Memorandum

City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office

TO:	Tom Markus, City Manager
CC:	Dave Wagner, Municipal Services & Operations Department Director
FROM:	Brandon McGuire, Assistant to the City Manager
DATE:	March 12, 2019
RE:	Update on Municipal Services & Operations

The January 14, 2019 City Manager’s Report included an update about the ongoing merger of the former Public Works and Utilities departments through the formation of the new Municipal Services & Operations Department (MSO). The functional organizational chart included in that report reflects the results of the first phase of reorganization, focusing on the MSO management team.

The second phase of reorganization focuses on changes to positions and work groups needed to substantially complete the formation of the MSO department. Results of phase one and two of the reorganization are detailed in the attached MSO organizational chart. Staffing needs are constantly evaluated, so organizational charts are management and communications tools that typically reflect a department’s structure at a single point-in-time. Although the MSO org chart will evolve over time, the attached chart represents the substantial completion of the merger. As a next step, several position changes needed to complete the reorganization will prompt upcoming personnel recruitments. The positions identified for these upcoming recruitments are colored blue in the attached org chart.

The MSO department structure has largely taken the form of the conceptual organizational structure originally presented at the April 10, 2018 Commission Work Session. This is a notable outcome considering the work of the many city employees who participated in numerous focus group meetings in 2017 that led to the proposal to create the MSO department. 

All position changes with the MSO to-date result from converting and reclassifying existing positions. No new positions have been created. The city’s new pay plan, approved February 5, 2019, includes analysis and recommendations for all MSO positions, with exception of the ADA program manager. Position changes made to support the reorganization result in estimated cost savings of $228,943 in fiscal year 2019, cumulative of all funds. Savings from the reorganization enable partial implementation of the 2019 compensation adjustments recommended in the city’s pay plan. Please see the table below for the estimated 2019 fund-level fiscal impact of the reorganization.

*Data source: Priority-based budgeting 2019 fiscal year data set