To: Councilmember Lisa Herbold, Chair, Public Safety & Human Services Committee

Date: October 1, 2021

Subject: Response to SLI SPD-005-B-003

From: Ben Noble, Director, City Budget Office

SLI:

"CB 119949 would also request a report from the Executive by March 31, 2021 on providing PEOs access to the Seattle Department of Transportation's car charging stations and providing a detailed estimate of additional staff and budget that would be required to support the potential expansion of the PEOs' responsibilities as follows: managing traffic at lighted intersections, red light camera and school zone enforcement, response to non-injury collisions, response to and reporting on minor thefts and car break-ins, and traffic control. (Note that CBA SPD-005-B-1 would also request a report from SPD on the cost of using PEOs or other non-SPD officers for traffic control during special events, contracted sporting events and flagging.)"

Summary:

Understanding the financial impact of expanding the PEO unit's size and/or scope of responsibilities requires bargaining with labor unions to determine those responsibilities, and what is necessary to operationalize those responsibilities. The Executive's response to SLI SPD-005-B-002 transmitted on August 2, 2021 provides more information about anticipated labor and inter-departmental impacts.

Background:

The Parking Enforcement Officer (PEO) unit operates with 120 FTE. A staffing breakdown of is presented in Table 1. The Manager oversees the entire unit, and the administrative assistant provides support. Currently, each PEO Supervisor oversees between 7 to 11 PEOs.

Title FTE Count

PEO Supervisor 12.00

PEO 106.00

Administrative Assistant 1.00

Manager 1.00

Total 120.00

Table 1: PEO Unit Staffing

The unit operates out Park 90/5 in SODO, and the PEO North facility in North Seattle. To carry out PEO responsibilities, the unit is currently assigned 99 vehicles. There are 76 are vehicles that are powered by unleaded gasoline, while the remaining 23 are electric vehicles (EVs). PEOs have access to 10 charging stations at the PEO North Facility, and 12 at Park 90/5. The latter are shared with SPD.

As of 2019, the City of Seattle operates 411 EV charging stations . Approximately 208 are in the Seattle Municipal Tower. The remaining are spread across worksites across the City, and in some cases, outside the City. While some of these charging stations are accessible to the public, many of these charging stations are used to support City fleet operations and are intended to be used by a specific department. Further discussions with these departments and an analysis of existing available capacity across these sites would be needed to determine whether it is feasible for the PEOs to access and/or operationalize using City-owned charging stations outside of Park 90/5 and PEO North.

Budget:

Determining the cost of operationalizing the cost of expanding PEO duties requires a better understanding of what those duties are. As referenced in the Executive's response to the 2021 SLI SPD-500-B-002, these responsibilities are still subject to bargaining and understanding how those responsibilities comport to operational considerations.

Table 2 presents approximate unit costs for staffing, EV infrastructure, and vehicles. These figures are intended to provide context for potential costs of expanding PEO responsibilities. Some cost categories, such as infrastructure, are highly dependent on underlying assumptions and should not be taken at face value. Other costs, such as labor and vehicles, are better known.

Table 2: Known Cost Estimates for PEO Unit

Category Unit Cost Notes

Vehicle (EV) $40,000 Assumes Chevy Bolt, Nissan Leaf, or equivalent EV

Vehicle (4 Wheel Scooter) $46,000 Assumes GO-4 scooter or equivalent

EV Charger (Level 2) $8,000 1 hour of charging provides the vehicle with approximately 10 - 20 miles of range. Only includes the charging station.

EV Charger (DC Fast Charger) $125,000 20 minutes of charging provides the vehicle with approximately 60 - 80 miles or range. Only includes the charging station.

EV Infrastructure Buildout -Electrical Service Upgrade Costs $10,000 - $2,000,000 Each project is different, and final amount would depend on scope and site.

Each project is different, and final amount would depend on scope and site.

EV Infrastructure Buildout - Project Costs and Project Contingency Depends

PEO Supervisor (1.0 FTE) $115,000 Midpoint salary and benefits does not include OT

PEO (1.0 FTE) $103,000

One-Time Supplies per Employee $5,000 Radios and other equipment for each FTE

Using current operational conditions and costs, a rough estimate is provided below for a cost per team expansion in Table 3 below. Note that this table assumes current state information and does not reflect any expansion in responsibilities. Using EVs may require additional infrastructure, and these-high level costs are presented in Table 4.

Table 3: Cost for a PEO Team Expansion

Assumption Cost

Assume staffing ratio of 1.0 PEO Supervisor: 9.0 PEOs for a total of 10 FTE $1,042,000

Assume 1:1 vehicle to staffing ratio for a total of 10 vehicles $400,000 - $460,000

Assume one time equipment costs for 10.0 FTE $50,000

Total $1,492,000 - $1,552,000

Table 4: EV Infrastructure Estimate

Assumption Cost

Estimated cost for 1 Level 2 Charger $8,000

Estimated cost for 1 DC Fast Charger $125,000

Electrical service upgrade, project costs (construction and soft costs), and project contingency Cost vary and can be significant depending on scope

Under these assumptions, a per-team expansion of the PEO unit with current responsibilities is approximately $1.5M. While the costs of EV chargers are fixed, ensuring there is sufficient electrical capacity, understanding the project scope, and determining a project contingency can add significant costs. Using hybrids or 100% unleaded fuel vehicles would not require this infrastructure.

Conclusion:

There is existing infrastructure at Park 90/5 and PEO North to continue supporting PEO operations. Expanding the duties of PEOs, and/or granting them access to other City-owned charging stations would require further discussions with labor and an analysis of the current usage of those charging stations.