08-17-16 Personnel and Finance - Laserfiche WebLink

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Committee Chair White transitioned to the Legal Department's presentation with Corporation Counsel Cristal Brisco. Corporation Counsel Cristal Brisco thanked Council for the opportunity to present the budget for their consideration and hopeful approval. She began by sharing the Four (4) Values of the Department: Integrity, Competency; Professionalism and Civility. She believes the values align with the Mayor's vision and Core Values of the City. In regard to budget highlights, Corporation Counsel Brisco shared that the biggest item is the request that the salary caps for Legal Department be increased. The recruitment and retention of top talent has been a constant struggle for the department. One of the best ways to attract talent is fostering and supporting a healthy environment for employees but also paying them an appropriate market rate. We cannot compete with private sector rates, but the hope is that we can compensate employees at a comparable public and nonprofit rate. The proposed increase is an effort to attract and retain the talent we have currently, argued Corporation Counsel Brisco. The achievements of the Legal Department is due to the talent of the department employees. She went on to explain that legal research is a large component of their work; thus, the resources necessary to complete thorough research is important. The department cancelled the costly paper subscriptions to WestLaw, but transitioned to the online services. The department saved $3675 in 2016 and $4600 for a combined savings of $8275. The current research capacity of the department rivals large law firm access. The department added $4000 to the Education/Training budget for all City Attorneys to be able to attend municipal law trainings. This increase also resulted in an increase to travel expenses in the department by about $1000. This is limited to in -state travel, but is helpful to send all attorneys to municipal trainings. Corporation Counsel Brisco also negotiated the MBI All- Access Pass which grants the department continued access to online webinars, in addition to live presentations. Lastly, another highlight shared by Corporation Counsel Brisco included a large increase in the department's budget for its IT allocation- a new line item. Corporation Counsel Brisco applauded the priority -based budgeting process for giving her the opportunity as a team leader to see exactly how staff spends their time. It allowed her to be more strategic regarding fund allocation. For instance, her staff attorney that handles claims spends fifty percent (50 %) of his time handling claims led to the recommendation that fifty percent (50 %) of his salary be paid from 5226. She went on to highlight that fund 5226 has decreased since 2006 given the efforts of the proactive Claims Investigation team and interdepartmental collaboration. The Collections fund has also seen an increase year after year. Corporation Counsel Brisco reiterated the importance of this function of the Legal Department in holding people accountable to the tax payers of South Bend regarding their debts owed to the City. M