by David Chapman
Staff Writer
In mid-March, Council President Jack Webb formed an ad hoc committee devoted to finding ways to savings within the City budget with a goal for $60 million — the size of the budget deficit at the time.
Tuesday, the three-Council member group concluded its scheduled meetings and while no concrete savings were identified, its results will form a “road map” for both the Finance Committee and other budget-devoted committees in the near future, said Stephen Joost, Council vice president and chair of the ad hoc committee.
The committee consisted of Joost and Council members Bill Bishop and Warren Jones and spent its final meeting discussing potential “action items” of previously identified issues to submit for focus. With the time provided for its review, Joost said the focus was on central operations instead of a wide-ranging overview of the budget.
Council Auditor Kirk Sherman went over a list Tuesday of current issues all previously mentioned in prior meetings for final discussion and possible inclusion in a findings report due to Webb by June 1.
They included issues within fleet management, the City’s Information Technology Department, Copy Center, Office of General Counsel, Human Resources and Procurement Division among others.
Issues such as mileage anomalies of close to 400 take-home vehicles and City purchasing overview were included as “actionable,” said Joost, who said the list would have around 15 items for further review. But, even when further vetted, Joost said the list shouldn’t go away and when one item is completed and removed, another should be added.
Potentially in line to become the next Council president, Joost said if elected he would continue the committee’s work next year.
“We’re going to keep this process going,” said Joost. “We’ve got to keep chipping away at it.”
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