The plan to reduce wasteful spending in the Columbus public works department is evidently starting to pay dividends.
The department saved $252,497 through the first eight months of this fiscal year (October through May), compared to the same period in fiscal year 2014, according to data The Dispatch obtained from city chief financial officer Milton Rawle.
Most of that savings, $142,945, is in equipment purchases. Through May 31 of this fiscal year, Rawle said the department had only purchased one piece of heavy equipment — a tractor — and had spent $42,605 on that line item. Last fiscal year, public works had already spent $185,551 through eight months on heavy equipment.
Public works saved $103,752 on supplies — including more than $67,000 on gasoline and diesel — through May. The department also saved nearly $29,000 on salaries and benefits, despite having nine more employees on May 31 (67) than it had on Oct. 1, 2013 (58).
Rawle said the salary savings came from several employees retiring after 15 to 20 years, and the city replacing them with non-experienced laborers. He said a new employee would start out making less than an employee with decades of experience. The department had not, he added, transitioned full-time positions to part-time.
Mayor Robert Smith credited the work of the city’s project management firm, J5/Broaddus, as a key force in public works’ better budget numbers. In 2014, the city council allowed J5 to supervise the public works department for nine months, during which time firm officials claimed it could save the city $1 million a year in what it considered “wasteful” public works spending. J5 took on that responsibility at no additional charge to the $90,000 annual fee Columbus already pays the firm.
During the study, J5 senior project manager Robyn Eastman said J5 personnel tracked the department’s employees and documented such things as productivity, wasted time and whether public works was using its equipment efficiently. Eastman said he ultimately recommended tighter, more accountable schedules, as well as assigning four men to a truck instead of two. He said J5 also identified surplus equipment that sold for $90,000 at auction, enough to cover the city’s annual payment to the firm.
“When we got down there, we saw that there was no real schedule,” Eastman said. “It was all kind of loose and kind of haphazard. There was no way to validate what was and wasn’t being accomplished … it’s very gratifying to hear that our work paid off and that now the department is realizing some savings.”
‘It’s a plus any way you look at it’
Yet, Eastman is sticking with his estimate that the department could cut a full $1 million in wasteful spending each year, adding that he “absolutely” felt it could trim another $750,000 this year without cutting services.
Smith agreed public works could still do better, citing specifically the department could save more by better maintaining its equipment. But he said he considered the savings already realized as a win for the city.
“There’s always room for improvement,” Smith said. “There will be other changes, but those will take time. As long as you can show savings, especially significant savings like this, it’s a plus any way you look at it.”
Both Smith and Eastman said public works director Casey Bush had been “open-minded” during the process. For Smith, he hopes that translates into sustainable efficiency in the department.
Bush did not return calls and messages for comment.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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