Taking care of a sizeable hole in the Ohio budget will mean changing the way the state operates, said State Representative Todd Snitchler at a March 4 town hall meeting at the Lake Community Library.
That change for the state could come in the form of two proposals currently at the state House of Representatives: HB25, which would consolidate state agencies and HB65, which would require performance audits of state agencies.
“We want to be better at managing our tax dollars,” said Snitchler. “We have less tax dollars than we’ve had in the past and as a result, there are fewer dollars that we’re trying to stretch around the state. We’ve got to find different ways to address the problems that we’re facing.”
One way to “find money” is to try to look at the state government through the eye of business principles, he said.
“Government doesn’t run like a business, and that’s partly true, but if we apply some business principles to government I think we’d be shocked at how much money we will probably be able to save,” he said.
Ohio could stand to become more efficient simply by consolidating the state departments, from the current 23 to nine potential departments in the HB 25 plan, said Snitchler. Between that and the performance audits proposed in HB65, the state could look at each of those departments and see if the resources are being used effectively. If not, they could be moved elsewhere, he said.
“We also want to look at lowering the cost of government in general,” he said. “We clearly have an income problem.”
The biggest way to reach that level of efficiency is by statewide performance audits, according to Randy Cole, director of audit services and technology for Mary Taylor, Ohio auditor of state. The department has started doing performance audits for state entities and local government services recently.
“We have an all-time high number of local governments who are under fiscal watch and fiscal emergency,” said Cole. “We are using a performance audit to help them create a financial plan for a long-term solution.”
The overall goal of the performance audits for local government is to keep boards from needing to go back in front of taxpayers with levies and more taxes, he said.
The department completed a performance audit of the state Medicaid system, setting goals and creating lists of projects that would save the program money. Under the authority of the Ohio Revised Code, the department has begun an investigation of the Ohio Lottery Commission, making certain that “the maximum amount is going to the kids,” he said.
A performance audit begins with the creation of a scope and goals for a department, collecting information and determining the intention of the program as well as those involved. They inspect manuals to see that the best practices are being used and that they are used throughout the department, he said. Overall, they’re looking for two things: program effectiveness and efficiency.
“We go in and we look at the program and we look at the numbers,” he said. “It’s very similar to going to a doctor’s office. You don’t always get the news you want, but you get the news you need.”
As far as streamlining Ohio government, Cole said the audits will allow the state to find out what’s working and what needs to be cut.
“It is time to go back to zero with some of what we do,” he said. “Let’s figure out what we need and what it costs to provide it and go from there.”
Speaking to the use of the performance audit, Daryl Revoldt, North Canton city council president, said the city turned to Cole’s department while “facing the very real consequences of the departure of the Hoover company.”
While some called for the raising of taxes, the average family of four in North Canton remained a paycheck away from financial disaster based on census statistics, he said.
“Before we went to the taxpayers, we had to have a better handle on how we operate this city,” he said.
Using suggestions from the audit and examples from other cities, the council pushed past traditions of how jobs were traditionally accomplished to find some more economical practices. They renegotiated deals, deleted costly requirements from labor contracts including the right of first refusal, slowed the rates of raises for safety forces and replaced lieutenants in the police force with less-expensive sergeants.
The audit cost the city about $60,000 and spread over six months.
“That’s a pretty good explanation of the value and importance of responsibility really to manage our government in ways that provide efficient services as much as possible,” said State Representative Ron Amstutz.
The call for change in state government is at its strongest right now, with tax revenue dropping 12.2 percent last year and costs growing, he said.
“We are at a unique period in time,” Amstutz said. “We can’t just keep going on business as usual here.”
Currently, the state has been able to delay some spending until the next fiscal year’s budget in 2011, he said, but buying time now creates a larger hole to fill in the future.
