Department
Finance
Requested Action
title
Presentation, review and approval of the June 16, 2021 Budget Soundings. (APPROVED)
body
Requirement for Board Action
BOC assessment and approval of budget soundings request is required by the County’s budget resolution approved by the BOC.
Strategic Priority Area related to this item (If yes, note strategic priority area below)
Open and Responsible Government
Commission Districts Affected
All Districts ☒
District 1 ☐
District 2 ☐
District 3 ☐
District 4 ☐
District 5 ☐
District 6 ☐
Is this a purchasing item?
No
Summary & Background
The June 16, 2021 Soundings request is submitted for your review and approval. Below is a brief summary of each request and related justification.
Strategic Priority Area: OPEN AND RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT
• Modify the 2021 Annual Hardware and Software Maintenance and Support List - (PAGE 3)
The BOC approval is requested to modify the Annual Hardware and Software Maintenance List (AML) approved as part of the FY2021 Adopted Budget. The requested change will be funded within the existing department’s budget and will not result in any budget adjustments.
The department requests an increase in spending authority to compensate for the 3% annual renewal contract fee for RiskConnect, line item 78. This will allow continued use of the system for all claims that are submitted to the division. Risk Connect is the Risk Management Information System and Workers Compensation System for Fulton County. No additional funding is being requested.
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Annual Hardware and Software Maintenance and Support List - 2021 |
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Type |
Vendor Name |
Product Name |
Description |
User Agency |
2021 AMLAdopted Budget |
Addt'l Amt |
Funding Source |
Comments |
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Hardware |
RiskConnect Formerly CS Stars LLC |
Marsh Clearsight |
Risk Management Information Systems/Workers Compensation System Maintenance & Support Services |
Finance/ Risk Mgmnt |
$113,423 |
$4,000 |
IT / Finance |
Increase spending authority to $117,423 |
Included in Soundings per the County Manager’s direction
GENERAL FUND
Strategic Priority Area: OPEN AND RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT
• REGISTRATION & ELECTIONS (page 4)
Increase the FY2021 Budget for Registration and Elections - $6,755,259.
Fulton County will be administering a T-SPLOST election, 13 Municipal general elections, and the special Board of Education E-SPLOST elections on November 2, 2021 and 10 Municipal runoffs elections on November 30, 2021.
Election Costs
The combined costs of administering these elections are estimated at 11,650,581 ($7,384,191 for the Municipal Election on November 2, and $4,266,390 for the Runoff Elections on November 30). The combined budget reflects the increasing elections costs associated with the new voting equipment, early voting locations and staff, and additional needs associated with the passage of SB 202. Under the current municipal election reimbursement formula, only a fraction of costs will be directly covered by payments from the municipalities. Therefore, to ensure all costs are covered, we recommend the use of three sources of funds as explained below.
1-Municipal Payment
Based on the existing municipal elections resolution approved by the Board of Commissioners on August 7, 2019 (copy attached), municipalities are to reimburse Fulton County for costs associated with municipal elections based on a formula that takes into consideration the number of registered voters and set rates established for special elections and runoff elections. This formula will yield municipal reimbursements to the County of $4,251,151.
2-Registration and Elections Existing Budget
As part of the FY2021 Adopted Budget, the Department of Registrations and Elections received an enhancement of $6,500,000 to address costs associated with the January 5, 2021, runoff election and cover licensing costs resulting from the purchase of new voting equipment. After accounting for incurred costs for the January 5, 2021, election and other commitments including equipment licenses and personnel costs, $644,172 can be redirected towards the municipal election costs.
3-Soundings - Use of EERF Reserve
As part of the FY2021 Adopted Budget, the Board of Commissioners established an Emergency Expense Reserve Funds (EERF) in the Non-agency budget of $45.7 million. The reserve was established to address operational needs resulting from the health emergency. As noted in the FY2021 Budget Message, in the event the State of Georgia or the Federal Government provides Fulton County with funding to mitigate and respond to the emergency, these resources could be reprogrammed during FY2021 towards election related costs. To cover the gap between total election costs, available municipal reimbursements and existing available funding already in the Registration and Elections budget, we recommend the use of $6,755,259 from the EERF.
Upon approval, the department will begin on June 23, 2021, assignment of supplemental staff, preparation of Early Voter training, scheduling poll worker recruitment and training, processing inventory tracking and equipment preparation.
NOTE - Future Equipment Needs
As a result of Senate Bill 202, the County will increase the number of polling locations from 255 to 271. In preparation for the upcoming election cycle, the County will be required to procure additional polling equipment to furnish the new locations. Additional equipment purchases are estimated at approximately $3.5 million; including polling equipment, equipment carriers and privacy screens. The County is currently assessing the best course of action to acquire and finance this equipment. This assessment includes an analysis of funding sources and logistics in order to obtain the equipment in a timely manner. Once the assessment is finalized, the Board of Commissioners will be presented with an equipment acquisition plan.
No funding for equipment is being requested as part of this sounding request.
Included in Soundings per the County Manager’s direction