Commissioners review efficiency study

Weeks after the Burke County Board of Commissioners received the full report on the county program efficiency and staffing level analysis, the board sat down with the report’s authors to discuss ways to implement the recommendations.

Springsted Senior Vice President John Anzivino spoke to the board about holding community input meetings throughout the county to involve residents in the budgeting process.

In recent years, the county has already reduced spending and cut jobs because of decreasing revenue streams, Anzivino said. If the county continues to see declining revenues, it should consider if it needs to redirect resources from one service to another service that is in higher demand.

Because many departments haven’t developed baseline performance measurements, it’s hard to quantify the demand for county services, said Anzivino. One way to address that is by talking to county residents to find out what services are valued.

In the end, the budgeting process is about choices, Anzivino said. If residents are involved in that process, they’ll have a greater understanding of the choices the board makes.

“If we all understood the county has to make this amount of changes…then citizens have a better understanding of what the choices might be,” said Anzivino.

He also suggested connecting to the community through the county’s website.

Commissioner Maynard Taylor asked Anzivino and Nick Dragisich, Springsted executive vice president, about alternative options for raising revenue.

Raising service fees could help as an alternative to raising the property tax rate, Dragisich said. The study found the county is charging fees that don’t fully recover direct program costs and indirect administrative expenses.

Increased fees have become a popular way for local governments to build revenue, Anzivino said.

Dragisich said people don’t want to pay more, but if the county shows that it’s providing a good service then participants will know the cost is worth the service.

Both men added that the county should set fees at a level that is comfortable for the county.

Another option is consolidation of departments with other governments, said Dragisich. The benefits are that the county and a municipality could share the costs, but the downside is that the county risks losing control of the service.

Privatization of services is an alternative too, said Anzivino. The county already privatized vehicle maintenance.

But Anzivino warned privatizing could also mean longer wait times to fix problems.

“You’d be hard pressed to find someone who could do those services for less than what you’re doing right now,” added Dragisich.

The county could also sell assets to raise revenue, said Dragisich. Chicago sold off its parking meters for the assets, but that also meant it gave up the revenue stream.

The board did not make any decisions Tuesday regarding implementation of recommendations.

Dragisich said the report includes many recommendations, but the consulting team recognizes the county can’t address all the recommendations due to a lack of sufficient financial resources.

County Manager Bryan Steen said the meeting was the first step for the board. He will make recommendations to the board regarding implementation.

“It’s not going to be an overnight process,” board chairman Wayne Abele said. “It’s going to take us through the budget process.”

Springsted’s 119 page report includes “an analysis of the organizational structure, span of control, lines of authority, fiscal accountability, efficiency and staffing level of those agencies under the direct control of the Board of Commissioners as well as the health and social service departments.”

Major recommendations include revising the administrative organizational structure, developing a master technology plan and establishing an internal audit function.