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Civil service staff: budget on track, modernization projects moving forward
Summary
Staff reported the board's 2025 budget is on track (about 60% spent year-to-date) and provided progress updates on modernization work including records digitization, expanding eSkill remote exam capacity, and a recruiting/HRIS project targeting an October launch.
Civil service staff told the board April 9 that the office's budget is on track and that several modernization projects funded by a council-approved budget amendment are advancing.
Bradshaw, civil service administrative staff, said the office has spent about 60% of its annual budget so far this year and that salaries and wages account for roughly $597,000 of the budget; the salaries line is running at about 70% of budgeted spending. "It's about 70%, which is pretty good because we just passed the 3 30 mark of the year," Bradshaw said, adding the overall spend rate leaves the office "in a good place."
Bradshaw outlined three modernization components funded by a council budget amendment: digitization of historical board records, expanding the eSkill remote-examination license from the current 150 remote exams toward a possible 500, and recruiting advertising and related expenditures to boost applicant totals. He said a vendor will inspect records for digitization and that staff are discussing a contract expansion to increase remote testing capacity.
He also updated the board on the larger recruiting/HRIS project (referred to internally as the Oracle recruiting project), which staff are targeting for an October launch. Bradshaw said that HR and benefits functions will bear larger portions of the implementation work, and that civil service will handle the recruiting and application-intake pieces.
On appeals and hearings, Bradshaw reported two active step-3 grievances awaiting hearing and one disciplinary appeal at step 3 awaiting hearing (three matters pending with hearing officers), plus one case in chancery. He said two matters closed in the last month (one withdrawn before hearing and one resolved after a hearing officer issued an opinion).
Bradshaw and board members discussed outside counsel and the rules-review project; the board was advised to coordinate requests for outside counsel through the law director. Board members asked that counsel and staff return formal rule recommendations in the coming weeks.
Bradshaw said civil service is tracking recruitment response rates and that use of the eSkill platform has tended to increase test-taker response rates relative to other methods.
