S ome people have questioned my decision to hire an expert company at a cost of $260,000 to conduct an organizational efficiency and effectiveness study.

This study was a requirement of the citizens committee which met last year to make recommendations to the city of Spokane about how we might balance our budget, which we are required to do each year.

That committee ultimately recommended a property tax levy lid lift, which voters approved, and an increase in taxes on city-owned utilities.

The citizens committee recommended those tax increases on the condition that the city engage in a comprehensive staffing, organizational and management study.

We need to honor this promise, and I believe that the city will benefit greatly by asking an organizational expert to evaluate how effectively we’re providing service and value to our citizens.

By the numbers, the city of Spokane is one of the largest organizations in our community. We have 200,000 customers, 2,000 employees and a half-billion-dollar annual budget.

Our services are critical, from fire fighting and police to providing clean drinking water and picking up garbage to planning for growth and providing parks, pools, libraries and youth activities.

With much on the line, we have managed serious budget challenges over the last several years. I would argue that the city’s problem isn’t overspending since we’ve made serious cuts in our general fund budget, reduced our work force and held the line on operational costs with only a 1.9 percent annual rate of growth. All you have to do is look at your home heating bill or the price of gasoline to appreciate this modest increase.

Some things are simply outside of our control – like the rising cost of health insurance, which has posted double-digit increases for years. We’re asking our employees to share in this growing expense.

Over time, the city’s revenues have eroded due to the elimination of the motor vehicle excise tax, lost interest income and declining federal and state dollars.

But the services we provide are still in demand. Even with declining resources we continued to find ways to provide the good services to our citizens, sometimes by asking employees to do more with less. In certain cases the city previously accommodated our employees in ways that cannot be sustained, given our continued financial concerns.

While we were able to balance the city’s budget for 2006 and 2007, the 2008 budget weighs heavily on our minds, with the possibility of a deficit as large as $10 million to $12 million.

As I took office, I outlined three priorities for my tenure. One is particularly relevant to this discussion: To provide outstanding, affordable service to our citizens and secure the city’s financial stability.

That phrase – “secure the city’s financial stability” – doesn’t mean a short-term fix. We must have a strategy for the long term, and that may mean difficult and perhaps unpopular decisions, reorganizations and other change.

So we have initiated this study and understand what lies ahead. Spending money on this study is only defensible if there is an unwavering pledge to take its recommendations seriously and to implement them. That is the commitment I make to the citizens of Spokane – as has the Spokane City Council.

Why use an outside expert? Every day, we work to provide excellent service, ensure we are giving value to our citizens and use best practices. We constantly re-evaluate what we do, but there’s still room for improvement. The firm we selected assists cities in this process in Washington and elsewhere in the nation. We expect insightful observation and strong recommendations from them.

In the interest of providing transparency and accountability for citizens, it is important – no, it is imperative – that we have someone with an outside perspective look at how we do our business and how we spend the resources generously given to us by our citizens.

This study is an investment in providing solutions for the city’s future and I believe the return on that investment will save us money in the long run. We have before us a unique opportunity to make lasting and sustainable change and to provide even better service to our citizens, and we ought to broaden our thinking to include better analysis and new solutions to ensure our success.