Investigation into the resources shared across the programs of the Center for Local Government Technology

Abstract

The Center for Local Government Technology (CLGT) provides training, education, and assistance to customer groups dedicated to serving the public. CLGT currently has six operating programs that offer a variety of services. In order to facilitate administrative work, CLGT employs five administrative and support staff and three student workers who perform various tasks, such as accounting, event planning, scheduling, etc., for these six programs. The costs of funding the staff positions are allocated to the programs based on the percentage of time that each staff member plans to dedicate to the six programs over the course of the year. In addition, the six programs have a common supply room with various office supply items, as well as a copier machine that all programs use. Although sharing resources saves overall costs for CLGT programs, the distribution of time spent on each program by staff members and the usage of office supplies has proven to be challenging to track. CLGT currently estimates the staff members' time dedicated to programs and the amount of office supplies used per program to determine the allocation of associated costs.

Historical data was gathered, numerous interviews were conducted, and statistical tools, such as using a three-point estimation method to generate a Beta distribution, were used to produce an accurate representation of the distribution of time dedicated to the six programs by each staff member. Using the individual staff members' distributions of time dedicated to the six programs, the total combined distribution of time dedicated to the six programs by CLGT support and administrative staff was determined. The following utilizations by program for CLGT were determined: LTAP 35.3%, Pilot/Escort 18.7%, ATAP 18.7%, TTAP 18.2%, CCAP 6.9%, and Transportation Intern Program 2.2%. The recommendation is to allocate the costs of the shared resources based on the analyses conducted and results produced. In particular, base the costs of support and administrative staff on the appropriate individual's analysis results and the costs of office supplies on the total combined distribution of time dedicated to the six programs by CLGT support and administrative staff. In addition, throughout the project, efficiency improvement opportunities were identified. The improvement areas include: continue to cross-train employees and increase website user friendliness, begin documenting best practices, standardize data entry methods in ACEware database, delegate additional tasks to student workers, and standardize the travel reimbursement request process.

By implementing the recommendations provided, CLGT can reduce the risk incurred by incorrectly estimating the staff members' time dedicated per program. In addition, a decrease in the time and effort required to complete tasks and an increase in the overall efficiency and effectiveness of administrative and support work can be realized by applying the efficiency improvements recommended.