A year after a blistering audit of the 911 emergency center, about half of the most critical recommendations have been implemented.

A follow-up performance audit released today shows the Houston Emergency Center still faces significant structural, staffing and morale problems. The original June 2005 audit made 65 recommendations that could save the city about $6.5 million. So far, savings total about $1.2 million.

"While major progress has been made, much more work needs to be done before HEC can provide the kind of first-class emergency service Houstonians and its own employees deserve," concluded City Controller Annise Parker.

Organizational structure

Despite last year's recommendation to adopt a single, unified organizational structure, the center still operates essentially as three separate organizations (HEC civilian 911, police and fire) with unique cultures and management styles. That means no single centralized day-to-day authority over the center's emergency response. "Failure to address this pervasive issue provides the potential for the reemergence of serious morale concerns," the new audit notes.

In May 2006, center staff attempted to transfer about 70 HPD dispatchers from HPD to HEC control. HPD was willing to pay for the transfer, but it would not fund salaries for the 21 HPD supervisors. The idea was abandoned, and HPD dispatchers remain under the direct control of HPD. HFD noted that its labor contract with the city prohibits civilianization of the
Fire/EMS dispatch function.

Staffing

HEC management received mixed marks for staffing improvements:

• Staffing levels   -   While the HEC civilian group has increased call-taking staff, HPD's aggressive campaigning for senior police dispatchers has produced only 67 more dispatchers, well short of the 92 authorized.
  
• Overtime    -   Several recommendations have been partially or not at all implemented, including cross-training police telecommunicators as police dispatchers, revising shifts to provide longer individual shifts but fewer shifts per week, establishing a police dispatcher reserve pool and posting employee work schedules more than four weeks in advance.
  
  

Employee morale

After the first audit, HEC management embarked on numerous morale-building projects, including furnishing quiet rooms for employees, comfortable chairs, internet kiosks, allowing casual wear on weekends and holidays, holiday parties, use of common notice boards for communications/recognition, improved face-time with management, monthly meetings with supervisors and others.

Because different and far fewer employees responded to the new employee survey, "management should not assume that...morale and environment issues have been sufficiently addressed..."

Jefferson Wells International performed the audit for the City Controller's Office. The report is available at: www.houstontx.gov/controller/audit.html.

Houston City Controller Annise Parker opposes pending state legislation that would allow Texas cities and other governmental entities to avoid publicly reporting the cost of health benefits promised to city retirees.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board now requires state and local government's annual financial statements to specify how much they owe in other post-employment benefits (OPEBs), the health care coverage promised to retirees. HB 2365 and SB 1102 would change that.

“We're already required to report the cost of pension benefits. Why shouldn't we also be telling the public what it will cost to provide health care to retirees?,” she said.

“These are potentially huge financial liabilities, and while we may not have an obligation to honor these commitments in the future, we have a responsibility to acknowledge them. Any assertion to the contrary is an attempt to bury our head in the sand.”

Parker said she hopes no one will try to use this new accounting requirement to justify discontinuing benefits. “Dropping retiree coverage is always an option, but that would force retirees into the public health arena, shifting responsibility from one governmental entity to another and increasing the burden on an overloaded system. The key is having a long-term financial plan in place,” she said.

According to a preliminary actuarial study, Houston’s long-term financial liability for retiree medical coverage is an estimated $3.2 billion. This is in addition to an unfunded pension liability of more than $2.2 billion. The new accounting rule requires only that governments disclose the total long-term obligation in the footnotes of annual financial statements, not that they have the money in the bank.

"Sales tax" ranks near the top of favorite City Hall words, and for good reason: The revenue keeps setting records.

City Controller Annise Parker shared the good news with City Council when she reported that the monthly financial report (MFOR) for the period ending January 31 projects the city will close FY07 in June with a $12.8 million surplus instead of the $4 million deficit she reported two months ago. This is up more than $9 million from last month's projection and reflects a $30 million increase in budgeted revenue over expenses.

"Keep in mind the administration's FY07 budget anticipated drawing down the fund balance by about $16 million," she announced.

The Controller's Office has increased sale tax projections by nearly $12 million. The December check from the state comptroller, which includes the majority of the holiday shopping season, was up almost 7% from the same month a year ago while the most recent check for January showed a 10% increase. The full report is available at: www. houstontx.gov/controller/audit.html