Study on city government released

TULSA - A study that looks at ways to make the city more efficient has been released and it includes 1,100 recommendations.

The 300-page study was released during a council meeting Wednesday afternoon.

"With an estimated $18.2 million shortfall in next fiscal year's budget on top of the $11.6 million shortfall in the 2010-11 budget, we must find ways to reduce costs while continuing to provide basic, high quality services to our residents," Bartlett said. "We have outstanding employees, but some inefficient, outdated processes and programs. This report provides recommendations on how to remove those inefficiencies and better utilize taxpayer money."

Some of the recommendations include transitioning some police administration positions into civilian positions and eliminating some city services that are deemed unnecessary. Of the 1,100 recommendations, 21 will get immediate attention.

Tulsa's city auditor will provide oversight for the changes with international firm KPMG assisting with implementation.

"To lead the implementation process, I am establishing the Management Review Office, and I have asked our City Auditor, Preston Doerflinger, to lead it," Bartlett said. "Preston's business background, analytical skills and familiarity with the city and its services make him uniquely qualified to lead this effort. This office will work with employees to determine the best recommendations, establish timelines and oversee implementation of the strategic initiatives that make the most sense for our community."

Other recommendations in the report include:

• Competitive bidding on the right to lease assets, including operation, maintenance and financing of services
• Strategic elimination, reduction or suspension of some services
• Strategic sourcing of services across internal resources and external providers to convert fixed into variable costs
• Managed competition to ensure the largest savings possible
• Utilization of public-private partnerships to offset or transfer the city's investment in operating and capital costs
• Internal consolidation and development of inter-agency relationships to maximize efficiencies
• Centralization and automation of processes and leveraging of shared resources

Key findings in the report include:

• Sixty-one percent of city services are not mandated (some may be strategically aligned or provide critical support)
• Of the total services provided, 69 percent should be benchmarked for cost-effectiveness
• Sixty-one percent of services have no basis to determine if they are competitive with other private or public organizations
• Only 12 percent of services possess measurable objectives, goals or performance measures
• Many customer-service provider relationships do not appear to establish service-level expectations
• Many administrative processes are manually intense, with multiple levels of approval

"The report does recommend strategic elimination of some non-essential, non-mandated programs and services," Bartlett said. "While layoffs cannot be assured against, any conversation about reduction in workforce is very premature."

The study was paid for by the George Kaiser Family Foundation and the Tulsa Community Foundation.

No taxpayer dollars funded the study.

Click here for a link to The City of Tulsa Online to read more. Mobile users copy and paste this url, http://www.cityoftulsa.org/our-city/managing-change.aspx.