Shared Services and Consolidation the clarendon hills and Hinsdale Experience

1. Shared Services and Consolidationthe clarendon hills and Hinsdale Experience David Cook-Village Manager, HinsdaleBradley Bloom-Chief of police, HinsdaleNovember 29, 2011

2. Shared Services and Consolidationthe clarendon hills and Hinsdale Experience • Why are we pursuing Consolidation and Shared Services?

3. Pursuing Consolidation & Shared Services From a Management Perspective • Why does Hinsdale continue to look at Consolidation and Shared Services? • Provide Efficiency in Government • Illinois has nearly 7,000 units of government. No other state has even 5,000. We had begun to explore options even before the economy crashed in 2008. • Quoting from Bill Clinton’s 1992 Campaign – “It’s the economy, stupid” • Since 2008, Hinsdale has reduced full-time positions from 117 to 93 (20.5%) and made major budget cuts across the board. • As a non-home rule community, new revenue sources are severely limited • Long-term financial stability in doubt without further budget reductions. If we make additional cuts without consolidation/sharing services we will start diminishing services. • State Shared revenues continue to remain in jeopardy on an annual basis • Skyrocketing Pension costs which in the long run are totally unsustainable. Over the past 10 years, our Police Pension costs have increased from $242,464 to $772,267 while the unfunded liability has increased from $1.7 million to $7.2 million

4. Hinsdale’s Approach • Top Down Approach – In order to be successful you need buy-in from Board and Management • Prior to 2009, both my Police and Fire Chiefs had discussions with neighboring communities with no results. • In 2009 our Village President sent a letter to neighboring communities (Mayors & managers) to see who would be interested in starting discussions on shared services. Initially we began discussions with Oak Brook, Clarendon Hills and Burr Ridge. During the process Oak Brook choose not to pursue and Willowbrook joined the discussion. We initially decided to look at Police operations first as from a budget perspective, it is everyone’s largest budget. Everyone knew that to be successful tough decisions would have to be made. • The Managers of the 4 communities then looked at comparable communities to see what a combined police department could have in potential savings. We then went back to our respective Boards to make sure everyone was still supportive of moving forward. All 4 communities agreed to move forward and we then turned to the Police Chiefs to formulate a plan which chief Bloom will describe later in the presentation.

5. Consolidation With Clarendon Hills • Never let an opportunity pass you by • In May, 2011, the Clarendon Hills Police Chief resigned. In addition, they were down 2 sworn personnel. We reached out to them to see what we could do in the short-term to help them out while we discussed the possibility of combining the departments through shared services. • After discussion with both Village Boards, Clarendon Hills agreed to hold off replacing the positions until we determined if this was a possibility. In September, the Chiefs initial report was that there was little to gain in sharing services as both departments were very lean already and recommended we pursue full consolidation. • Once again we went back to our Boards to gain support and both Boards concurred on the new approach. We agreed to tackle the big issues first that can kill the process – Governance and Funding. If those can be resolved we will then begin to tackle the labor, pension and operational issues which will be no small task. • We then went public – first to the departments and then to the press. We stressed that no firm decisions had been made except that we would do this through attrition and there would be no adverse impacts to pensions. We also committed to working with and meeting with the department personnel throughout the process.

6. Where Are We Now • Both communities have committed resources to work through the process (Elected Officials, Senior Management and the Police Chiefs) • We have assembled a team of experts to help guide us in the process and have begun meeting • We have begun reviewing current expense and revenue models for both communities and potential cost sharing methods • We have just started down the road to consolidation and we know that it may get bumpy at times and hard decisions will need to be made as we move along.

7. “When the small, beleaguered city of Central Falls, R.I., filed for bankruptcy this month, it sought to cut the pension checks it has been sending its retired police officers, firefighters and other workers by as much as half”

8. “But investors who bought the city’s bonds could do much better: Rhode Island recently passed a law intended to make sure that they would be paid in full, even in bankruptcy”.

9. “Illinois has some of the strongest bondholder protections anywhere, which explains how a state that began its fiscal year with $3.8 billion in unpaid bills from last year”

10. “The federal bankruptcy code says pensioners and general-obligation bondholders are both unsecured creditors, stuck at the back of the line and treated as equals”.

11. November 8, 2011 all 52 news articles »

12. A Report of the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (the COPS Office) October 2011

13. “expectations will not be lowered just because an agency now has fewer officers, or because the budget is limited. Simply doing less while waiting for local budgets to recover to pre-2008 levels is not a viable option”.

14. “law enforcement leaders need to start identifying different ways to deliver police services and, perhaps more importantly, articulate what the new public safety models will look like to their communities”

15. “The effects of the economic downturn on law enforcement agencies may be felt for the next 5–10 years, or worse, permanently”

16. “The permanence of this change will be driven not just by the economy, but by the local government officials determining that allocating 30–50 percent of their general fund budgets for public safety costs is no longer a fiscal possibility (Melekian 2011b).”

17. Hinsdale Cost Cutting Measures Contracted out 9-1-1 Dispatch Services Laid-off two police officers Eliminated one vacant police officer position Reduced 4 full-time positions to part-time Increased use of civilians –investigations, accreditation positions. Started a volunteer program No Service Reductions

18. Consolidation and Shared Services Police Chief’s of Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, Burr Ridge and Willowbrook began meeting in 2009 to look at shared services and consolidation. • Communities have contiguous boarders • All located in S/E DuPage County • All approximately the same size • All use the same dispatch center Primary focus was on sworn personnel. • What functions could be shared? • Administration • Investigations • Crime Prevention/DARE

19. Consolidation and Shared Services • Initial draft report was divided into these areas: • Comparisons of communities • Comparison of the police agencies • Consolidation models using both minimum patrol staffing models and performance based staffing models • Pros and Cons of Consolidation • Barriers to achieving consolidation • Shared Services Models • Findings and Recommendations

20. Consolidation and Shared Services • Findings • Many barriers to achieving consolidation including governance, equity issues and costs. • Focus shifted to pursuing a shared services model.

21. Shared Services • Shared Services • What functions performed by the police agencies could be centralized and if so would it result in personnel reductions? • Administration • Investigations • Crime Prevention • DARE • Canine • Accreditation

22. Shared Services • Addresses challenges of consolidation • Organizational confusion caused by an immediate consolidation will result in a drop in the quality of law enforcement services. • Equity Issues • Governance Challenges • Labor and Collective Bargaining Agreements. • The shared services model addresses these issues by providing for a phased in process that minimizes organizational confusion and mitigates the equity and governance questions.

23. Shared Services • Phase 1 • A separate entity is formed amongst the participating agencies with the cost shared between the agencies. • The separate agency is staffed with only police administrators and administrative help. All other police services remain under local control.

24. Shared Services Phase 1

25. Shared Services • All police services remain under local jurisdiction. • The separate entity of police administrators accomplishes the following steps: • Develops standardization plans for uniform: • Reporting • Policies and Procedures • Administrative Coordination • Logistical questions

26. Shared Services Phase 2 • All police services other than patrol are moved under the jurisdiction of the consolidated entity including: • Police administration • Records • Investigation • Training • Continue to develop plans to standardize all facets of each separate agency and reduce redundant administrative functions.

27. Shared Services Phase 3 • Merge patrol divisions into consolidated agency. • Advantage of the shared services plan: • Slow migration reduces organizational confusion and reduces the potential loss of quality and confusion from an immediate consolidation. • Staff reductions accomplished through attrition • Each step can be carefully monitored and reversed or adjusted if necessary. • A slow migration to consolidation will be better accepted by public and staff.

28. Total Consolidation • Consolidation savings come from the reduction of redundant positions. • Chiefs • Deputy Chiefs • Other supervisory positions • Training officers • Accreditation personnel

29. Consolidation-Staffing Levels • Methods to determine patrol staffing • Performance Based • Uses a formula based on the time officers are engaged in dispatched calls for service plus performance factors and determining the amount of time officers are assigned to other administrative functions plus time on patrol. • Typically • 1/3 of time on dispatched calls for service • 1/3 of time on administrative functions (court, training, lunch) • 1/3 of time on patrol

30. Consolidation Staffing Levels • Minimum Patrol Staffing Levels • Usually determined by the agencies experience that enough patrol officers will be available to adequately meet the calls for service demands. • This is typically a set minimum number of officers necessary for a shift before officers are hired back for overtime. This may vary by shift or by day of the week based on the agencies historical experience.

31. Consolidation Staffing Levels Current Minimum Patrol Staffing:

32. Consolidation-Barriers • Governance • Who will direct the police department? • Who will the chief report to? • Separate Board to oversee police department? • Where will officers be assigned? • Will the departments priorities remain the same following consolidation. • Police and Fire Commissions-how do we merge them?

33. Consolidation Barriers • Equity • How do we divide the costs? • Personnel numbers? • Calls for service? • Population? • Replacement costs? • Future budgets and purchasing approval? • Capital expenditures? • Specialized costs specific to a community such as School Resource Officer • Our we getting our fair share of police services?

34. Consolidation Barriers • Equity (cont) • How do we divide revenues from: • Traffic fines • Parking tickets • Seizures • Administrative tow fees • Overtime expenses

35. Consolidation Barriers • Labor Contracts • Pensions

36. Consolidation Study • Village’s meet simultaneously with both department to announce plans to pursue consolidation. • Basic Parameters • No job loss. • The right number achieved through attrition • Quality will not be sacrificed • No plans in place • Determining Costs • Working on Governance and Equity Questions First • Standardization Period

37. Consolidation Study • Standardization Period • Policy and Procedures • Reporting systems • Equipment • Geography • Squad cars and uniforms • Local practices and customs • Training • Operational Issues

38. Questions