COUNTY EXECUTIVE
From the Office of the County Executive
Dear Constituents:
We are now 18 months into my first term as County Executive and my administration and I are pleased to give you additional information on the aggressive attempts to keep costs down for the 285,000 taxpayers of Erie County. First and foremost, my major concern was to keep the burden of taxes off the taxpayer. With that in mind, I was pleased to submit a balanced budget with no tax increase this last fiscal year, and plan to continue this effort for the upcoming year as we continue to monitor on a daily basis the costs and expenditures of running the County each day.The following is a brief synopsis of the transparency and cost containment involving Requests for Proposals (RFP) thus far:
Department of Human Services:
On July 7, 2010, Erie County notified the Department of Public Welfare of our intent to re-procure, or re-bid, Erie County’s contract with a Behavioral Health Managed Care Organization. The previous contract was with Value Behavioral Health of Pennsylvania, and had been in place since July 2007. Erie County issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) and appointed a committee to implement the re-procurement process, and eventually selected Community Care Behavioral Health Organization as the new subcontractor. In selecting Community Care, Erie County became only the third county in the 13 year history of the HealthChoices Managed Care program to re-bid and award the contract to a new company. As a result, the following are benefits to Erie County:- The Administration’s decision to re-procure the HealthChoices contract saved Erie County $2.6 Million dollars annually.
- DPW will provide Erie County a medical budget to manage, with Community Care and Erie County Care Management, that will equal around $64,000,000 and serve approximately 55,000 eligible Erie County citizens.
- Community Care has pledged to spend an unprecedented 70% of their administrative fees here in Erie County on goods, personnel, rental space, and other services.
- At a minimum, twenty-seven (27) jobs will be created here in Erie County as a direct result of this contract: 21 at Community Care, and 6 at ECCM. Further, another existing 11 jobs will be retained at ECCM as a result of this contract and partnership.
- The proposed contract with Community Care is for one year, commencing July 1, 2011. We will negotiate a revised and restated contract with them as the close of FY 2011-2012 approaches, ideally with a longer term.
Finance Department:
The administration introduced competition into the process of selecting a local law firm to represent the County in administering the annual lien free judicial tax sale by implementing a Request for Proposals (RFP) process. This was the first time that this contract was awarded based on pricing and performance basis. The savings to the County and the taxing authorities will vary from year to year, depending on the value of the properties sold. Results from the 2010 sale would have yielded a savings of approximately $170,000.00 under the new agreement with the MacDonald, Illig, Jones, and Britton law firm.
Hotel/Motel Tax Collection
The County’s contribution to the success of the increase in hotel tax collection is the strides that have been made to collecting the tax on a timely basis and the success we are enjoying in collecting delinquent tax payments. All regular and back payments are current. Tax payments forwarded from January, 2011, through May, 2011, total $984,518.08.
The County’s contribution to the success of the increase in hotel tax collection is the strides that have been made to collecting the tax on a timely basis and the success we are enjoying in collecting delinquent tax payments. All regular and back payments are current. Tax payments forwarded from January, 2011, through May, 2011, total $984,518.08.
Personnel:
The County has successfully completed negotiations with the majority of its labor unions. It is anticipated that labor negotiations will be fully executed by the end of July, 2011.The total wages for the County in 2010 were $47,027,560.00. Assuming the 3% increase in wages, which was not received, the County saved $1,410,826.00 for 2011, and $2,863,978.00 compounded through 2012. As a result of the delay in hiring of 60 days, the County has saved $1,676,791.00 in wages and $1,853,706.00 in fringes, for a total of $3,530,497.00.
Another personnel issue has been the appointment of Patricia Kennedy as Chief Public Defender to fill position vacated by Darrell Vandeveld. Attorney Kennedy and her staff seek to maintain the quality representation of the indigent population of Erie County who are charged with crimes or face loss of liberty. The citizens of Erie County are fortunate, however, that Mr. Vandeveld decided to remain as a part time public defender. We owe Mr. Vandeveld, a decorated veteran, many thanks for his outstanding service to our country and his continued commitment to the citizens of Erie County. With the restructuring of the Public Defender’s Office, the County has saved the taxpayers approximately $33,000.00 this year.
As your County Executive, I will continue to be a watchdog for the 285,000 constituents of Erie County. I wish you all a happy and healthy summer season and as always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact my office.
Sincerely,
Barry Grossman
Erie County Executive
countyexec@eriecountygov.org