Travis County Commissioners Court
June 14, 2005
Item 18
18 approve exemption order and contract awarded for jail analysis and model assistance services with deloitte consulting, llp.
>> good morning.
>> good morning, judge and Commissioners. This is kind of a pilot and an idea that judge Biscoe and I kind of have thrown around and talked about for two or three years and that is the value of trying some management accounting analysis on critical issues that are affecting county government. And we talked about staffing or how we were going to do it, and the sheriff and I got together and decided perhaps the time is now to do a pilot. And the other thing that makes this interesting, I think, is that while talking to the legislature and talking about property taxes and what we have to do, it is really clear that they do not understand the issues that counties are facing nor do they understand the cost. And we as counties throughout Texas I think have not done as good a job as we could have. And so I have guests here from the Texas association of counties -- you can come sit here if you want. Kerry and paul. And we also talked in the interim and while we were working with the legislature how we really needed to get some good data to explain to the legislature what we do. Everyone of course wanted all the data on everything from all counties. What we thought was maybe a good idea was to start a pilot and have that pilot start here in Travis County. So I think it covers all of these things. What we would like to do is get a cost model, contract with deloitte & touche to design a cost model, and there are two steps they are going to take that are proposed here. And I will pay for that out of my budget and the money has been encumbered for that purpose. And it's not just determining the cost of an inmate, but it's to build a model which shows how you determine costs and then you can do projections in the future. For instance, one of the things that the sheriff would be able to do, the sheriff's people, he would be able to predict, for instance, what the impact on increased health care might be, how that would impact the cost per inmate. What we're hoping is that, first, it's a gathering of objective information for the sheriff to manage better, for you all to make more informed financial decision, for the Texas association of counties to help gather information statewide so we can communicate our needs to the legislature. So it's my hope that when we develop the model that is correct we will give that to the Texas association of counties so they can use it too. And help other counties so that we as the counties in Texas can do some things that are good in an area that is really one of the key cost drivers. The third phase, which is not funded, and that would be up to the sheriff when he sees how things go, would be for deloitte to work with them on activity-based costing to see what kind of process improvement or cost drivers are there in terms of other management. And, again, you know, I see this as a tool. That part is -- there is no funding for and what I kind of thought was we would see how the first two phases work. If we're happy with it and it seems to be working well and the sheriff is happy with it, then we can look for funding perhaps even a set-aside in the budget for next year if this looks worth our while to do. One of the things I hope and we have the people from deloitte back there and you know chris kennedy who will be working on it. And I was real specific in them and that is we don't want on model that only bill campbell and I get. We want something, not that that wouldn't be exciting, but we want something that translates accounting terminology into plane english for those who are not accountants and want to make management and financial decisions. And so that's a little bit harder than just coming up with the regular cost accounting model. And so as I said, the judge and I have been kind of talking about this, and I think that a pilot is the way to do it. To contract out. Deloitte has done some good cost work in the past for us and therefore I would like it exempt for that reason. We're familiar with their work. They are familiar with us so they will be able to do it more expeditiously. And you know, I think this is kind of going to be an interesting thing. The sheriff was so enthusiastic and, as a matter of fact, the sheriff would have liked this done for his entire office, which speaks volume for the new sheriff. But again, I think the part is take this pilot. We've got jail issues out there and maybe this will be really useful. Just happens to be coming at the same time. That's what we would like to do.
>> my question was, and I think it's a great idea and I appreciate the sheriff being here and kerry, it's always good to see you. Where does central booking fit into all of this, because certainly when we talk about how much does it cost to house an inmate, there's a beginning point and it's when they walk through the door. And I think that's also where I know i've got some need to get further explanation, especially since we have a central booking interlocal and I think those are questions being asked by our other financial partners. Does this include central booking or is it really once you pass central booking?
>> we had talked to deloitte and mike and I have talked as well and he will have something to say after this, but the truth is that is not a problem as long as it's Travis County data. To add to to the central booking. Because the difference is there are a lot of things happening in central booking which are more than an average day at del valle. Once they got the costs together, we are not contemplating that is a problem and that would be included because that is part of our costs. We have central booking and we have people who are housed out at del valle. So we don't see that as a problem.
>> right, and after talking to susan about it, I felt very comfortable this would help us to get better cost information with regards to our booking operation. And I think it will ultimately help us as we talk about central booking operation what costs are attributable, you know, when we're talking to the city. So --
>> one of the things i'd like to say, this is so exciting because in the law enforcement field, and I’m pretty sure it's in other fields, we always do things because we've always done it. And it may not be the most efficient and most effective way of addressing those particular issues. But with this particular study, we'll be able to pinpoint an exact cost, not an approximate mate.
>> any other questions, comments? Any comments?
>> judge, I think that susan does a splendid job and I know that studies are sometimes viewed with some reservation, but I think they are by far on the cutting edge now. I think this study will give you some management tools that you might not have otherwise, some for sure and that you can have some predictability associated with your decision-making from a management standpoint. I’m very excited about it and happy to see the court consider it.
>> judge?
>> yes, sir.
>> susan, do you see this as being something that you could take out and peddle? Or is this going to be so site specific to Travis County jail operations, or I mean I guess why I’m always so surprised about is we've been locking people up she we've been doing jails for a couple of hundreds years. I mean and it is always amazing to me that, well, let's really find out what the cost and what the jail operations, and I know what's motivating this because we -- you know, we are having major issues. But I guess answer the first question first is this going to be something that you could --
>> I don't know if we could. I think what we should do is give it [inaudible] because I think that the real benefit for all of us is not only what we can do at Travis County but to have other counties [inaudible] in Texas also be able to do the same kind of analysis so that we all can go to the legislature when we deal with these things and we have really good data and can talk to them about what we counties are doing to try to control property taxes and yet, you know, do what the law requires us to do. We have primarily -- you get cost data for a lot of reasons, Commissioner. One of the reasons we got it, you know, probably 10, 15 years ago is we won a lawsuit against the state of Texas and that is when they didn't take their prisoners they had to pay us on a daily basis and we had to come up with a cost per inmate. The other reason for having it and really understanding it is --
>> microphone.
>> I’m sorry. The other reason to have it is that -- and Commissioner Sonleitner has asked this question and you've got it on your agenda today, if we have too many inmates, is it financially -- and this is just a financial outlook, there are operational issues as well. Is it better to rent some space in another county jail or is it better to build more facilities, short term, long term. And this is the kind of data that helps that. In cost accounting that's called a make or or buy decision, make it or farm it out. Which financially is best. That's real what I you are doing when you say should we send inmates away. Financially what does that mean. I would never want you to think the financial is the only issue because always there's operational issues. This is just one part of it. But I don't think we've looked at what drives the costs. You know, what things push costs up. And one of the examples in activity based costing which is a little different than a straight cost accounting model is, like, for instance, in a purchasing operation, it's an example that i've seen in analyzing activity-based cost,. What you say are what are the activities that really drive costs up. Then focus on those. Like in a purchasing operation, in the example that I had heard at a training program was purchase orders. Well, if that's a cost driver, what that means is let's figure out how we can get fewer of them and th epl then we will save costs. It's that kind of thing which becomes really more than just an accounting tool, but a management tool for the sheriff. Once -- if he can go into phase 3 and say, look, these are our cost drivers, now he's got some tools to make some decisions.
>> move approval of the exemption order and contract award to deloitte consultants. Any more discussion?
>> just real quickly, thank you once again to the auditor. She has stepped forward time after time after time to do these kinds of things like she had on 1445 and I appreciate it.
>> thank you. All in favor? That passes by unanimous vote.
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, June 14, 2005 8:10 PM