The City Court Clerk maintains records pertaining to the office and the courts. This division, under the direction of an elected Court Clerk, also manages the Traffic Violations Bureau (TVB), which is responsible for collecting traffic violation fines and fees and providing outstanding ticket information to the State and other departments. The City Court Clerk provides three divisions of the City Court with dockets for citizens' hearings in open court. The division consists of the following departments:
• Court Clerk & TVB: responsible for the collection of all fines, costs, and fees assessed against tickets issued by the City of Memphis Police officers and the disbursement of these payments to the proper accounts.
• Red Light Camera: installation of red light cameras to improve the safety on roadways by decreasing red-light running, resulting in fewer collisions and injuries
Staffing
Staffing in the division is primarily driven by the City Court Clerk & TVB, which represents 95 percent of budgeted FTEs for FY2013. The other 5 percent of FTEs serve in the Red Light Camera department.
Division FTEs, FY2013 Adopted
Department FTEs
City Court Clerk & TVB 56
Red Light Camera 3
Total 59
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The Clerk’s staff is primarily organized to collect revenue associated with court and ticket fees, fines and other charges. Staffing demand appears to be at least partially driven by technological challenges that are currently being addressed with the implementation of a new information system developed to better track and maintain data regarding outstanding fine/fee assessments and payments.
City Court Clerk FTEs, FY2011-FY2013
Source: City of Memphis – FY2013 Adopted Budget
Budget
The Court Clerk’s revenues consist primarily of fines and forfeitures, with an annual average of approximately $1.6 million. Revenue generated from the charges for services refers to revenue from credit card fees.
Fines and Forfeitures -$767 $0 $1,097,081 $2,079,060 $1,617,014 $1,400,000
Total -$262 -$5,544 $1,077,496 $2,081,749 $1,619,965 $1,400,000
The Court Clerk’s expenditures are driven primarily by personnel services, which represented 67 percent of the division’s FY2012 net expenditures. The Court Clerk was budgeted to spend approximately $1.4 million in outside professional services in FY2013, comprising the majority of the Clerk’s spending in material and supplies. Personnel Services $2,868,418 $3,021,280 $2,933,044 $3,081,946 $3,062,730 $2,997,734 Materials and
Supplies $398,179 $344,785 $1,093,022 $1,593,174 $1,488,528 $1,759,619
Grants and
Subsidies $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
Capital Outlay $126,674 $11,697 $15,559 $0 $0 $0
Total $3,393,271 $3,377,762 $4,041,625 $4,675,120 $4,551,258 $4,757,353
66 65
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Engineering
The Engineering Division is responsible for the engineering and project management for planning, design and construction of public infrastructure projects, such as construction of streets and bridges, traffic signals and City facilities. The departments within the division are organized as follows:
• Civil Design and Administration: includes the City Engineer and other personnel that are responsible for the fiscal and operational management of the division, as well as the City Engineer for Civil Design, Senior Engineers, Coordinators and other staff that provide design for public construction projects and review of private development projects.
• Building Design and Construction: includes the Project Managers and other staff that manage construction projects for other City departments.
• Mapping and Property: includes Engineers that maintain the official mapping records for the City.
• Construction Inspections: includes the Construction Inspectors who review all construction activities in public “rights-of-way.”
• Traffic Engineering: includes the Engineers that are responsible for the design and operation of the City’s traffic control devices and the Parking Enforcement Technicians that are responsible for the City’s parking meters.
• Sewer Design: includes the Engineers and Inspectors that provide sewer design services and review development plans that impact the City’s sanitary sewer collection system.
• Drainage Design: includes the Engineer that provides drainage design services and review development plans that impact the City’s storm water collection system.
• Signs and Markings: includes the Painters that maintain the City’s street signs and street markings.
• Signal Maintenance: includes the Signal Technicians and Signal Aides that maintain the City’s traffic signals.
Staffing
Staffing in the division is driven primarily by Signal Maintenance and Signs and Markings, which each represent 21 percent of budgeted FTEs for FY2013. Fifteen percent of FTEs serve in Traffic Engineering, 13 percent in Construction Inspections and 13 percent in Civil Design and Administration. The remaining 16 percent of the division’s FTEs are spread across Sewer Design, Building Design and Construction, Mapping and Property, and Drainage Design.
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Division FTEs, FY2013 Adopted
Department FTEs
Civil Design and Administration 17 Building Design and Construction 5
Mapping and Property 3
Construction Inspections 17
Traffic Engineering 20
Sewer Design 11
Drainage Design 3
Signs and Markings 28
Signal Maintenance 28
Total 132
The division’s staffing is related to demand, so as public and private construction projects have declined as a result of the recession, so has the division’s staffing. The division has experienced a 35 percent decline in General Fund FTEs from FY2003 to FY2013, with the most significant decrease occurring from FY2008 to FY2009. In some areas with relatively low demand, such as Drainage Design, the division has used part-time employees as well.
City Engineer FTEs, FY2003-FY2012
Source: City of Memphis – Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, FY2012
Note: does not include Drainage Design and Sewer Design FTEs which are supported by the Storm Water Fund and Sewer Fund
Budget
Revenue generated from the City’s 1,237 parking meters averaged roughly $460,000 annually from FY2008 to FY2011. The division also generates revenue from fees for activities such as conducting street cut inspections, issuing sidewalk permits, and performing signal maintenance for surrounding jurisdictions. Overall, the division’s revenues declined 45 percent from $1.6 million in FY2008 to $0.9 million in FY2012.
181
118
0 50 100 150 200 250
FY2003 FY2004 FY2005 FY2006 FY2007 FY2008 FY2009 FY2010 FY2011 FY2012 FY2013
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Traffic Signals $233,198 $156,779 $256,851 $275,534 $220,426 $200,000
Subdivision Plan
Inspection Fee $309,886 $125,894 $95,920 $87,674 $155,992 $90,000
St TN Highway
Maintenance Grant $112,533 $151,540 $155,064 $52,600 $119,585 $95,000
Sidewalk Permit Fees $191,295 $138,618 $76,381 $25,490 $79,188 $88,000
Sale Of Reports $17,428 $12,645 $11,354 $22,523 $9,289 $14,363
Signs-Loading Zones $18,106 $15,876 $21,659 $16,052 $24,428 $15,000
Arc Lights $4,823 $1,767 $1,015 $3,674 $3,786 $4,000
Miscellaneous Income $100 $- $- $562 $7 $-
MLG&W Rent $- $400 $200 $- $2,400 $2,400
Court Reimbursement $- $97 $100 $- $- $-
Total $1,592,070 $1,250,943 $1,318,486 $1,232,137 $871,518 $758,763
The division’s expenditures are driven primarily by employee wages and benefits, which combined represent a combined 92 percent of the division’s FY2012 net expenditures. From FY2008 to FY2012, the division’s total expenditures have declined 8 percent from $10 million to $9.2 million.
Expenditures, FY2008 – FY2013
Source FY2008 Actual FY2009 Actual FY2010 Actual FY2011 Actual FY2012 Estimate
FY2013 Budgeted
Wages $7,044,344 $7,473,430 $7,337,483 $7,150,718 $6,224,199 $6,157,172
Benefits $1,257,734 $1,454,492 $1,390,209 $1,655,605 $1,310,126 $1,395,931
Other $1,722,411 $2,115,381 $1,602,346 $1,773,116 $1,660,433 $1,785,782
Expense
Recovery $(4,878,710) $(4,819,043) $(5,003,152) $(4,598,332) $(1,028,084) $(1,031,000) Total $5,145,779 $6,224,261 $5,326,886 $5,981,107 $8,166,675 $8,307,885
Findings
Reduction in Staffing Has Impacted Service Delivery
As the division’s staffing has been reduced over recent years, it has experienced a similar reduction in production. For example, the Signs and Markings unit has shifted from a three-year repainting cycle to essentially focusing on “big yellow lines,” while crosswalks, stop bars and other markings are generally not repainted until the City receives complaints. In particular, the division’s ability to deliver services at previous levels for Signs and Markings and Signal Maintenance – all of which are performed by in-house crews – has been squeezed as staffing has been reduced.
Large-Scale Staff Retirements Looming
Looking ahead, a sizable portion of the division’s staff are either currently eligible for retirement or already enrolled in the City’s DROP program. As of August 2012, 13 staff members were retirement eligible and 16 staff members are enrolled in DROP, which will require their retirement no later than July 2014.
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Combined, these two groups of personnel represent 22 percent of the division’s current staffing. This potential reduction in staffing is particularly significant for the division because engineering and inspection jobs require a significant amount of on-the-job training and experience before employees are independently operating at a high level. Currently there is no succession plan for the division.
Lack of Technology Impacts Recordkeeping
The division’s Mapping and Property unit serves as the City’s record-keeper for infrastructure-related plans of all types. The unit is still very reliant on hard copies, though the division has begun a process of scanning hard copies so the documents can eventually be available electronically. Ensuring that infrastructure recordkeeping is both accurate and easily accessible is important for divisions throughout City government, including emergency response crews that need to understand the specific details of the infrastructure below and around them when responding to an emergency.