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All right, even I admit it. Sometimes the Dane County Board can be very boring.
That's why the news media likes to write about supervisors who bring lawsuits if their beer isn't served in a glass. (Hey, as long as it's cold, right?)
But paying attention to the small details can save taxpayers money year in and year out. Recently, we decided to take a close look at the county's 780 vehicles maintained by 15 different agencies ranging from the highway snowplows to the sheriff's squad cars. The audit, conducted by a third-party, non-partisan professional firm, found that "our operational costs, year after year, are driven higher than they need to be as a result of old cars and inefficient maintenance shops," to quote our chairman, Kevin Kesterson.
As the auditors, from the DMG Maximus company, said: "operating with such infrastructure may avoid amortized capital costs only at the expense of markedly greater operational expenditures each year."
Late last year, another audit showed how to save $500,000 a year on our county food service. Now our task is the implement the auditors' recommendations.
I am proud to say that I started the county's program audit function. Unlike the state's justly lauded audit bureau, Dane County has no program auditors on staff, but contracts out for them via competitive bid to acquire the specialized expertise needed for the particular subject matter at the best possible price.
In the same vein, I have been fighting to merge the city public health department with the county public health division. Those of us who live in the city pay nearly twice the tax rate for our health services than people who live outside of Madison.
Opponents of the merger (including City Health Department Director Patricia Gadow) keep talking about process rather than product, about inputs rather than outcomes. No evidence has been presented that county water is less pure, county restaurants less sanitary, or county infectious outbreaks more numerous. Instead, the anti-merger faction only counts how many dollars each spends, even though each health organization serves the same number of people.
I respectfully disagree with Mayor Bauman who, in an August 19, 1999, memo to the County Board wrote: "... in order for this (merger) process to result in a successful conclusion, it will be necessary for Dane County to commit additional resources for public health." Instead, an independent audit could teach Madison how Dane County is able to provide such excellent service for such a reasonable cost.
I am thankful that our excellent alderman, Cindy Thomas, supports my efforts to merge the two health departments.
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