County In Hot Pursuit Of Savings Every Department Must Justify Every Expenditure To Commissioners
The purchasing department wants to study software in Seattle. The animal control shelter wants a Costco membership. And the people who give civil service tests say they need a fax machine.
One by one, the heads of county departments are marching into the commissioners’ office to lay down their requests for 1998.
The process likely will leave many of them dissatisfied.
Hoping to build the county’s dangerously low reserve fund, commissioners are looking more deeply into department budgets than they have in recent years.
Whether they have budgets with five figures or eight, department heads can expect commissioners to question the smallest detail.
No one knows how much the county will have to spend in 1998. The general fund this year topped $85 million.
Saving a few hundred here and there will help build the reserve account, which is less than $2 million, said Commissioner Kate McCaslin, who uses an accountant’s ruler to scan each line of each department’s proposed budget.
“I just know intuitively that in an organization this big, if you go line item by line item, there’s money to be saved,” she said Monday.
Last week, commissioners met with officials from the county print shop, civil service commission, purchasing department and assessor. Before the process is done, they’ll have 28 such meetings - each a half-hour to an hour - saving the biggest budget hits for last.
McCaslin’s ruler will scan the most lines on Oct. 23, when Sheriff John Goldman comes to visit. This year, Goldman’s share of the general fund is about $26 million, including the cost of running the jail. His is the biggest budget of any department.
If last week’s meetings are any indication, Goldman may need more than an hour.
Commissioners told purchasing director Don LeBrecque there’s little chance they’ll spend $1,200 to send him to Seattle.
“If it were that expensive, I’d never go to Seattle,” said Commissioner John Roskelley.
LeBrecque explained that the request was just an estimate, and that the money probably would pay for several trips for several of his staff, rather than just one. Knowledge gained through the trips will lead to savings later, he said.
“Go back and take another look at that and resubmit it,” said McCaslin. “Obviously that needs to be adjusted.”
An hour later, McCaslin questioned the head of the civil service commission about her request for a fax machine.
She was satisfied when Joy Fitzsimmons explained that without the machine, confidential information about job applicants is faxed to the prosecutor’s office down the hall, then hand-carried to her office.
But McCaslin was less sympathetic to Fitzsimmons’ request for a new computer to replace one that’s slow and can’t handle e-mail.
Along with their requests, department heads are required to submit “performance standards” that can be used as quantifiable proof that the county is getting its money’s worth.
The department of veterans assistance, for instance, is vowing to help 3,800 veterans and their families in 1998 compared to 3,750 this year.
Small Animal Control intends to sell 2,000 more licenses.
Treasurer Linda Wolverton says her staff will answer the phone 90,000 times.
Departments that don’t make their goals will have a tougher time when they come to commissioners with 1999 requests, said county administrator Jim Lindow.
, DataTimes