REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
May 23, 2023
FROM
DIANE RUNDLES, Assistant Executive Officer, Human Resources Department
SUBJECT
Title
Purchase and Distribution of Prepaid Negotiables
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Approve the distribution of prepaid health club membership certificates for San Bernardino County’s Wellness Program, in the amount not-to-exceed $4,212 for a three-year period of May 23, 2023 through May 22, 2026.
2. Approve the purchase and distribution of prepaid gift cards and transit passes for San Bernardino County’s Rideshare Program, in an amount not-to-exceed $34,000 in 2022-23.
3. Approve the purchase and distribution of prepaid gift cards and transit passes for San Bernardino County’s Rideshare Program, in an amount not-to-exceed $125,000, for the three-year period of May 23, 2023 through May 22, 2026.
(Presenter: Diane Rundles, Assistant Executive Officer, 387-5570)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of additional Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The purchase and distribution of transit passes and gift cards for San Bernardino County’s (County) Rideshare Program is funded with Assembly Bill 2766 (AB 2766) fee revenues collected by the Department of Motor Vehicles and passed to the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) for distribution to the Human Resources Department (HR) on a quarterly basis within the fiscal year. SCAQMD utilizes data collected on the County’s AB 2766 Annual Fiscal Year report to determine the total funding amount. Sufficient appropriation and revenue have been included in the HR Commuter Services 2022-23 Recommended Budget (7200002708) and will be included in future recommended budgets.
|
Prepaid Negotiables |
2022-23 |
2023-2026 Estimated Three-Year Amount |
Total |
|
Prepaid Gift Cards |
$29,530 |
$75,000 |
$104,530 |
|
Transit Passes |
$4,470 |
$50,000 |
$54,470 |
|
Total |
$34,000 |
$125,000 |
$159,000 |
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Prepaid negotiables are used as an incentive strategy to support the County’s Commuter and Wellness Programs.
On April 22, 2014 (Item No. 25), the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved the purchase and distribution of 455 annual health club membership certificates for the County’s Healthy Lifestyles and Perfect Attendance Leave (PAL) programs. Between 2014 and 2019, new incentive structures were developed for the Healthy Lifestyles and PAL programs, which no longer utilized prepaid annual health club membership certificates. On June 11, 2019 (Item No. 31), HR received Board approval to distribute the remaining health club membership certificates as incentives for the County’s other wellness programs. However, between 2020 and 2021, the pandemic caused substantial delays in distributing the certificates due to gym closures and a halt in events where HR normally awards these incentives. For this reason, a number of health club membership certificates remain in HR’s inventory.
Approval of this item will authorize the distribution of the remaining health club membership certificates valued at $4,212. Distribution of these certificates will support the County’s Wellness program and initiatives that promote a healthy lifestyle. The program utilizes incentives as a strategy to enhance employee participation and engagement.
AB 2766 was chaptered into law as Health and Safety Code Sections 44220-44247 to authorize air pollution districts to impose fees on motor vehicles. Fees collected are to be expended for the purpose of air pollution reduction measures pursuant to the California Clean Air Act of 1988 or the SCAQMD’s Air Quality Management Plan. The SCAQMD uses AB 2766 funding as a funding source for cities and counties to encourage projects that result in the reduction of motor vehicle emissions.
Employee participation in the County’s Commuter Rideshare Program will assist with achieving benchmarks set by SCAQMD and fulfill the County’s obligation to develop strategies that demonstrate a good faith effort towards meeting these standards. Incentives such as gift cards are used as a strategy to support the Rideshare Program by incentivizing participation.
Additionally, the Rideshare Program offers a transit pass program that allows employees to pay for bus transit passes through a pretax payroll deduction. The program also provides a subsidy to help offset the cost of transit passes to program participants who meet eligibility requirements.
Approval of this item will authorize the purchase and distribution of gift card incentives valued at $104,530 and transit passes valued at $54,470 that will be used to support the County’s Rideshare Program.
PROCUREMENT
Incentives are procured and distributed in accordance with the Auditor-Controller’s Internal Controls and Cash Manual (Chapter 19). The purchase of pre-paid gift cards with a value exceeding $2,500 requires approval from the Board.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Tawny Lieu, Deputy County Counsel,
387-5455) on May 5, 2023; Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector (Denise Mejico, Chief Deputy Auditor, 382-3107) on May 9, 2023; Purchasing (Pete Mendoza, Interim Director, 387-2148) on May 8, 2023; Finance (Abigail Grant, Administrative Analyst, 387-4603) on May 5, 2023; and County Finance and Administration (Paloma Hernandez-Barker, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on May 7, 2023.