BVNPT authorizes third‑party fee audit RFP to reexamine program and school fees

The Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians voted 7-0 to authorize staff to begin planning and issuing a request for proposals (RFP) for a third‑party fee audit to assess whether current fees accurately reflect the board's costs and the services delivered to licensees and schools.

The action, moved by John Russell and seconded by Alita Carpenter, follows staff presentations showing the board's fund condition is “structurally imbalanced” — bringing in significantly more revenue than its current budget appropriation — and discussion about how to set equitable, sustainable fees for program approvals and ongoing oversight.

Assistant Executive Officer Mark Ito told the board the special‑fund agency began fiscal 2024–25 with roughly $18.5 million and currently projects about $26 million in revenue for the year while its appropriation is approximately $17.9 million. “Although we are bringing in quite a bit more than we’re spending, we actually can’t spend beyond our budget appropriation without a BCP or budget letter,” Ito said, describing why a formal audit is needed to recommend fee levels that correspond to the board’s workload and statutory limits.

Why it matters: The board regulates more than 170 vocational nursing (VN) and psychiatric technician (PT) programs and charges program fees set by statute or regulation. Staff said existing program fees yield less than one‑third of the board’s education oversight costs, and a fee study would inform whether school fees, application fees, or other charges should change and whether some fees require legislative action.

What the board approved: The motion authorized the executive officer to develop an RFP and scope of work for a comprehensive fee audit, begin outreach and stakeholder engagement, and prepare any budget change proposal (BCP) or appropriation requests needed to fund the study. Staff recommended the RFP be reviewed by the executive committee and the final RFP be presented to the full board at its November meeting, with release no later than January 2026.

Board debate and public comment: Board members asked about timeline, estimated cost, and alternatives to outsourcing. Dr. John Russell asked whether temporary staff could reduce costs; Ito replied that hiring temporary staff would still consume the board’s projected savings and that an external consultant is likely the most defensible path for a study to be used in forthcoming sunset legislation. Ito gave a preliminary consultant cost range of roughly $50,000–$100,000 but said the RFP process would produce a firmer figure.

Stakeholder voices were strongly in favor of a study. Kobi Pizzati, representing the California Association of Psychiatric Technicians, told the board, “CAPT really supports this, the audit,” and urged the board to consider tiered fees that reflect program size and type. Public commenters who identified as LVNs and program staff said they are concerned about fee equity between licensees and schools. Hilda, an LVN at Metropolitan State Hospital, described a pay gap and asked how LVNs could transition to PT programs; Shirley Jones, speaking later, urged the board to consider retired licensees in any fee design because renewals from retired licensees currently contribute to revenue.

Next steps: Staff will draft the RFP and scope, return to the executive committee for preliminary review, present the final RFP at the November board meeting, and proceed with vendor selection and contract negotiations. The board instructed staff to include stakeholder engagement — town halls and public meetings — in the project schedule so findings can inform the 2028 sunset report and any legislative language.

Votes at a glance (formal actions during the meeting): - Authorize staff to develop RFP and begin third‑party fee audit process — Motion: John Russell; Second: Alita Carpenter; Vote: 7 yes, 0 no, outcome: approved. - Elect vice president (Alita Carpenter) — Vote: 6 yes, 0 no, 1 abstain (candidate abstained); outcome: elected vice president. - Approve minutes from May 2025 and 06/06/2025 board meetings — Vote: unanimous; outcome: approved. - Approve request to admit students, Quest Nursing Education Center (VN) — Vote: unanimous; outcome: approved. - Adopt NEC recommendations and rescind pattern of admission, Platt College Alhambra (VN) — Vote: unanimous; outcome: approved. - Consideration and provisional approval actions for Pacific College, Costa Mesa (VN) — Vote: unanimous; outcome: actions adopted as recommended by NEC. - Consideration and provisional approval for Angelus Institute (VN) and related continued approval actions — Vote: unanimous; outcome: approved. - Motion to refer a proposed LVN→PT bridge/transition concept to the Education & Practice Committee — Vote: unanimous; outcome: referred.

Clarifying details from the meeting record: - Beginning fund balance cited by staff: $18,456,000. - Current budget appropriation after reductions (FY 24/25): approximately $17,860,000. - Projected revenue for current year: about $26,000,000 (staff estimate). - Projected year‑to‑date savings (reported): $147,794 (0.83% of appropriation); staff noted a healthy months‑in‑reserve is 3–5% and reported 13.5 months in reserve for the fund. - Positions reduced from position authority: 3 positions swept under control section 4.12; staff said operational impact is being mitigated by internal reassignments. - Estimated third‑party audit cost range (pre‑RFP): roughly $50,000–$100,000 (staff estimate). Exact cost to be determined by RFP responses.

Discussion points and directions for staff: - Prepare RFP and scope of work for a comprehensive fee audit; present draft to executive committee and final RFP to board in November 2025. - Conduct stakeholder outreach and town halls; open RFP no later than January 2026 with a 30‑day bid period. - Prepare a BCP for any required augmentation to fund the audit, in consultation with DCA budget staff and legal counsel. - Plan to use audit findings to inform 2028 sunset report and potential legislative language for statutory fees (some school fees are set in statute).

Speakers (attribution whitelist): - Mark Ito — Assistant Executive Officer (AEO), Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians (government). - Elaine Yamaguchi — Executive Officer, Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians (government). - Carol Mountain — Board President (government). - Alita Carpenter — Board member (government). - John Russell — Board member (government). - Leslie Moore — Board member (government). - Reem Olabi — Board member (government). - Robert Calvert — Senior statistician, Office of Professional Examination Services (OPES) (government) (presenter on occupational analysis earlier in meeting; not quoted on fee audit). - Kobi Pizzati — Representative, California Association of Psychiatric Technicians (nonprofit). - Hilda (last name not specified) — LVN, Metropolitan State Hospital (citizen/licensed professional). - Shirley Jones — Public commenter (citizen). - Lauren M. (last name not specified) — Public commenter identifying as LVN (citizen/licensed professional).

Authorities cited in discussion (as referenced by speakers/staff): - AB 1536 (sunset bill that authorized modest application fee for program approvals) — referenced in staff presentation regarding school fees (type: statute; referenced_by: ["s_3007_e_3050"]). - California Business and Professions Code (general references to DCA requirements and statute for exam validation; specific sections discussed by OPES during occupational analysis) — referenced_by: ["s_508_e_618"] (type: statute).

Actions (formal motion captured): - kind: other identifiers: {agenda_item_id:"6b_fee_audit_rfp"} motion: "Authorize the Executive Officer to plan and develop a request for proposals (RFP) and scope of work for a third‑party fee audit of BVNPT revenue and expenses; conduct stakeholder outreach and town halls; prepare a budget change proposal if required; and proceed with contract selection and oversight as recommended in the staff memo." mover: "John Russell" second: "Alita Carpenter" vote_record: [{"member":"Alita Carpenter","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Miss Guzman","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Leslie Moore","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Miss Nieblitz","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Reem Olabi","vote":"yes"},{"member":"John Russell","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Carol Mountain","vote":"yes"}] tally:{"yes":7,"no":0,"abstain":0} legal_threshold:{"met":true,"notes":"Simple majority of appointed board members"} outcome:"approved" notes:"Staff to return RFP for final approval at November meeting; RFP to be released no later than Jan 2026; BCP to be prepared if required."

Discussion_vs_decision:{"discussion_points":["Board fund condition shows revenue exceeding appropriation; structural imbalance needs study","Staff recommended third‑party audit vs. in‑house; outreach and stakeholder engagement recommended","Preliminary consultant cost estimate $50k–$100k; final cost to be determined by bids","School fees in statute may require legislative action to change"],"directions":["EO to draft RFP and scope; consult with DCA budget/legal; executive committee to preliminarily review; full board to approve final RFP in November","Hold stakeholder town halls to gather input prior to finalizing fee recommendations"],"decisions":["Authorize EO to begin fee audit RFP process and related preparatory steps"]}

clarifying_details:[{"category":"beginning_fund_balance","detail":"Board special fund beginning balance for FY referenced","value":"18,456,000","units":"USD","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Mark Ito"},{"category":"projected_revenue","detail":"Projected revenue for current year","value":26000000,"units":"USD","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"Mark Ito"},{"category":"current_appropriation","detail":"Current budget appropriation after reductions (FY 24/25)","value":17860000,"units":"USD","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"Mark Ito"},{"category":"months_in_reserve","detail":"Months in reserve reported","value":13.5,"units":"months","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Mark Ito"},{"category":"savings_projection","detail":"Year‑to‑date projected savings reported","value":147794,"units":"USD","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Mark Ito"},{"category":"positions_reduced","detail":"Positions removed under control section 4.12","value":3,"units":"positions","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Mark Ito"},{"category":"audit_cost_estimate","detail":"Preliminary estimated cost range for third‑party audit","value":"50,000-100,000","units":"USD","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"Mark Ito"}]

proper_names:[{"name":"Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians","type":"agency"},{"name":"Department of Consumer Affairs","type":"agency"},{"name":"Office of Professional Examination Services (OPES)","type":"agency"},{"name":"California Association of Psychiatric Technicians","type":"organization"},{"name":"NCSBN (National Council of State Boards of Nursing)","type":"organization"}]

community_relevance:{"geographies":["California"],"funding_sources":["special fund (licensing fees)"],"impact_groups":["vocational nursing students and programs","psychiatric technician students and programs","licensees","education providers"]}

meeting_context:{"engagement_level":{"speakers_count":12,"duration_minutes":90,"items_count":5},"implementation_risk":"medium","history":[{"date":"2021","note":"AB1536 authorized modest fees for program approvals; board implemented fees via regulation in 2022"}]}

searchable_tags:["fees","budget","audit","education","program fees","sunset report","AB1536","BVNPT"]

provenance:{"transcript_segments":[{"block_id":"s_1933_e_1934","local_start":0,"local_end":255,"evidence_excerpt":"Good morning, everyone. Thank you, doctor Mountain, new vice president Carpenter, and new board member is Grama Menjani. My name is Mark Ito. I'm the AEO of the board. I'm excited to be here today to go over your budget report.","reason_code":"topicintro"},{"block_id":"s_2976_e_3007","local_start":0,"local_end":420,"evidence_excerpt":"Thank you, doctor Mountain. As mentioned in the previous agenda item, the board is structurally imbalanced, meaning we bring in more revenue than we're actually spending. So we're looking into doing a revenue fee audit, to determine what the fee should appropriately be set at for our, for our fees for the job that we're actually doing and how much it costs. So you have the report in front of you. I'll go I'll highlight, parts of the report here.","reason_code":"topicfinish"}]},