Saving $3,000 in the procurement of dairy products for cafeterias in the city schools and the juvenile detention center may not sound like much. But, it’s a step toward consolidating services and the purchase of supplies that can save tax dollars at a time when those dollars are becoming more and more scarce.
Members of City Council and the School Board got together last month to talk about new ways they can consolidate their operations to save money. It’s a smart step toward making government more efficient.
Representatives from both bodies said changes that have been made are bringing about the desired goal of stretching public dollars. But several pressed for more aggressive action on proposals that could generate significantly greater savings. Combining health care plans and merging parallel positions drew the most attention.
The city now handles procurement duties for the schools, a change that has been made since talks began last spring. Switching to the city’s credit card provider to take advantage of a rebate program is expected to save another $18,000 or so on an annual basis.
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The one area that council members have been nudging school officials toward is the possibility of high returns that consolidating health benefits would bring. Personnel costs represent a majority of the operating expense for both the city and the schools. Merging health benefits alone, according to projections from city staff, could produce six-figure savings.
Vice Mayor Bert Dodson raised the health benefits proposal when he said, “If we’re talking about bigger fruit on the tree, this is bigger fruit in my opinion.” He’s right about that.
But when the subject was first broached several years ago, significant differences in the health benefits plans for city and school employees prevented any serious consideration of attempting to bring them all under one provider.
Both sides say they see the cost-cutting benefit in making a change now, but still must decide which parts of whose plan will be kept. The earliest such a switch in health plans could be made is October 2010, when each organization’s current contracts with their respective providers will expire.
Councilman Jeff Helgeson suggested that in light of the tough economic times the city and the schools should be prepared to lay off some people to consolidate duplicate jobs.
City staff members said they are looking at that possibility. But they cautioned that combining jobs has not proven as easy as once thought because eliminating some people means increasing the workload for others with limited or no potential increase in efficiency or productivity.
School Board member Keith Anderson worried about layoffs that would affect families and the effectiveness of operations for both the city and the schools. But he said he was glad officials were discussing these difficult subjects in an effort to try to make government more efficient.
And that, after all, is what city and school officials want to achieve. The effort has begun with small steps. With careful talks along the way, those steps could lead to substantial savings in the cost of city government.
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