This organizational option is based on the model provided by the Sarasota/Manatee MPO. The key feature of this organizational option is that while the MPO Executive Director and other staff members would be directly employed by the MPO Governing Board, a defined bundle of administrative and personnel related services would be purchased from Broward County. The specific services to be provided and the cost for those services would be established through an interlocal agreement and would likely require revisions of one or more of the MPOs current interlocal agreements to reflect the change in the MPO staffing arrangement.
Through the staff services agreement, as is the case with the Sarasota/Manatee MPO, Broward County would provide the MPO with financial and administrative support, including full employee benefits. The newly independent MPO would have to develop personnel policies to govern the conduct of MPO employees. Items that may be covered in the personnel policies include hours of work, dress code, grievance procedures, hiring procedures, training opportunities, tuition reimbursement opportunities, leave policies, etc. In the Sarasota/Manatee MPO example, Manatee County provides all personnel services and benefits to MPO employees, effectively treating MPO employees as if they were county employees with no distinction between the two groups from a benefits and services perspective.
Administrative support items that could be covered by the interlocal agreement could include financial management, payroll services, purchasing services, IT services, etc. Additionally, the County would arrange for office space for the MPO, but the MPO would pay its own rent.
The MPO staff could perform transportation planning tasks for other agencies, including member jurisdictions, at the discretion of the MPO Governing Board and within the limits of the MPO Unified Planning Work Program.
The MPO would remain eligible to receive federal and state grant funds. No single member jurisdiction would be responsible for providing local financial support for the MPO. Instead, the MPO membership would have to devise a mechanism for equitably supplementing federal and state transportation planning grant funds, such as a per capita dues structure. The details of the local funding mechanism would need to be included in the revised MPO interlocal agreement. This will effectively spread the financial responsibility for MPO operations across multiple member jurisdictions (depending on the agreed upon funding mechanism) and increase their interest in the activities of the MPO.
• Staff Size – it is estimated that this organizational option would require a total staff of 17 employees (13 professional, 4 administrative/financial) with various expertise and skill sets. Some financial management and human resources services would be provided by Broward County, but MPO staff would be required to interact with those divisions of Broward County responsible for providing those contracted services. (This is only an estimate; the actual staffing needs of an “independent” MPO may vary from this estimate based on the desires of the MPO Governing Board and the requirements of the interlocal agreement with Broward County to provide staff support services.)
The estimated staff composition by level is as follows:
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Professional Staff 1 Executive Director 1 Assistant Director 3 Supervisors/Managers 6 Transportation Planners 1 Transportation Engineer 1 Public Involvement Specialist-
Administrative/Financial Staff 1 Financial/Administrative Support Manager 1 Financial Analyst/Accountant
2 Administrative Support Specialists
• Office Space Requirements – the estimated office space needed to accommodate an MPO staff of 17 is 8,760 square feet.
• Costs – the costs of this option are estimated to be:
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Salaries: $1,287,967 including fringe benefits (estimated at 27.8% of salary)-
Rent: The cost of rent would depend on the class and location of the office space to be occupied by the MPO. The estimated cost of rent per year for the MPO, by class and location, is as follows: Ft. Lauderdale CBD: Class A - $227,067 Class B - $201,664 Cypress Creek: Class A - $205,132 Class B - $171,406 SW Broward County: Class A - $211,375 Class B - $187,879
Note that for the purposes of this estimate, it is assumed that the MPO would have to pay market rate for the office space it occupies. This is subject to the interlocal agreement negotiated with Broward County. Broward County may be willing to provide office space to the MPO within the Broward County Government Center, potentially reducing the cost of rent to the MPO.
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Other Costs: $89,090 (see Appendix C for a complete breakdown of Sarasota/Manatee MPO costs, upon which this estimate is based. Please note that Manatee County charges the Sarasota/Manatee County MPO a very low indirect rate for the provision of administrative and staff support service. This estimate is based on the actual costs incurred by the Sarasota/Manatee MPO, including the indirect rate that the agency pays to Manatee County. Therefore, the estimate of other costs provided here may not accurately reflect the potential other costs in this organizational option were it implemented in Broward County and should be used with caution.)Pros
• Clear chain of command and increased responsiveness to the MPO Governing Board through direct supervision.
• No potential for MPO staff to be faced with conflicts of interest while serving as staff to more than one agency.
• No opportunity for perceived or real undue influence by Broward County or any other MPO member jurisdiction.
• Financial independence.
• Equitable distribution of local financial support for MPO operations through agreed upon funding mechanism, such as a per capita dues assessment.
• Increased interest in MPO process by member jurisdictions based on financial participation relative to the current county-based organizational structure.
• Opportunity to increase community visibility as an independent organization relative to the current county-based organizational structure.
Cons
• Higher administrative costs relative to the current county-based organizational structure and other organizational options that leverage other agency resources, but lower than a free-standing MPO arrangement.
• MPO is dependent on Broward County to provide financial and administrative services in a manner and timeframe that meets the needs of the MPO.
• Reduced level of coordination between planning activities of Broward County and the MPO relative to the current county-based organizational structure.