HomeMy WebLinkAbout3.j. Cost Saving Ideas
3.j.
CITY OF SHAKOPEE
Memorandum
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Mark McNeill, City Administrator
SUBJECT: Cost Saving Ideas
DATE: May 20, 2009
Comment:
Attached are cost saving ideas which resulted from seven meetings with Shakopee City
employees. We have also incorporated ideas that were generated by Scott County and
City of Savage employees, who were asked to do similar exercises.
As shown, there are a number of ideas submitted-the original number of 200 has been
pared down to 124 (due often to being unique to Scott County or Savage). Some of the
listed ideas are very doable, but others are not for practical, contractual, or financial
considerations.
Note that we have assigned each of these a ranking:
A The idea impacts the 2010 budget (in an amount can either be identified now,
or later);
B Impacts the 2010 budget, but a savings amount will not be able to be directly
identified,
C A longer term or more global benefit which does not directly impact 2010
budget.
Others of these ideas have an asterisk ( * ), which, while they result in budget savings,
would be of an amount estimated to be less than $500 per year. Finally, several ideas
show a U, which note items which have to be negotiated with the City's bargaining units.
It is not our intent to have Council debate these at the May 20th meeting, but we did want
show the many of the ideas for savings that were received from City employees.
~~U~
Mark McNeill
City Administrator
MM:cn
2010 Budget/Cost Savings Ideas
Items listed are ideas from employees, Scott County, City of Savage and others. They have been
combined/consolidated as appiicable and culled for legality or applicability to Shakopee operations.
11 Cateaorv Rank Council Amount
1 Revenue A P Bill for cost of responding Traffic Accidents
2 Revenue A P Charge for foreclosed housing inspections
3 Service level A P Close outdoor ice rinks and warming houses
4 Service level A P Close Teen Center or start charging fees.
5 Service level A P 12,000 Close Community Center on Sundays
6 Service level A P Cut PD & PW staffing for events or have sponsors pay for overtime (Derby Days, Night Out, Clean-up)
7 Train/travel A P Eliminate meeting per diems for Planning Commission
8 Train/travel A P Eliminate/reduce paid out-of-state travel
9 Train/travel A P Eliminate/reduce paid conference attendance
10 Train/travel A P Suspend tuition reimbursement.
11 Wage/Benefits A P Cost of living adjustment freeze
12 Wage/Benefits A P U Decrease Employeee Pay
13 Wage/Benefits A P One week furlough for all employees.
14 Wage/Benefits A P Reduce some or all staff hours by 10-20% or to 32-36 hour work weeks
15 Wage/Benefits A P Freeze the City's insurance contribution.
16 Wage/Benefits A P Promote existing Police Captain to Chief, and do not fill the Captain's position.
17 Wage/Benefits A P Reduce staffing in general.
18 Documents B P Reduce/change/eliminate newspaper ads for employment.
19 Energy B P U Work 4/10 hour days to conserve on energy, fuel, etc. with City's building and equipment.
20 Misc B P Offer $/mo incentive to have people opt out of health insurance coverage (e.g. $25/mo)
21 Revenue B P Add change of occupancy permit at a minimal fee. This would help to resolve zoning issues and increase fire / life
safety.
22 Revenue B P Initiate rental housing/licensing inspection program
23 Service level B P . Eliminate/reduce/change the format of special ee programs (e.g. .Picnic, breakfast)
24 Supplies B P . Eliminate plaques for retiring Board and Commission members
25 Train/travel B P Eliminate reimbursements for lunch or reduce meal limits
26 Train/travel B P Reduce mileage reimbursement
27 Wage/Benefits B P "Buyout" package for employees nearing retirement eligibility. Savings from new employees at entry
level pay
28 Wage/Benefits B P Four day weeks -for example, be open regular business hours the six months of May-October but have staff work
only 4 days a week. Staff could work 32 hours per week/but what impact on benefits?
29 Wage/Benefits B P Change sick time to Paid Time Off, and reduce number of days given per year.
30 Misc C P Get Commercial Vehicle enforcement unit up and funning--generate fine revenue from violations
31 Revenue C P Build a cell phone tower on City property and lease use of it
32 Revenue C P Change low level offenses (zoning, speeding, turn signal, etc.) to administrative fines.
33 Wage/Benefits C P Implement Hiring freeze.
34 Documents A E-mail agenda packets (Council & Board & Commissions) to in-house Staff.
35 Documents A 23,000 End printing of SNL/Messenger - only offer online
36 Documents A . Have pay stubs be paperless. Leave / pay history is available on JD Edwards timekeeping, saves envelopes and
paper.
37 Documents A 6,800 Produce Rec brochure as a PDF and email it out to residents and post it on City's website. Collect emails in 2009.,
and implement in 2010.
38 Misc A Move Engineering Dept back to City Hall, the number of staff left would fit in empty spaces.
39 Revenue A Increase Conditional Use Permit application charges and add escrows. Currently not covering costs of processing
CUPs.
40 Service level A Limit snowplowing of trails and ice rinks to save money.
41 Service level A Reduce areas to be mowed and maintained (irrigation, fertilization, etc).
42 Service level A Scale back or eliminate HVAC service agreements
43 Services A Eliminate Nextel phones and use radios in the trucks, for other than key people.
44 Services A U Eliminate uniforms for Public Works.
45 Services A Eliminate/reduce the use of consultants.
46 Services A P Lower/Suspend building/equipment rental rates for a year.
47 Services A U Have PW wash their own uniforms
48 Technology A Analyze use of software licenses
49 Technology A Reduce cell phone to one for each squad car
50 Train/travel A Eliminate/reduce paying of profeSSional dues & memberships
51 Train/travel A . Eliminate/reduce subscriptions
52 Train/travel A Eliminate/reduce training or find alternatives to traditional training
53 Wage/Benefits A Have staff empty their own garbage cans to reduce needs for custodial services.
54 Wage/Benefits A Eliminate intern positions or offer them as non-paid positions or provided stipend
55 Wage/Benefits A U Eliminate the boot allowance/uniforms (PW/Police/Rec/Facilities)
2010 Budget/Cost Savings Ideas
Items listed are ideas from employees, Scott County, City of Savage and others. They have been
combined/consolidated as applicable and culled for legality or applicability to Shakopee operations.
11 Cateaorv Rank Council Amount
56 Wage/Benefits A Eliminate the recording secretaries and have the FT. staff take on these duties (watch meetings on DVDs).
57 Wage/Benefits A U Schedule Public Works as split shifts. Half would work Monday through Thursday; other half work Wednesday
through Saturday, as four - ten hour days. The crews could rotate weeks. Would reduce OT.
58 Documents B . For meetings, e-mail all written material to participants. No print outs
59 Documents B Only use one preprinted city letterhead - customize on printing a document.
60 Energy B Turn all computers/printers/copiers etc. off at night in all City Departments.
61 Energy B Add solar panels to gov bldg for AC and possibly heat, geo-thermal, wind turbines..
62 Energy B Switch PW Superintendents and lead workers to driving lighter duty vehicles to save money on gas--currently most
drive one ton pickups.
63 Energy B . Turn off gas fireplace at Community Center
64 Energy B Install LED lighting in City parking lots/exterior lighting
65 Energy B Install occupancy sensors for lighting, reduce lighting
66 Misc B Reduce washing frequency for City vehicles
67 Revenue B Charge double permit fees more aggressively
68 Revenue B Charge nominal fee for use of the community/meeting rooms
69 Revenue B . I ncrease fees for fee-based services
70 Revenue B Charge time for building department secretary research on permits, CO's, building information, for appraisers, title
companies, etc. Most information is available for free at the counter.
71 Revenue B Increase fees for Developer's violation in Erosion Control comparable to grading area and potential environmental
impacts
72 Service level B Review lawn service needs. Explore using native grass and species vs. mowing.
73 Service level B Cut back on service levels, programs, non-priority services
74 Service level B Rely less on City Attorney for low legal risk activities
75 Services B Outsource lawn maintenance activities.
76 Services B Minimize work outsourcing that staff can do more efficient than consultants and vise-versa.
77 Services B Utilize Sentence to Serve to do more facilities and grounds maintenance.
78 Supplies B reduce fuel consumption. Limit Squad use to less than 100 miles per shift, use more stationary patrol and
building/residential checks on foot
79 Supplies B Eliminate commercial floor mats
80 Technology B Explore alternatives to Granicus web-streaming provider
81 Technology B Hiatus on new software purchases and major program changes
82 Technology B Eliminate or reduce the number of cell phones for Seasonal and full-time staff
83 Technology B Offer $/mo incentive to have people use personal cell phones for business vs. a City phone (e.g. $15/mo)
84 Train/travel B Eliminate car allowances and have all employees share City-provided vehicles.
85 Wage/Benefits B Make Crime Prevention officer position non-sworn (CSO or otherwise)
86 Wage/Benefits B Draw down leave balances
87 Wage/Benefits B Reduce use of overtime hours
88 Train/Travel B/C Require employees without city vehicles to USE a city vehicle if one is available to cut down on reimbursement
expenses
89 Documents C . Use lowest cost source for printing of letterhead, 3-part forms, envelopes
90 Documents C . Convert documents to a PDF and email to customers Fax/email receipts
91 Documents C . Create business card template, buy card stock, and print business cards in-house.
92 Documents C Continue to encourage 2-sided printing
93 Documents C Make all computers print to a photocopier by default where this hasn't been done already.
94 Documents C Reduce color printing/copying.
95 Documents C . Use hyperlinks vs. attaching documents to emails to save inbox space
96 Documents C . Work order requests via email
97 Energy C Install.energy management systems in city facilities
98 Energy C Set up and Energy Committee to analyze city facilities for cost-saving energy improvements
99 Misc C Add budget compliance measures and incentives for reducing expenditures (e.g. dept keeps % of savings for later
expenditure
100 Misc C Conduct Organizational analysis and consolidation
101 Misc C Provide City cost saving tips email box promoted to residents/employees
102 Misc C Require payment by credit card for purchases under a certain $ amount
103 Misc C Review all collaborative ventures w/other agencies & ensure costs are truly shared. Charge fees accordingly.
Review in-kind services for equity (Recreation)
105 Misc C Use a peer review process (dept to dept) to identify "fluff"/"extras" in dept budgets and eliminate them
106 Revenue C Encourage officers to cite for ordinance violations rather than state statute (when applicable)
107 Revenue C Initiate PD sponsored driving class in lieu of moving violation tickets
108 Revenue C Increase forfeitures via aggressive drug interdiction
2010 Budget/Cost Savings Ideas
Items listed are ideas from employees, Scott County, City of Savage and others. They have been
combined/consolidated as applicable and culled for legality or applicability to Shako pee operations.
11 Catellorv Rank Council Amount
109 Revenue C Rent office space out in City Hall
110 Revenue C Charge mechanical permits for finish basements
111 Revenue C Charge contractors if they destroy a monument.
112 Revenue C If Racino goes into Canterbury, ensure city costs are covered
113 Revenue C Sell advertising on electronic billboards to be placed on Blue Express busses
114 Revenue C Sell city assets
115 Services C Relook at City Atty fees,a dn reissue RFP if necessary
116 Supplies C Contract for fuel for 12-18 month periods
117 Supplies C Maximize purchasing through pooling or through state/"U"/joint contracts
118 Supplies C . Reuse paper folders and files.
119 Technology C . In the SNL, have a regular section to post "cost saving tips" provided by staff.
120 Technology C Utilize online mtg technology & conf calling vs. driving to mtgs
121 Wage/Benefits C Recruit Volunteer Coordinator to establish core group of community volunteers for use on city projects and events.
122 Wage/Benefits C Offer existing staff the option to work more hours vs. hiring new positions.
123 Wage/Benefits C Option to take court overtime as comp time
124 Wage/Benefits C Wellness program to give incentives to employees to exercise and make healthy decisions which could reduce
health insurance costs.
Rank = A impacts 2010 bUdget and can identify an amount
Rank = B impacts 2010 budget and can not identify an amount
Rank = C does not impact 2010 bUdget
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