We have weathered two years of tax reform that was intended to slow local government spending. Those impacts are permanent---forever reducing the revenue available to provide the mix of services countywide, as well as those specific services for unincorporated county.

We have met that challenge with tens of millions of dollars of spending reductions each year with only limited reduction in services and service levels – and we maintained our AAA bond rating from Standard and Poor’s through our strong financial discipline.

We now face a challenge from a different direction – an economic disruption unlike any that we have faced in our careers. Fortunately, it is not permanent but its depth and duration are uncertain. As you will hear today, our revenues will again be reduced; yet, we face expectations from County residents that we retain services to the greatest extent possible. We do not have the option of failure and we cannot allow short-term actions to result in long-term implications.

Since I became your County Administrator, I have encouraged innovation by County departments to cut costs whenever possible without noticeable impact on service delivery. In our first biennial budget, we captured $17 million in efficiencies – most of which provide continuing savings. In our current biennial budget, we captured an added $12 million in savings.

As we tackle our financial challenges in this upcoming biennial budget, I am continuing to focus on reducing costs rather than simply reducing services or using short term strategies that are inconsistent with our responsibility to maintain our position to meet future needs.

This budget session will require courage.

And, this budget session will require ingenuity at every level. Recently, I received a letter from Tax Collector Doug Belden who met with two employees from Health and Social Services, Audrey Eonda and Maria Gillis. By working together and sharing resources, they discovered that our Indigent Health Care notices could be mailed more timely and at a much lower cost. Never mind artificial office boundaries that the public cares nothing about anyway. Coming together and solving a problem for the public’s good…that’s something for which we should all commend Tax Collector Belden and Ms. Eonda and Ms. Gillis.

We must find new approaches that are cross-organizational, cross-jurisdictional and innovative. Often, those who work closest to the source know best how to fix it. For that reason, I am unveiling a countywide employee efficiency program….to gain as many efficiency ideas to test and put to work as possible. No idea is too small….and no idea is too large to pursue. We must all be about the business of going back to basics and suggesting efficiencies. They will all be collected online, by telephone hotline, and in writing for consideration in the Dollars Make Sense Program. (POSTER ON EASEL)

Now is not the time to shrink. It is a perfect time to re-evaluate our business processes and find improved practices that save money, staff time and resources. The Dollars Make Sense initiative will be promoted throughout the organization every day in order to seek everyone’s assistance and input. Commissioners, your County employees want you to know they stand with you in doing their best to find ways to keep this County strong and in taking care of its citizens.