Sponsor: Health and Wellness Administration
Title
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Project Budget and Financing Plan for East Building File Project
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Recommendation
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1. Accept and approve the project budget and financing plan for Project Budget and Financing Plan for East Building File Project in an amount up to $1,000,000.
2. Authorize the County Manager to allocate up to $1,000,000 from proceeds from the sale of the Ramsey County Care Center to the Project Budget and Financing Plan for East Building File Project.
3. Authorize the County Manager to account for the Project Budget and Financing Plan for East Building File Project as a budgeted project in the Division of Innovation and Strategy.
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Background and Rationale
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Currently, the Social Services Department, Financial Assistance Services Department, and the Division of Fiscal Services store open and closed client and civil collection records in various areas of the Ramsey County East Building at 160 East Kellogg Boulevard. There are approximately 150,000 closed records with a total of 37.5 million pages and 98,500 open paper client files with a total of 31.6 million pages stored in the East Building.
With the move to Metro Square in early 2025, these files will need to be stored off-site as Metro Square does not have the capacity to store this volume of records. A project of this size requires a considerable amount of time and funding to complete. Funding and personnel resources to complete this work of packing, moving, and storing offsite is not available withing the current Division of Innovation and Strategy budget. When exploring possible funding sources with county leadership, utilizing $1 million of proceeds from the sale of the Ramsey County Care Center became the preferred source.
Resolution B2023-079 authorized the sale of the Ramsey County Care Center to NUWAY Alliance. Per the resolution, proceeds from the sale were placed in a holding project as a project budget in the 2023 Capital Projects Fund. Requests for use would be presented to the Ramsey County Board through the request for board action process.
There is also a need to digitize all paper files that are still within their retention period. At the end of the contract, all paper files within their retention period would be digitized. Files that reach their retention period during the project will be destroyed.
There are an additional 98,500 open paper client files with a total of 31.6 million pages. These files are currently stored in staff work areas at the Ramsey County East Building. With the move to Metro Square and the move to digitized case file management, these records also need to be digitized and loaded into the new case file management system. There are also client files stored in PDFs on secure internal network drives that will need to be loaded into the new system.
This funding request would pay some of the costs of the same vendor to pack, inventory, move, and digitize these records and would require the vendor to make the records available within 24 hours of a request so staff can continue to have access to the client information they need. Open case files would be prioritized for digitization and loading into the case file management system and closed files would be digitized either at the time that they are re-opened or within three to five years.
Only files within the required retention period are currently in storage at the East Building. Files past their retention period have been destroyed. Some files, like adoption and guardianship files, are required to be retained indefinitely. Adoption and guardianship files for people born prior to 1970 have been moved to the Minnesota Historical Society’s archives. In 2025, the files for people born in 1971 will be archived with the Historical Society and we will continue with each future year.
The total cost of this project could reach $11 million and additional funding will be needed to complete this project.
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County Goals (Check those advanced by Action)
☒ Well-being ☐ Prosperity ☐ Opportunity ☒ Accountability
Racial Equity Impact
These files must be moved off-site as the county lacks storage space of this capacity outside of the East Building. Compared to paper files, digitized records and electronic case file management will decrease time workers spend on paperwork, allowing them to spend more time with clients, the majority of whom are from ethnically and racially diverse communities. Additionally, workers jobs will be easier, and the majority of impacted staff are from ethnically and racially diverse communities.
Community Participation Level and Impact
There is no community engagement associated with this request for board action.
☒ Inform ☐ Consult ☐ Involve ☐ Collaborate ☐ Empower
Fiscal Impact
Funding up to $1,000,000 is requested for this project. In collaboration with Finance, proceeds from the sale of the Care Center were deemed the appropriate source of funds. Resolution B2023-079 approved the sale of the Care Center and authorized proceeds to be placed in a Capital Projects Fund holding Project for future needs.
Last Previous Action
On May 23, 2023, the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners approved the sale of the Ramsey County Care Center Property to NUWAY Alliance (Resolution B2023-079).
Attachments
None.