2018-08-30 Cost of Government Commission minutes

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Cost of Government Commission August 30, 2018 meeting minutes DISCUSSION OF COMMUNICATIONS WITH DEPARTMENTS FOR SUBCOMMITTEE WORK Members discussed the Cost of Government Commission policy as articulated in Article V, Chapter 2, Section 5-2.1 of the County Charter. All departments should be aware of the policy. It is referenced in the memorandum to departments to explain how the Commission will carry out its work. Commissioner Arthurs expressed concern over the purview of the Commission as set forth in Article V, Chapter 2, Section 5-2.2 of the County Charter. In particular, the word “all” in “each Commission shall…(b) study and investigate the organizations and methods of operations of all departments, commissions, boards, offices and other instrumentalities of all branches of the county government…”. Commissioner Arthurs noted that the Commission may not necessarily respond to “all”. The Commission concluded that this was part of the approach. While every agency may not have been studied and investigated in detail, all were reviewed and it was determined the areas covered in the subcommittee assignments would be focused on. The Commission’s final recommendation can also include that “all” were looked at then narrowed. Commissioner McIntosh suggested this can be done in an introductory paragraph. Commissioner Jones said that she has been utilizing the memorandum that was sent from the Mayor’s office to the departments explaining the Commissioner’s approach. She has not received any pushback when making inquiries. If there are any issues in communicating with departments, let Chair Jones know. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS The Commission indicated they are compiling information from the subcommittees, they want to put forward recommendations in the final report that everyone feels good about. They will consider possible options for revenue enhancement and/or cost reduction. Commissioner Buehler provided an example that if an idea would save the County about $50K, that may not be a substantial enough reduction to spend significant time on. Commissioners discussed perhaps taking a look at any benefits and downfalls of changing to a biennial budget for the County rather than annual fiscal years. Commissioner Buehler said it is good to be mindful of the policy declaration in the Charter when formulating the final recommendations as excerpted: 2