A tenured employee (31+ years) in the food safety program has submitted her resignation/retirement notice effective April 16. The position is currently budgeted at 0.75 FTE. Staff requests that the Board increase the position to 1.0 FTE and that recruitment to fill the vacant position be authorized.
The current position is budgeted at $81,436 (salary plus benefits). Full-time, vacant Environmental Health Specialist (EHS) positions were budgeted at $89,135 for 2019. Thus, the requested 0.25 FTE increase represents an increased expenditure of $7,699 annually. The food program finished 2018 with net revenues exceeding program costs by $60,641. Food program revenues through February are $7,036 above 2018 levels. This is likely understated by approximately $50,000, as revenues from food handler cards issued online had not posted at the time the revenue report was generated. The increased fee revenue is driven by an increase in food service permits issued annually (up 343 per year since 2017). This increase in permitted facilities equates to an addition 696 annual inspections per year performed by food safety program staff.