01-22-1986 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Hunt November 27, 1985 Page Four be seriously examining the question of computeri- zation of our suburban operations, with a direct link between all offices. Obviously, the expense for such a project would be considerably greater among six locations than between two. 5) We now maintain bank accounts in all of our subur- ban locations, with a total of twelve accounts among the five offices. This currently does not represent a major expense, but the way bank charges are es- calating these days, the cost in this area may soon become significant. 6) One additional major expense is the mileage fees paid to our personnel for traveling among our vari- ous locations, sometimes several times a day. With a combination of eleven Judge's Clerks, eleven Court Reporters, six Court Operations personnel, thirteen suburban clerical personnel, seven supervisory per- sonnel, and three or four others who make occasional trips, we have over fifty people who legitimately travel around and could be collecting mileage checks. For the year 1985, our budgeted amount in this cate- gory was $21,657, an amount that could be drastically reduced by decreasing the number of locations. One more area of expense not yet addressed, but which is also of considerable significance, concerns the facilities themselves. In 1985, we will pay almost $76,000 for the rental of space in our five locations. While actual costs would depend upon the facility provided, one would expect the total yearly expenditure for a single suburban facility would be rather less. On the subject of the facilities, there are some factors relating to the actual offices themselves that must be con- sidered. Those in White Bear Lake and Roseville are fine. They have some comparatively minor problems, but nothing that cannot be handled. However, the other three suburbs all present some potentially severe difficulties, to wit: 1) New Brighton - This facility has always been our worst. It is impossibly cramped, and cannot practi- cally handle the enormous volume.. of cases in that area. The city had completed plans for a desperately needed (for them as well as us) expansion that would have considerably eased the space problems but, unfor- tunately, the low bid came in drastically in excess of project estimates. The city is now re- designing the proposed expansion and, while nothing is final- ized yet, the Court initially appears to have suffer- ed some severe loss of needed space. Further, even had the original plan proceeded withouta problem, it was questionable whether it would have been suffi- cient, as it would never have allowed more than one Judge to be assigned there at any given time, and 3