County Officials Eye Initial $7.5M Savings in Shared Services Plan
A panel will meet to vote next Thursday on a reworked shared services plan that projects savings of $7.5 million next year and up to $27 million in recurring savings in several years.
Details of the updated plan were announced Tuesday afternoon by the county’s Director of Operations Emily Saltzman and other officials during a public hearing at the White Plains Public Library. The savings would be generated by potential efficiencies in eight areas, Saltzman said.
County Executive George Latimer decided to resubmit the Westchester County-Wide Shared Services Plan because officials believed they could find more savings than the estimated $2.13 million for the first year in the initial plan submitted to the state in 2017. Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation creating the Shared Services Initiative that asks counties to submit a cost-saving plan.
Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins said with fiscal pressures mounting, exacerbated by the uncertainty of whether the state will be able to circumvent the new $10,000 limit in state and local tax deductions, finding savings is essential.
“With the IRS’s recent decision and guidance on the SALT deductions, Westchester County is bracing for a bit hit,” said Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins. “So we’ve got to continue to work together and create solutions to reduce the tax burden. We must think outside the box and let go of our old mentality and holding onto geographic lines.”
The eight changes that will be presented to municipal officials across the county next week are creation of an online shared services portal for a potential first-year savings of $2.3 million that would help municipalities see where they could hook up to share with other towns; digitizing electronic records management, which would centralize an electronic storage of records, saving an estimated $100,000 in 2019; creating a centralized contract for technology and IT services at a potential $1 million cost savings next year; regional management of tax assessment and billing for a $1.8 million savings; and enhanced energy efficiency programs and shared school resource officers saving $1 million each.
Two other proposed service sharing initiatives – consolidating justice courts and a county-wide health consortium – is not expected to yield savings the first year but could save several million dollars each down the road, Saltzman said.
“It’s actually what the county would save in a year if all of these things were to happen and were undertaken by the municipalities,” Saltzman explained of the projected figures.
The plan must be received by the state no later than Sept. 15 and presented to Westchester residents by Oct. 15, she said.
Latimer said the effort is only a start. Some difficult decisions may have to be made by municipal leaders, which could require relinquishing control of certain operations or taking on more responsibility, he said.
“We have to figure out do we change, do we adapt or do we continue to grow or we do shrink because we’re not ready to make these changes,” Latimer said.
An incentive to file and execute a shared services plan is the $225 million in state matching funds that will provide money to the counties equal to the dollars saved, Jenkins said.
Feedback from municipal and school officials who attended the hearing was generally positive, although there was some frustration regarding statutory limitations on certain types of service sharing and that those local governments and school districts at the forefront of shared services will not receive matching funds for previous efforts. However, any expansion of previous service sharing would be count.
“I am actually happy that this is happening,” said Yonkers Board of Education Trustee Edgar Santana. “I think it’s long overdue. If we don’t face the reality that we don’t save and cut costs we’re heading off a cliff.”
Scarsdale Mayor Dan Hochvert said it doesn’t bother him that his village will not receive reimbursement from past efforts because residents have already reaped the benefits.
“I don’t feel bad that we’ve been sharing services for years because we have been saving money for years,” Hochvert said.
“I love the process,” Pleasantville Superintendent of Schools Mary Fox-Alter added. “Congratulations, I love being part of the conversation and we look forward to the next steps.”
Westchester’s proposed shared services plan will be presented to representatives of all of the county’s municipalities on Sept. 6 at the County Center.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/