computers and software, allows
faster processing, saves department approximately
$6,900 per year
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PAGE TWO OF AGENDA BILL NO. j a,'?) 3
2) Two upmaded comDuters - Fkance DeDartment
Gives two accounts payable/payroll clerks
increased speed and efficiency, access to
standard City software along with enhanced
readability and eye strain reduction
3) Computer and printer - Police Investinations
Ten Detectives currently share two computers
with one printer shared by 18 Investigations
personnel. Additional computer and printer
will save time, increase service levels, and
increase productivity.
$3,100
$4,000
Replacement of XT Class Micro Computers
As the committee reviewed employee equipment.requests, it became apparent that compute
upgrading is a recurring theme, especially the aging XT micro computer. .Finance an
the Data Processing Manager's recommendation shown in Attachment B. Citywide, 27 X
class micro computers are in use with twelve connected to the network. The XT class micr
computers are 6 to 10 years old and are not compatible with the City's networked softwar
(Lotus and Word Perfect). To work around these compatibility issues is very tim
consuming and requires multiple software configurations. It now takes Information System
a disproportionate amount of support time to keep the networked XT micro cornputel
functional.
Information Systems met to ascertain absolute minimum computer replacement needs wit
The Data Processing Manager recommends that the twelve networked XT micro cornputel
be replaced. Faster, newer PC's would also increase end user productivity and eas
frustration associated with using the under-powered computers. Replacement compute~
would cost from $1,600 to $2,000 each for a total investment of approximately $20,00(
A few of the XTs could be reassigned to work sites that are not connected to the networl
and surplus computers could be donated to the school district.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Capital purchases have been stifled for the past several years due to decreased availab
operating funds. For the General Fund, capital equipment purchases dropped fro
$949,200 in 1990-91 to $107,400 in 1991-92 and only $23,800 in 1992-93. To me
management requests for necessary capital outlay, Council appropriated $65,100 fro
General Fund reserves in the 1993-94 operating budget.
Staff recommends the following sources of funding for the capital requests: Poli
equipment from the Police Asset Forfeiture Fund, Carlsbad Municipal Water District fundi
for one XT computer, with the balance funded from General Fund reserves.
At the beginning of fiscal year 1993-94, the available General Fund balance is approximate
$8 million and the Asset Forfeiture fund contains $1.7 million. Funding employee-request1
capital equipment from fund balance is consistent with past Council policy. Asset Forfeitu
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PAGE THREE OF AGENDA BILL NO. 12, Y I?
funds may be utilized for the Police purchases because the equipment will increase and no
supplant law enforcement resources. Council approval of the capital equipment request
would reduce the General Fund balance by $27,000, the Asset Forfeiture Fund by $4,00C
and CMWD cash balances by $1,600.
EXHIBITS:
1. Attachment A, Employee Capital Equipment Purchase Plan
2. Attachment B, August 26, 1993 Memo re Replacement of XT Class Micro Computel
from Data Processing Manager.
3. Resolution 93 -280 , authorizing the purchase of capital equipment and appropriatin
funds.
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ATTACHMENT 1
CAPITAL, EQUIPMENT PURCHASE PLAN
The goal of this program is to give all employees an opportunity to identify equipment purchase
which will help you to perform your jobs more effectively, safely or at a reduced cost to the Ci?
It will also provide an opportunity for employees to be involved in the decision-making procesr
This process is as follows:
I. Equipment Requests
1. Requests for equipment may be originated by any employee and would generally be fc
items between $500 and $25,000, although items over this limit will be accepted. Any itel
over $25,000 will need Council approval. The requests must contain documentation of hol
the purchase will achieve one or more of the following goals:
a) Increase efficiency
b) Save time and/or money
c) Allow the maintenance of service levels with decreased work hours
d) Increase employee safety
e) Increase service levels with the same staffing levels
In addition, the request must include an economic analysis which is a calculation of tl
amount of savings to be achieved in either actual dollars or in time savings. An accountal
in the Finance department will be available 2 assistance is needed in completkg this PO&
of the request.
2) Trades of equipment can also be considered under this plan. For example, if yo1
department has a surplus computer, a request could be made to trade the computer 1
another department for some other equipment they need or in exchange for budget dollax
The Purchasing department a keep track of the equipment available for exchange ar
publish such list as needed.
3) Any employee may generate a request for equipment. The requests will be reviewed by
committee consisting of a cross-section of employees. Upon completion of the request 1
the employee, seven (7) copies should be sent to Finance. Although the requests do n
require department head approval, the department head should be sent an advance copy
the request prior to submittal to the committee.
4) Upon receipt by Finance, the economic analysis will be reviewed for accuracy ar
completeness and then distributed to all committee members as well as the department he; of the originating department.
5) Comments regarding the purchase will be requested from the department head prior
review by the committee.
6) The review committee will evaluate the equipment requests and make a recommendatic
as to whether the purchase should be made based on the stated goals. Thc
recommendation will be forwarded to the City Manageis office for final authorization.
7) Normal purchasing procedures will be followed from this point forward.
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11. Fundin8
Upon approval by CounciI, a certain amount of money for capital outlay will be appropriate(
the value of purchases recommended by the committee and the City Manager. Requests fo:
purchases for funds other than the general fund will be subject to available balances wid&
those funds.
from the general fund balance. The request for Council approval of funding will be based 01
111. Review Committee
1. A review committee appointed by the City Manager will review all requests for equipment
The committee will be made up of a cross section of employees with one person from eacl
of the following areas:
+ Administration
b Community Development
+ Culture and Recreation
+ Public Works
+ Safety
2. A management member from the Finance department will chair the committee. Th
individual's role will be to administer the program and to facilitate the discussions. Th
chairperson will have no vote unless needed for tie breaker.
3. Volunteers for the committee will be asked to submit an application explaining why the
would like to be on the committee. Any person currently on another committee will not b
accepted for consideration unless they intend to resign from the other committee up0
appointment to the capital equipment committee.
4. Initial committee recommendations will be made by the Finance department based on tl-
application with final appointment by the City Manager. Vacancies will be filled by majorii
approval of the current members of the committee and upon approval by the City Manage
5. It is expected that the time requirement will be one to two hours per month (unless n
requests are submitted for that month). All requests will be distributed to the committc
members prior to the meeting.
F:\USERS\EROPE\WPDATA\MISC\CAPEQUIP.PLN
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ATTACHMENT B
August 26,. 1993
TO: FINANCE DIRECTOR
FROM: Data Processing Manager
REPLACEMENT OF XI' CLASS MICRO COMPUTERS
As the citywide network continues to evolve and application software advances, we arl
having software compatibility problems with our XT class micro computers. (These are thl
oldest computers the City has, 6-1 0 years old). The newer software releases require faste
processors, more memory and better screen graphics. The older, XT class computers ar
not able to utilize some of the same software as the City's newer, more capable PC's.
We experienced some of these incompatibility problems with our last Lotus upgrade whe;
some features of Lotus 2.4 were not available to the XT's on the network. When w
upgrade to Word Perfect 6.0 (released 6/93) the problem will become worse. The ne\
Word Perfect will absolutely not run on the XT class machines. To work around thes
incompatibility issues is very time consuming. It necessitates multiple configurations, thu
creating a more complex and less stable computing environment. More and more it take
a disproportionate amount of support time to keep these few PC's functional.
The XT class user also experiences frustration and decreased productivity when unable t
use standard software. Some examples are (1) the inability to use the Lotus 2.
enhancement "what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG)" and (2) schedules developed o
Lotus 2.4 cannot be used on the XT machine, a compatible computer must be located.
Listed below are the XT class computers remaining on the network. (There are another 1
XT's in use at the City that are not on the network. These are primarily used at small€
remote sites and the need to replace them is not as compelling).
Desktops
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4
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2
1
Laptops
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1
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Portables
Building - Code Enforcement
Engineering - Bob Wojcik, Pat Entezari, Frank Jimeno, Al Virgilio
Finance - Ray Garrison
U/M - Greg Clavier, Virginia McCoy
CMWD - Paul Partain
City Managers - Ray Patchett
Finance - Al Capuchin0
Purchasing - Ruth Fletcher
*- e al
If the XT’s on the network could be replaced with current technology it would hell
considerably from the support end. These faster, newer PC’s could also increase end usel
productivity and ease frustration associated with using these under-powered computers
The current users of these XI’ computers need not be the eventual users of new computers
The existing computers within the departments can be moved based on need.
The cost of new 486 desktops computers with color monitors is about $1,600 each and thc
cost of new 486 monochrome laptop computers is about $2,000 each. Considering thc
reasonable price of new computers, upgrading the existing XI”s not a practical option
There is no additional cost associated with attaching them to the network since we alread;
’ have the network interface cards.
I believe we will be able to reassign a few of these n’s to locations not on the network
however, there will be some that we are not able to use and surplus computers could bc
donated to a worthy organization.
Please let me know if need any additional information.
.~
GORDON PETERSON
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RESOLUTION NO. 9 3 - 2 8 0
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF CARLSBAD CALIFORNIA,
AUTHORIZING THE PURCHASE OF CAPITAL
EOUIPMENT AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS
WHEREAS, capital equipment purchases are a necessary
investment which can improve public safety, increase employee productivity
or service levels, and provide value to the City of Carlsbad over several years;
and
WHEREAS, the Employee Capital Equipment Committee and City
Manager recommends the purchase of capital equipment which will increase
employee efficiency and save time and money; and
WHEREAS, the General Fund, Asset Forfeiture Fund, and Carlsbad
Municipal Water District have sufficient and available funds; and
WHEREAS, capital purchases from the Asset Forfeiture Fund will
increase and not supplant law enforcement resources; and
WHEREAS, the Carlsbad Unified School District desires and
requested donation of any City of Carlsbad surplus microcomputers.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the
City of Carlsbad, California, as follows:
1. The purchase of AutoCAD equipment for the Engineering
Department, two computers for the Finance Department, and replacement of
twelve XT class microcomputers is authorized and $27,000 is appropriated
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from the General Fund balance and $1,600 is appropriated from Carlsbad 1
Municipal Water District balance. 2
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Investigations is authorized and $4,000 is appropriated from the Asset 4
2. The purchase of computer and printer for Police
"' 5 Forfeiture Fund.
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3. Surplus microcomputers are to be donated to the Carlsbad
Unified School District.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the
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City Council on the 28th day of SEPTEMBER , 1993, by the following vote,
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AYES: Council Members Lewis, Stanton, Kulchin .
NOES: None
ABSENT: Council Members Nygaard,
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ATTEST:
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4*d Gk
ALETHA L. RAUTENKRANZ, City Clerk (SEAL)
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