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From Governing’s
Grading the Counties introductionFebruary 2002 issue
THE GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE PROJECT
Report Card:
It is a situation that residents have grown used to, but it is also inefficient and very expensive in an area that prospered only modestly even in the boom years of the 1990s. County Executive Joel Giambra has dedicated himself to promoting regional government and has openly called for a merger between Erie County and the financially troubled city of Buffalo, although few have joined him in supporting that step so far.
In the meantime, Giambra is looking for smaller efficiencies he can create through his own administrative authority. The jail and sheriff’s department holding centers have been folded into one, for example, effectively eliminating a double booking process for detainees. Several other county departments have been consolidated, and a countywide study, expected out later this year or early in 2003, will recommend additional changes to root out duplicative efforts. “The public is aware of the high cost of government and they’re happy to hear government officials want to do something about it,” says County Comptroller Nancy Naples.
Still, she acknowledges, Giambra’s plans don’t thrill everyone. Unions, fearful of job cuts (justifiably, in many cases) have pushed against major consolidation. Couple the merger plans with the fact that the unions haven’t had much experience with the Giambra administration — it’s only about two years old — and strained labor relations are inevitable. The county has had some success in introducing mediation to one union, but others have resisted the effort.
The previous county administration placed an artificially tight ceiling of $20 million on annual bonding, which kept debt levels low but also prevented local infrastructure from getting proper maintenance. The current government supports borrowing whenever it can be justified, particularly for capital improvements. “In the past, there was no real effort toward assessing capital needs,” says Public Works Commissioner Maria Lehman. “It was a knee-jerk reaction to the crisis of the hour.” Erie County’s annual capital budget has grown from about $30 million in 1999 to $80 million in 2001.
Positives: Unit cost accounting used in countywide efficiency audit; thorough reporting on local impact of state legislation; good investment and debt policies; low overall debt; good use of technology to manage cash and investments; new financial system with improved forecasting abilities; frequent use of master contracts.
Negatives: County dipped into reserves to balance budget for last five years; no formal rainy day fund, although sufficient reserves generally kept; state’s budget delays hamper county fiscal processes; no formal procurement training; county lags in e-procurement.
Positives: Current administration increased capital budget from $30 million to $80 million; projects generally on time and on budget; facility-condition assessments under way after years with little data collection; increased attention to life-cycle costs; active outreach to citizens in capital-planning process; multi-year plans for road, park and bridge maintenance under development.
Negatives: $600 million maintenance backlog for roads and bridges; no estimate of maintenance backlog for facilities; capital improvement plan needs better long-term perspective; project management software needs updating.
Positives: County beginning middle-management needs assessment; consolidating 17 technology job titles into five; schedule flexibility available to employees; hiring at higher salaries for difficult-to-attract mental health employees; ad hoc personnel reports available from IT system; alternative dispute resolution used successfully with one union.
Negatives: Long-range personnel planning weak; labor relations somewhat strained, particularly by administration’s efforts at consolidation of departments; sizable grievance backlog; each department responsible for its own performance appraisal policies; little centralized training for front-line employees; supervisory training encouraged but not mandated; recruitment, comprised largely of job postings, lacks sophistication.
Positives: Department-level strategic planning and outcome measurement conducted; several countywide efficiency audits under way; effective informal public communication; quality of outcome data improving; annual performance report issued; county legislature uses some performance data.
Negatives: No countywide comprehensive strategic plan; measurements aren’t linked to budgeting, but should be in 2003; IT systems unable to collect performance data countywide; comptroller’s office lacks adequate staff to follow systematic audit cycle.
Positives: Agency IT directors meet monthly to set countywide policy; IT strategic plan updated annually; executive steering committee analyzes large technology projects; IT staff training increased during past two years; good support from executive and legislature; county constructing centralized GIS for western New York region, including towns and villages.
Negatives: No written procurement standards, although all technology purchases approved by central IT department; informal post-implementation analysis, with formal process planned only after integrated system installation; multiple e-mail systems; Web site doesn’t offer two-way transactions to citizens.
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ust as Buffalo residents dress in multiple layers to withstand the cold and snowy climate, surrounding Erie County has draped itself in multiple governments providing a sort of security blanket of jobs and bureaucracy. Every Erie citizen lives within a network of at least seven separate governments or quasi-governmental institutions, often including a school district, fire district, housing authority, soil and water district, the county’s industrial development agency, and the regional transportation authority. Some have to deal with as many as 12 different entities.