We're looking for many 2698 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 relationships. Probably years ago a lot of the relationships were with high schools, you know, at the natural transition from high school to college. But, in fact, we really are cultivating many at all levels. We are very involved in the gear-up program.
Those funds are under attack right now at the federal level, but I... You know, we are working with the School District and others, other colleges nationally...
...to try to secure those funds again. But we're involved in that with middle school students. An interesting example of a project would be a reading project that we undertake under a small grant from P.E.C.O., but it combines Montgomery County Community College, Month School Districts, Philadelphia -- Community College of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia School District, and the four 2699 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 partners at a designated set of elementary schools provide college students, usually in the early childhood education program, which is why the reference is there, who serve as tutors, work with them on reading. And then at the end of the year, we have a huge weakened program housed at our college for both Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties. And we bring in children's authors. We have basically a children's fair. So, there are many examples like that, that stretch from what is really now K or pre-K, all the way through to the baccalaureate, as I alluded to earlier.
Extremely exciting. Can you forward what schools are involved to Madam President, if you would? I don't recall seeing them in the testimony.
But I could be mistaken. 2700 Operating Budget - 4/6/05
Before the bell rings, let me move on to the next one. We know that Community College of Philadelphia's noble goal, I believe, is to arm people with the educations so that they can become self sufficient. And given that goal, please help me understand how Community College of Philadelphia has been able to reconcile your mission and your goal with at least one contractor you do business with, who in many ways does not share that mission and goal, when it comes to treating its employees with some level of fairness and training and compensation.
All right. I'm assuming the question has to do with -- 2701 Operating Budget - 4/6/05
That's fine. For our... For much of our security needs, we do go outside. We go through public bidding.
Engage a contractor, who provides a certain number and level of security for the college. Those employees work for the company, not for us. When we go through the bidding process, we follow procedures, as we would for all of the purchasing and bidding that we do as a public entity.
We take into account, obviously, cost factors, but we also take into account performance, in this case the performance of a company, the amount of training it provides, and how it treats 2702 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 employees. We specifically looked at that in this case.
And one reason we chose the current vendor was because it paid among the highest rates or if not the highest hourly rate of those that had been on the contract. So that was actually one of the factors, not the only one.
But one of the factors in choosing them because they were more than competitive along those lines. The employees, however, work for the contractor.
Okay. Can you share with us when that contract might expire? And the only reason 2703 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 why I'm asking, it's not unusual to engage in an agreement or an arrangement, and then discover along the way that the reality is inconsistent with what's on paper. And next time around you could certainly factor in the new information that you have which may or may not lead you to a different decision. Can you share with us when that contract is due to expire?
I see. I've also learned in the discussions about Allied Burton that there's an interest, if you will, for the security personnel to organize. Do you know if there has been some level of dialogue, discussion, between Allied and Community College of Philadelphia or Allied and the personnel there to move -- to at least look at how you can move towards 2704 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 that end in a very responsible way?
There's been no 4 discussion between Allied and the college. That is an Allied decision. We have no role in whether they are unionized or not. Remember, these are employees of Allied, not of the college. And I can't speak to the discussions that have taken place between Allied and their employees. I don't know the answer to that.
and It certainly sounds like, given the contract -- and please correct me if I'm wrong -- the provisions of the contract are such that Allied then has the responsibility to honor that request or not. Is that what I'm hearing?
That the interests of college employees to organize --
The interest of 2705 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 Allied Barton employees... That's the fair way to state that, correct.
Their interest to organize, and the decision on whether or not Allied Burton wants to meet with them on that issue of organizing rests with Allied Burton.
Councilwoman, if you have further questions, I'll have to -- we have other members that want to be recognized. So, we'll have a second go-around, if you don't mind.
Thank you, Madam President. Dr. Curtis, just a couple questions. Going back to your testimony, on you make the very important point about America's 2706 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 work force advancing or how can we expect the work force to advance and set high expectations -- unless we set high expectations elementary and secondary schools. At the same time, there is a reduction in college opportunities. And then you go on to talk later on about the 11th and 12th graders from seven Philadelphia high schools. One, just for a technical question, is there a cost to the high school students to participate in this college... kind of college preparatory program?
I do not believe so, no. In fact, I know the answer to that. The answer is no, because it's a high school program but it involves college courses as well. They are simply completing that program on our site. So the answer is no. 21 COUNCILAN NUTTER: Thank you for that definitive response. I think you were here for the earlier hearing. So, to the extent that you know something, you really want to tell us that you know it, and be firm 2707 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 about it. Even if you are wrong, be firm in your conviction about your answer. The second is, do you know what the current percentage of Philadelphians who have -- what the current percentage of Philadelphians with a college degree is in our City?
I'm not sure I can tell you that off the top of my head. I think the national data are around percent. 12
Right. I think 16 the Philadelphia data may have us at slightly 17 less than about 20. 18
In your 20 professional opinion -- And I'm glad we're 21 not in a deficit situation with Community 22 College, at least for this budget go-round 23 for the City. But in your professional 24 opinion, what do you think is the greatest 25 barrier to people accessing a quality college 2708 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 educational experience?
It's always finances. That's clearly the first and most important barrier. There are others, you know, depending on circumstances. But finances... When we survey our graduates every year, to get a sense of what they thought about the college, whether we met their needs, and so on, with extreme regularity, almost half of every graduate survey group says they could not have gone to college if it hadn't been for Community College of Philadelphia. That is almost always a comment on financial... cost... on cost.
And of course, whether it's the City or the Commonwealth, if we would increase our financial support for the college, that would help with some of that. Are there any other -- I mean, that's so obvious as to not even merit a comment. But do you have other thoughts about how we might more creatively seek to 2709 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 reduce some of the costs or the barriers to the educational opportunity? You know, are there things we do? Are there things we should be doing with, for instance, companies that come to town and we provide, you know, at times all kinds of incentives to encourage growth and development. Have you given any thought to how we might better utilize even some of our economic development strategies to create more of that opportunity?
In the states that are usually viewed as the most progressive around economic development, community colleges are the typical venue through which training and education is -- and I don't think the word is too strong -- mandated when it comes to working with companies, either to retain them, to bring them in to the community, and so on. I think community colleges in those states are typically seen as vehicles through which that kind of training and education can 2710 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 be provided.
Training is for the workers of these particular companies who are getting the benefit?
Yes. And therefore, are always at the table in those kinds of conversations. In Pennsylvania -- And I'm not just focusing for a moment on Philadelphia. I think it's a broader statement that I'm about to make, but it certainly includes Philadelphia. That's simply not the ordinary way of doing business. I think we usually try, both at the local level and at the state level, with our sister institutions, to be engaged in those kinds of conversations. We think we can provide a quality education or in some cases more specific training, and we can do it at a cost that is more than competitive. I say all that because what leads from that are other opportunities. And I'll give you a very specific example. U.P.S. has 2711 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 a tuition reimbursement program for its employees. And over time, we and some other institutions have cultivated a relationship with U.P.S. And for a number of semesters now we offer many of the courses that the U.P.S. employees need out at their site at the airport. So it's a win for everyone.
For the student there is the tuition reimbursement which I think gets to the heart of your question.
For the company, they're trying to invest in their employees. They want to cut down on turnover. They want to create a pipeline for cultivating management from within.
And for the college, we can't exist on our own any more anyway.
You have to have these 2712 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 partnerships working together. *
Right. Well, lastly, if you could forward to the Chair any information you have on these slightly more progressive states or cities, and if there have been legislative efforts to, in your words, require that kind of relationship or sitting at the table, it would be very helpful to see what other people are doing, and as we continue to strive to be a more progressive place.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Madam President, thank you. Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown has asked my question, so you can defer to 2713 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 the next person. Thank you.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Thank you. Good afternoon. How you doing? Back to of the high school junior program, students taking courses at Community. Do you receive any compensation from the School District? Who pays for these students?
It's a combination of things. Remember, there are both high school teachers and college teachers involved in this. High school teachers are teaching the high school courses that make up that part of the curriculum, and our own instructors teach the college courses. It's a blended curriculum. So the costs are borne by each respective entity. The high school teachers are paid by the School District. We pay for our teachers in the normal way. So, think of 2714 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 it as a shared set of costs. Does that answer your question?
Well, do these students eventually remain at Community when they leave?
Yes. They finish -- They will finish -- Remember, we're just -- we started this in the fall.
They will complete their entire junior year and their entire senior year at the college.
They will then graduate with a high school diploma from their home school from which they came, but they will also have achieved, if they pass every course, college credits. 20 And a typical associate degree 21 curriculum is around 60 credits. It could -- 22 You know, 62 or something. It means that 23 they will have almost half of their college 24 program done. The goal here is to accelerate them 2715 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 through the associate degree. So, yes, they spend the whole rest of the time on our college campus.
You talk about this on . The student fees and tuition represent 52 percent of the total operating revenues. Compare our Community College with other community colleges, in terms of fees and operating expenses and costs.
Okay. On the tuition side, we are, I think, still the highest tuition Community College in the Commonwealth.
Tom, am I right. We are the number one, in terms of tuition costs. 2716 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 Over the years, we have been at the low end of the fee list. Other community colleges across the state have always charged more for fees than we have. Our problem has become, as the City has been unable to provide regular increases in our operating allocation -- and as I indicated earlier the state actually went backwards for two years. It will come back to... I think of it as as the level at which it started for next year. We've had to impose much greater tuition and fee increases on students. So, our fees are starting to catch up now. I still think we are not at the top of the fee schedule, but we are probably in the middle now, as opposed to at the bottom. So, we're definitely moving up. * Overall, the cost of community college education in Pennsylvania, the state is among the highest in the nation. We're always on the high side.
What about your enrollment? It is up or down or... 2717 Operating Budget - 4/6/05
For the last three years it's been nothing but up. As I said, we've set all-time records the last two years. This year it has started to flatten out. We haven't seen the increase this year that we've seen for the last several years. That may or may not be an anomaly. It may be a sign of the economy. The economy drives everything with us, but the answer: It has flattened out this year.
Thank you. Councilman Nutter, did you want to be recognized again?
Yes, Madam Chair. I jumped out too quickly. Dr. Curtis, I need to ask you just a couple questions with regard to a particular contract or a vendor relationship. This is regarding campus security. You have a contract with a company by the 2718 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 name of Allied Security; is that correct?
For some time we have contracted a decent portion of our security services out. We go through a public bidding process, as we do with other contracts and services, and contract with a vendor to provide certain levels of security service. Allied was the contractor that was offered that contract in the last bidding process.
It's a five-year contract, and we are coming toward the close of the second year.
Now, do they provide all the security services on campus or do you have some security officers that or security personnel, rather, who work for Community College? 2719 Operating Budget - 4/6/05
And if they're not literally a supervisor, they still take a leadership role. There are different expectations, in other words, different responsibilities for those that are on our own staff.
What do you think the breakdown is between... Of the total number of security people on campus, how many work on a contracted out situation?
Yes, sir. About two -- About 60 total, I think. About two-thirds are through the vendor, and about one-third on our payroll.
Okay. Are there any significant differences between what the Community College of Philadelphia personnel are paid versus the contract work?
There will be 2720 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 differences in salary. There will be differences in benefits. Some of the -- or some or many of the contractor provided security are also part-time. I need to say that to you, so that you understand that distinction as well. And then remember, there are differences in responsibilities, so there will be differences in pay around that as well.
So of the 40 or so Allied personnel, you're saying some of them are part-time?
They're not all full-time. Okay. What do you know with any specifics with regard to the benefits package for the contract work?
I'm not sure I can answer that. If you -- I'll wait and see if I have an answer, but I don't myself. No. 24 I'm sorry. We don't have that, the information right here, sir. We can get 2721 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 that, but we don't have it.
Okay. And just, I guess, to better understand, you've got about 60 folks in a one-third, two-third situation. I will make the next leap and assume that there must be some amount of cost savings in contracting out two-thirds of that work force versus having the other 40 people on the Community College of Philadelphia payroll.
Well, I think there's a partial yes to that, but I want to go back to something I said earlier. The nature of the responsibilities is different, too. You have to take that into account. So, there will be a difference there.
The Community College of Philadelphia personnel primarily supervise the contract personnel?
Many of those 20 out of the 60 are supervisors. And where they are not, they are typically the kind of lead of a group. So, yes, there's definitely a 2722 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 difference overall.
I'm not sure I know, you know, the exact number of supervisors or whatever, but there's a difference in expectations and responsibility, read job descriptions there different.
Okay. Maybe two last questions. Do you recall a total dollar value of the contract?
Excuse me. I'm going to check. Just over $1 million per year.
If you could provide to the Chair -- Not that you would have all of this information. You said a million a year?
If you could 2723 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 provide us any information, I guess with maybe a comparison -- And I understand that there are differences in job responsibilities. But if you could lay out information that would provide some comparison between the wages and benefits of the Community College personnel in security versus the contract personnel, that would be helpful.
Thank you. The Chair again recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I feel at a slight disadvantage. I got distracted. I tried to not repeat Councilman Nutter's inquiries. You did mention that the contract was five years. You're three-and-a-half years in. I've learned that the leadership 2724 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 at Community College of Philadelphia met with the employees on this particular issue. Can you speak to the outcome of that discussion and what next steps, if any, have been explored with regards to Allied Burton's...
Okay. I'm not sure of any meeting between leadership. I'm sorry.
Or your office. No, there's been no meeting between...
So the relationship, the contractual relationship, at the employee level is between the employee and Allied.
And I hear that, but we know sometimes a table of organization, the straight bold line is to the immediate supervisor, and then there's a 2725 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 dotted line to the supervisors who are employees of Community College of Philadelphia. So, given that configuration and knowing of the alleged misgivings of the contract -- contractor, do you see any need to make it clear to the contractor -- Assuming the allegations are true, do you see a need to have a conversation with the contractor, regarding these alleged misgivings?
If there were ways in which we felt the contractor were being unfair...
...if that's the intent of the question, we would certainly be willing to engage in that kind of conversation. I want to remind you what I said earlier, though. When we went through the bid process.
When you went through the bid process. 2726 Operating Budget - 4/6/05
Yes, ma'am. One of the things we looked at was the reputation of each of the companies and literally, the pay, benefits, you know, the hourly wages, and so on...
...in the industry. And Allied ranked at the top. So that was something we did take into account. So, I think we were trying to be sensitive to that, at the point at which we made a decision.
Who was -- Who handled -- Prior to the engagement of Allied, who handled the employment of those employees, another contractor or CCP
And it wouldn't have necessarily been the same employees. Remember, we're hiring the contractor.
Got it. Got 2727 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 it. Okay. That's it for this time.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
I just want to piggyback on that question that she asked about that you responded to, in terms of the salaries. In terms of Allied, I don't know anything about any of the other companies, but when you say that their salary rates are the highest, the highest of the range, lowest range would be two, and they may be four. Is it the salary above the minimum wage that they're paying? That's the question I wanted to... So if you're... If you have a proposal... You see what I'm saying?
And so you're compared to -- What are you comparing their prices to, in terms of pay for employees, if Allied is probably maybe one of the largest companies in the country, maybe the largest. 2728 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 And then you have two or three others who may be smaller and can't compete. But is allied paying enough.
That's when you do the evaluation of the proposals. Seems to me that you would look at.
I understand. I don't know how to answer all the specifics. Yes, we're certain -- They're certainly paying above minimum wage. All right. And I understand your point. The question of enough can be raised in any situation and at any level. We tried to take an honest look at it. We're bound by certain things, too. We are bound to go through a bidding process for these kinds of things, as you know, for services and whatever. We want, on the one hand, to be physically responsible. On the other hand, we are trying to make sure that we're working with someone who's selling us goods or someone who's selling us services. We're 2729 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 doing so in a reasonable and fair way. So I think at the moment I still stand on my previous answer. Given the prevailing wages in the industry, given what we saw in the bidding process that we went through, in that category -- And we're just talking about pay right now. There's also performance and other factors that you take into account. But they ranked at the top. I'm not sure that I -- I have an answer per se as to is that enough. My own employees would probably say -- I don't mean security. I mean just teach teachers or anyone else would say, it's not enough.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown. Your light was on. Did you want to be recognized?
Thank you. Are there any other questions or comments from members of the committee? (No response.) 2730 Operating Budget - 4/6/05
Seeing none, I thank you very much. And again, I really apologize for the delay, and thank you for your patience. We will now hear from the City Commissioners.
Good afternoon. Welcome. COMMISSIONER TARTAGLIONE: Good afternoon.
Please identify yourself for the record. I know that you have prepared testimony. It will be given to the stenographer. It will be transcribed in full. So if you would simply summarize, we'd appreciate it. COMMISSIONER TARTAGLIONE: Margaret M. Tartaglione, Chairwoman of the City Commissioners. COMMISSIONER HOWARD: Edgar Howard, City Commissioner. COMMISSIONER DUDA: Joseph Duda, City Commissioner. 2731 Operating Budget - 4/6/05
Bob Lee, Voter Registration Administrator. COMMISSIONER TARTAGLIONE: Madam President and members of City Council, good afternoon. I am Margaret M. Tartaglione, Chairwoman of the City Commissioner's Office. I would like to thank you for this opportunity to present our fiscal year 2006 operating budget. The City Commissioner's proposed spending level of $8,026,891 for FY2006 is allotted as follows: Class 100 personal service, $4,637,430. Class 200, purchase of services, $2,786,964. Class 300, materials and supplies, $564,013. Class 400, equipment, $37,784. The City Commissioners will be hard pressed to provide the level of services which the citizens of Philadelphia have expected, for the adoption of fiscal 2006 2732 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 operating budget. Currently only 95 full-time employees are maintaining voting records, operating of documents, imaging system and managing the new Denahur City Garden (phonetic) electronic voting machines. The department is budgeting for six additional positions this fiscal year. We will, however, be losing almost as many valuable employees enrolled in the DROP. This will be placing added responsibilities on our remaining work force. The level of spending for all personal services currently at $150,096 less than actual FY'04 obligations, to meet FY'06 obligations. Added the two percent increase take effect on 7/1/05, and prior to the adjustments for lump sum separation payments to DROP participants. Additional. Federal and state laws mandate that the City -- that the Commissioners use a Commonwealth statewide uniform registry of election, called SURE 2733 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 system, as an official registration file. The use of SURE and the new Federal mandates are expected to require an additional permanent employees, at an 6 annual cost of approximately $600,000. 7 Class 100 allotments, however, will 8 not be be the only area implicated negatively 9 on the adoption of FY'04 budget. 10 Successfully implementing the 11 election voting machine system or EVM system 12 has given rise to anticipated Class 200 13 purchase of service costs. 14 City Commissioners now have the 15 means to complete fast and accurate 16 tabulization of the vote count. 17 Increasing costs of insurance, 18 software, support, fees support, by outside 19 machine mechanics and consultants will make 20 it difficult to fund our obligation. The EVM vendor Danaher will be needed to provide continued software at the cost of a hundred thousand dollars per year to assist in transition and upgrade of the voting system, Bender Consultant, will be 2734 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 required at the cost of $278,400. Other increases are not factored into funding requirements of Class 200 or support the City's year-old absentee voting system or VSS, and supports the maintenance of our computer equipment as warantee periods expire. The City Commissioners have made every effort to attract and keep and reliable boards to operate EVM's and maintain records in each polling place. Training in the election board members reduce the potential for damaging and EVM and insures the accurate count of votes in the City. As new mandates are installed, costs for training and boards are increasing. The mandate of the adoption of the statewide uniform registration of electors are SURE, and costs associated with installing changes to the software, consultant's fee and configuration on the existing system have yet not been determined. Electronic generations of ballots 2735 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 and new absentee ballots methods are changing our Class 300 materials and supplies expenditures. Expendable supplies for EVM and AV systems are costly. Efforts are being made to reduce the costs of provisional ballot material which are required as part of the Help America Vote or HAVA mandates. Likewise, funding in Class 400 for upgrade to the older computers features is now essential.
Total equipment costs associated with the transition to the SURE system are not yet known. The City Commissioners will, however, continue purchasing all of the items directly from the product manufacturers, wherever possible, in order to keep rising costs at bay, and reducing learning curve on complex orders. In connection, this department steadily sweeping change to the system by what citizens of Philadelphia cast their vote. The City Commissioners Office will 2736 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 faithfully continue assuring the citizens of Philadelphia can exercise their right to vote and to certify that each vote is counted properly. Once again, I thank you for the opportunity to present FY2006. Thank you.
Thank you. On -3 of the detail budget, you're requesting $17.9 million in the grants revenue fund. Can you tell us who the grantor is, how these funds will be used, and if there is any local match required.
The funds are all federal funds that are channeled to the counties through the Commonwealth, in accordance with a Commonwealth state plan. These funds were enacted and authorized as part of the Help America Vote Act, which was the Election Reform Act that was put into place by Congress in October of '02, as a result of things that occurred in Florida back in November of 2000. 2737 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 Naturally, Congress did not appropriate the funding level up to what they had originally authorized in the HAVA bill. But Philadelphia stands to get approximately around $20 million total here. There are some funds that are in FY'05, FY'06 and FY'07. The way the funds have to be spent -- There is no local county match, thank goodness. There is no money that the City has to put out, although we've already put out quite a bit in upgrading our systems, and I think delivering a better product. Section 101 money for Philadelphia was $100,000. We didn't -- We didn't get any of the funds yet, but we spent that money. And we used current budget money. That hundred thousand dollars went towards the postage to mail voters the Help America Vote card we mailed in the November election, which told them their name and address, and where to go vote, and things like that. There's also $1,800,000 in Title II 2738 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 funds that are geared for Title III requirements which are the provisional voting requirements, provision of identification at the polling place, complaint process, and general improvements in the administration of elections. We also spent quite a bit of that money before we got it. And we conducted a massive voter registration education -- a massive voter education campaign prior to the November election, with full-page ads in probably about 28 community papers, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, a couple Latino newspapers, and the Philadelphia Tribune, basically advising the voters of the requirement that they may have to produce I.D. before they vote, and if their name is not in the poll books when they vote, that they are entitled to vote a provisional ballot, and that would be checked and counted later. A bulk of the money is set aside for machine procurement. The City has already spent their money for machine procurement. 2739 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 However, a Federal Court agreement in U.S. District Court here in Philadelphia and also the HAVA Act requires that as of January 1, of '06 our voting machines provide the ability for those who are visually impaired to vote independently and in private, without the need for assistance. The HAVA money does include $5,043,000 to upgrade our existing systems, to provide an audio device on the voting machine... on every voting machine, so that if someone comes in there visually impaired, they will use that device to cast their ballot.
I'm sorry. I don't mean to interrupt you. But would we need new machines or will that --
No. We are going to upgrade the current machine that we have right now. It's an upgrade that it's an attachment that the poll worker will attach right to the back of the machine. It's a headset, similar to what you would have on a CD player, and a hand device 2740 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 so that the visually impaired can listen to the ballot as it's read to them, and make selections based on certain tactile positions on the handset. Those votes will be recorded in the machine the same as the votes casted -- as if you casted them visually on the ballot face itself. That grant, that $5,043,000 is only up to the actual cost of the product. And cost of doing the upgrade, right now we estimate that there's probably $1.3 million overage in that fund. We are -- We have in our county plan that that money still be held aside for Philadelphia County, pending the outcome of new Federal 2005 voting system standards which may bring changes, and may require us to do further upgrades to our machines. There is $5,366,000 that Congress specifically earmarked... the specifically return to any county who upgraded their system since November 2000. And I'd like to think the reason any 2741 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 of that money is coming to Philadelphia is because of Chairwoman Tartaglione. Back in April of 2001, we had the Democratic Congressional Caucus here for election reform. And one of the recommendations that the Chairperson made was that any federal bill or any federal money be made retroactive to November 2000, because that's when the problems came to light. We had just signed a contract in March of '01. That testimony was April '01. When the bill passed, the bill contained the provision that all the grants be made retroactive. So we were able to qualify for all the money, even though we had signed a contract for our machines well before the bill passed. There is another six... I guess about $6,500,000 that is allocated for another partial reimbursement that we spent on the machines. So I guess total there's been $12 million. The City will be reimbursed either to the capital fund or the 2742 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 capital fund or the General Fund, depending on where it goes.
That's out of that pot of a total of million. 8 The issue is that we cannot 9 reimburse the City Treasury for any of those 10 funds until we complete the upgrade because 11 the funds are contingent upon the county 12 having a HAVA compliant machine. 13 Our machine won't be compliant until 14 we put the audio device on. And hopefully 15 there won't be any new mandates in the '05 16 items. 17 We expect to start putting that 18 audio device on the machines... We hope to 19 start that the weekend after July 4th this 20 summer, and we hope to finish that by the second week of September. And we hope that in November that we will have that device on the machines. So, which means once they are declared HAVA compliant, it would free up the $5.3 million 2743 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 and also the $6.9 million for reimbursement to the City. All the money, when it comes down from the Department of State, has to be deposited in a totally segregated bank account named the Philadelphia County Election Fund. Any disbursement of funds outside of that account has to be made in accordance with a Philadelphia County plan that was submitted by the City Commissioner's Office to the Department State. It was submitted January 31st. And it was sent back with some minor corrections, and it will be going back up there next week. But the 12 million is specifically geared as a reimbursement. We cannot use that money for any other election issues. It was for voting machine procurement only. So once we get the upgrade done, then the City will get that reimbursement.
Thank you. Commissioner, on the last page of your testimony you state, additional funding 2744 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 is necessary to support innovations and increasing costs of services related to the election process. Will you please explain the statement. And if you're examining additional funds, if so, in what amounts?
There are a couple issues that confront us in the near term future. HAVA also requires, beginning January 1 of 2006, that Philadelphia use the state SURE system as its official files of registered voters.
The statewide uniform registry of electors. It's a computer system that maintains a database of voters in Harrisburg, that is operated and the work is processed in the counties and by the county work crews. And it all goes up to Harrisburg, and that's where the files will reside. The City Commissioners, according to law, will no longer have our own voter 2745 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 registration system. We will be forced on to the state system. It's a federal requirement and a state requirement. The problem is, is when they passed the law -- and this is a key element for all voters, beginning in January 1 of '06. We distributed forms that require you put your driver's license number, or your last four digits of your Social Security number on there. As soon as we are connected to SURE, we are required to hit a key on our computer terminal. That will send your information to the Department of Motor Vehicles, and it will try to do a verification of the driver's license number. If that number that you put on the application, as we key it, does not match what's on record with PennDOT, we have to reject your application to register to vote. So, it's an added step for us on every application we get. We not only have to check that. We have to check statewide the entire database, to make sure that every 2746 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 applicant is not registered in another county. If they are registered, then we have to notify that county electronically to cancel the record in the prior county. We also have to do a manual process to... It's a computer assistive but partially manual operator intervention to assign you to a precinct. Whereas now we just key in your information, we go home and go to bed at night, the computer assigns you to a precinct. It does it uniformly throughout the City. Well, we get a list on the screen, and then we got to hit another key that then makes you -- assigns you by address to the right precinct. A lot of these tasks that now require additional manual steps will be additional work alone. The problem is the SURE system doesn't work very well. The contract called for a three-second response time, whenever you hit 2747 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 a key and do one of those steps. When we first practiced on it, it was a six-minute response time. And lock-out time. I went and got coffee down on the ground floor, come back five flights on the elevator, and I was still looking at an hourglass. The state has since gotten it down between seconds and a minute per hit. And 11 there's five different transactions on every 12 application. So if it takes five minutes to 13 do one application, it's going to take 14 longer. 15 They think they're going to have it 16 ready for Philadelphia before November. I'll 17 believe it when I see it. By law we're supposed to be on there by January 1. So that extra work and the fact that we're using a system that requires you to do a lot of extra steps to communicate with a database 200 miles away, and being at the control of the people that run that database as far as entering our work and approving the applications means that we're going to 2748 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 require more personnel to do this. At the present time, I really took a look at the steps. And I figure it's going to take about more permanent employees to 6 be keying in the work that we have to enter 7 registration applications. 8 Between May -- I'm sorry. Between 9 April of 2004 and October of 2004, we 10 received 252,000 applications. That's 25 11 percent of the number of people that were 12 registered in the City. 13 So, one-quarter of the people turned 14 in a piece of paper that we had to process. 15 And we had to enter that, we had to scan it, 16 get their signature in there, and make sure 17 they were printed in poll books so they can 18 put it in for election day. 19 We were a lot more successful using 20 our system, getting done, than some other counties were getting done using SURE.
So, that's the biggest cost that we expect to come down the line. The other thing is, if there's any increase or any change in the voting system 2749 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 standards that requires more modifications to the voting system. That's an unknown right now. There are groups that are asking that the voting machines have a voter verifiable paper audit trail, so that when a voter votes, they not only can look at the lights and see what selection is going to be made, but it would print a piece of paper they could verify it on. That would cost us another $5 million, and we may not even be able to adapt our machines to do it. It's not required by HAVA. We're opposing it. We think it's just going to cause a logjam in the polling places, and cause further confusion. And we know it's not necessary because we adequately test our machines. And whatever we put in there on test up to 400 votes is what comes out on that tape. We've had no issues at all with the accuracy of these machines. 3 million of which I have sitting aside in here in a reserve. The other won't be there.
Other than your telling us about this new program that will be instituted, and you mentioned about a driver's license, and if the number is wrong then that person cannot, in fact, be registered, I'm very curious. How do you determine if one person registers in three different locations? How do you determine that it's the one and the same person? You know, if it's the same date of birth, it's the same name. Do you catch that?
If it's the same birth date and the same name, we have the record. And during the middle of the night the computer does the matching. And it deletes it within 48 hours. It's a computerized process. We don't have to do anything. And that's the way it's run in the City probably for about 20 years. Now, with SURE you hit the F6 key, 2751 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 and it will bring back a list of names, one of which will be highlighted as a potential match. And you have to look at that screen and pick out which one is the match and get it out. So that automatic process in Philadelphia is no longer automatic under SURE. Currently, if your name is different or your date of birth is different, we run systematic programs periodically, probably twice a year. And we just finished -- Well, we're halfway through one right now. We just deleted 62,000 duplicate records in the system. And what we'll do is, we'll run a computer match, same last name, same date of birth, same address, forget the first name. You got to be careful. You come up with a lot of twins. Or we'll run same first name, same date of birth, same address. Forget the last name. We catch a lot of marriages that way. So, we do have processes and programs that we run. They all require 2752 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 operator intervention, but our people want to make sure, by looking at the signature, they are a duplicate before they delete a record. But we do have processes that do that. COMMISSIONER TARTAGLIONE: Just picture this. There's 67 counties in the State of Pennsylvania, 67 counties going into one system. Now, these little counties love it. They get 1200 voters in the county, but you take Philadelphia, you take Pittsburgh, you take Cumberland County, you take... It's going to be a nightmare. It's going to be a nightmare. But the federal government put this in. It's law. It's law, plus the state puts in laws. It becomes law, and we're mandated to do it. They don't come and ask, is this system going to work, how to do, pay for it. It's getting worse every year. It's getting worse.
Mr. Lee, I understood you to say that you would need at 2753 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 least employees to actually implement this new system. Are they full-time, part-time employees?
Don't know yet, but 6 depending on how the system is set up -- I'm 7 not sure. It's going to need 20 more people. 8
We won't 9 know that until when? January? December? 10
Maybe a little bit after 11 that, once we get rolling on the thing in 12 some kind of production mode. 13 We were on it in a practice mode, 14 but we were told by the Department of State 15 that that practice mode was... it wasn't as 16 robust as the real one, so we really couldn't 17 judge the value of the system. So, I really 18 couldn't judge what kind of activity we're 19 going to have on the system. 20 I figure the first couple months on the system, running through testing the system and trying to force a lot of work through there, we'd have a better idea. COMMISSIONER TARTAGLIONE: Well, I told at a meeting, and other Commissioners 2754 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 and Mr. Lee agreed, that if the system isn't up and it's not going to help our system, we're going to go to Federal Court. We're not going to put anything into order if it doesn't work. My employees have been going to these meetings and complaining since 2002?
Early 2001. COMMISSIONER TARTAGLIONE: Early 2001, telling them what's wrong, why it won't work. The other counties are finally joining in with Philadelphia saying, this system is not going to work. And the answer you get, this is HAVA law. You have to do it. Well, I hope there's enough money for our lawyers when we go to court. Not going to implement a system that's not going to work.
Understood. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Madam President. 2755 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 I certainly wanted to thank this department for all that they do. We realize there's a lot to be done, and this time of year it's especially busy. But you've always been great, and we thank you. * Thank you, Commissioners. Thank you, Madam President.
I know that you have to meet with the Finance Department to go over your budget. Was all of this explained to them, so that...
You really have to. You don't have any alternative but to have to hire people. 18 Where's that money going to come 19 from, if it's not in your budget? Is this 20 something that you have worked out with Finance?
I've talked to them, and they're aware of my thoughts on what it's going to take to do that. We've been working with an individual there on setting up the 2756 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 grants account, and things like that, so that there's a special account for it. And I also mentioned about when SURE comes down, there's a good possibility that it could take up to additional employees 7 sitting there keying in work. 8
Even if 9 you go to court, until the court decides and 10 renders a decision, you're going to probably 11 have to implement this process. 12 COMMISSIONER TARTAGLIONE: Not 13 really. 14
Not 15 really? 16 COMMISSIONER TARTAGLIONE: No. 17
Why not? 18 Why not? 19 COMMISSIONER TARTAGLIONE: We'll 20 scream and holler.
Well, now, look: If there are eight or ten federal laws that require that you comply and do something, and there's one federal law that requires that you use a system on a specific arbitrary date that has 2757 Operating Budget - 4/6/05 no impact except making it unable to comply with those other eight or ten federal provisions, I think we have a pretty good reasonable argument. At least it will be heard. I don't think... We are connected. The building is wired. I have a few ways to do things. I'd rather...