NCACC, LGFCU award five for productivity

Innovative employees earn recognition at 104th Annual Conference

By Lisa Nolen
Outreach Coordinator

Programs that allowed counties to improve technology services at the public library, increase motor vehicle tax collections, and make it easier for citizens to provide input into drawing new districts for county commissioners were among those recognized with a 2011 Local Government Federal Credit Union Employee Productivity Award at the NCACC's 104th Annual Conference.

Five awards were presented to employees for developing programs in Brunswick, Cumberland, Durham, Mecklenburg and New Hanover counties.

In its 20th year, the Employee Productivity Awards program is sponsored by Local Government Federal Credit Union and recognizes and rewards employee productivity and encourages county sustainability practices and solutions that reduce county expenditures.

For more information on the LGFCU Employee Productivity Awards program, visit www.ncacc.org/awards/productivity/about.html.

Addressing Environmental Protection Agency's Proposed NPDES Permit for Mosquito Control Activities
Brunswick County

Presented to Jeffrey S. Brown

Brunswick County's Mosquito Control Program's sole mission is to prevent mosquito-borne diseases from affecting the citizens of Brunswick County. Mosquito Biologist Jeff Brown is deeply involved with the year-round surveillance and monitoring program that serves the county.

When he learned of the Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to place mosquito control activities under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, he participated in the national review process to express his concerns about what real impact this proposal would have on local governments across North Carolina and the nation.

Brown sent a copy of his program's budget to the White House's Office of Budget and Management to document the increased costs associated with the proposal. He estimated that 85 mosquito control programs across North Carolina would either cease to exist or risk exposing their local governments to excessive fines and potential litigation under the EPA's original proposal.

His comments and participation helped the EPA develop a workable NPDES solution for all mosquito programs, regardless of size. Because of his professional dedication and attention to detail, he saved Brunswick County a tripling of their mosquito program costs, not to mention more than $400,000 in start-up costs. His efforts also helped save hundreds of thousands of dollars for more than 80 other North Carolina counties that operate similar programs.

Bordeaux Branch Library Technology Upgrade
Cumberland County

Presented to Brian Manning and Laurence Gavin

Above: An adult/teen area was converted into a children's corner replete with kid-friendly computers. Below: New self check-out stations have helped streamline the check-out desk and free up staff for customer assistance.

Despite being the smallest library in the Cumberland County system, the Bordeaux Branch Library is the second busiest. Serving a low-income community where the reported average household income is a little more than $20,000, the Bordeaux Branch felt it was not meeting the needs of its community. The wait time for the branch's nine public computers was often long, and the layout was ill-fitted to meet customer demand.

Determined they would not be deterred by economic challenges, Deputy Library Systems Director Brian Manning and Branch Manager Larry Gavin worked to secure a nearly $100,000 grant from the Library Services and Technology Act to fund remodeling and to install Radio Frequency Identification Technology to streamline check-out services.

The result: Customer satisfaction is at an all-time high. Customers no longer have to wait to use a computer – in fact, the branch has been able to increase the time limit customers may use a computer per day. More and more, customers are taking advantage of checking out their own materials using the new technology, which frees up staff time to provide resource assistance.

Parents have repeatedly said they appreciate the new children's area with computers designated especially for kids. The Bordeaux Branch Library has been transformed into a place where the community feels welcome and comfortable.

Improving Delinquent Collections Using License Plate Recognition Technology
Durham County

Presented to Don Bogumil, Robie McLamb, Teresa Hairston and Kimberly Simpson

Durham County Tax Administration staff believed there had to be a better way for sheriff's deputies in the field to get the information they needed to identify vehicles with delinquent property taxes quicker.

Led by Tax Administrator Kimberly Simpson, the county's Tax Administration Team collaborated with the Sheriff's Department and an outside vendor to implement an electronic license plate recognition system. Now, two sheriff's deputies' vehicles are equipped with cameras that can read license plates and help the deputies instantly identify if and when a vehicle's taxes are delinquent.

The program allows a deputy to immediately place a special sticker on the vehicle to inform the owner that delinquent taxes must be paid within 24 hours; 50 percent of these are paid within that 24-hour period. The overall motor vehicle collection rate has increased from 0.9225 percent to 0.9249 percent, and staff time and office resources have been saved through decreased mailings to delinquent taxpayers.

2010 Redistricting Tool
Mecklenburg County

Presented to Tobin Bradley and Brian Francis

Mecklenburg County wanted to find a way to get more citizens to participate in the redistricting process of 2010. After all, there are few other times when lines are writ to maps that more directly influence a community's citizens.

Brian Francis in the County Manager's Office and Tobin Bradley with Mecklenburg GIS collaborated to create an interactive online tool that allowed citizens to view, create and submit their own district plans for the Board of Commissioners and Board of Education. Staff time traditionally spent assisting those wishing to draft a plan was greatly reduced thanks to this online tool.

Created by a single architect in less than 200 hours, the project leveraged free and open source software, as well as existing hardware to host the system. Including staff time, a comparable vendor would have cost Mecklenburg County in the range of $75,000 to $100,000.

Vaccine Accountability Project
New Hanover County

Presented to Kim Roane, Paula Jenkins, Trena Ballard, Larry Grimsley, Nikki Todd, Tami LaNunziata, Maria Standfest, Kelley Honeycutt and Kristin Neal

Inconsistent vaccine drawing techniques from nurse-to-nurse and errors in recording were among the reasons New Hanover County's Health Department wasn't always getting exactly 10 doses from a 10-dose vial.

The Health Department needed to reduce variances in multi-dose vial counts and increase the accuracy of data entered into the North Carolina Immunization Registry as well as on forms to providers.

A team of representatives from different divisions were brought together to evaluate and make recommendations. As a result, an educational program was developed to promote proper technique for drawing, administering and marking doses.

New reporting policies were put in place to help reduce error rates. The elimination of inventory discrepancies has resulted in significant cost avoidance and increased staff efficiency.