Chair Krishnan on MOU stability and intercity funding shortfalls
Krishnan asks how DOI protects shared resources when MOUs are renewed. Shahada explains there is no mechanism to force agencies to maintain funding levels, and that intra-city funding hasn't kept pace with actual salaries—DOI must supplement from its own PS dollars, citing examples where H+H and DEP MOU funding falls short of actual salary costs by $28K-$43K per staffer.
I think you touched upon this before, too, but when we talk about your agreements with other city agencies as you do work and share resources, when MOUs are up for renewal, how do you make sure that shared resources are stable and not reduced by agency savings exercises?
Well, there's no mechanism to force agencies to provide us with a certain level of funding or to not cut their resources.
They share with DOI as part of their savings exercise.
We rely on explaining the importance of DOI's work, our record of achievements, and the productive relationships we've fostered with the relevant agencies to make our case.
I would suggest that a more stable way to manage DOI's resources would be to provide the staffing and resources directly to DOI's budget and not have to rely on discretionary MOUs for headcount.
Right.
And have there been, I mean, are there a certain number of positions, a minimum number that other departments are obligated to fund?
Have there been reductions in the MOUs for the allowable staff that other departments are obligated to fund?
And how do you, is there no way at all to protect, there's no minimum number, no sort of, you know, requirements on other agencies to obligate them to fund certain positions or work with you all to make sure they're funded in some capacity?
So there's been one MOU where we had a reduction in headcount.
That's the MOU with DEP for staff who monitor the BT2 water project upstate.
There was a loss of two headcount there, but that was attributable to workflow and not a budget consideration.
In other MOUs, for example, with DOC, DOHMH, or DOB, we have thankfully not seen reduced headcount.
count, but it's worth noting that the intracity funding they give us has not kept pace with the actual salaries paid to the employees.
Therefore, in certain cases, DOI has had to supplement the intracity funding with our own PS dollars to meet the required salaries.
So to give you an example, there's one staffer funded through an H&H MOU who makes $123,000, but we only received $95,000 in intercity funds.
Another staffer on the DEP MOU makes $128,000, but we receive only $100,000.
$85,000 from DEP.
So DOI has to make up that difference out of our own PS dollars.