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From Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel’s Office...
Mandel tightens money
belt
When I ran for State Treasurer I committed to continue the principled,
fiscally conservative record I built as a City Councilman and State
Representative.
I promised to conduct an immediate top-bottom review of the Treasurer’s
office in order to cut the budget, reduce personnel, consolidate
regional offices, and apply private sector business principles to
running the Ohio Treasury.
My vision for the Treasurer’s office was based on a simple principle:
If families and businesses are tightening their belts, then government
should do the same.
I’m proud to report to you that this morning, my office released a
report detailing many of the aggressive cost-savings, creative security
improvements, and wise investment strategies that have taken our
operation to a level of efficiency never before seen in the Ohio
Treasurer’s office.
This Treasurer’s office report, titled the 2011 Fiscal Year Top-Bottom
Review, outlines many of the significant improvements we’ve made to the
Treasurer’s office during the past six months.
Below are some of our accomplishments, followed by a story that
appeared in today’s Columbus Dispatch, titled “Mandel tightens money
belt: Departmental review leads to $1.2 million in savings.”
Increased the investment liquidity portfolio by $1.3 billion
Reduced our general revenue fund budget by $1.2 million over the next
biennium
Voluntarily cut and sent back nearly $400,000 that we inherited from
the previous Treasurer’s budget
Saved approximately $850,000 in salaries and benefits by eliminating 13
bureaucratic positions
Saved approximately $80,000 by stopping the practice of using taxpayer
money to purchase promotional items such as pencils, tote bags, piggy
banks, golf shirts, fans, water bottles and jar openers
Saved over $47,000 by consolidating and closing regional offices
Saved over $30,000 by shutting off unused or under-utilized phone, fax
and mobile lines
Saved approximately $10,000 by eliminating unused cellular minutes
Saved approximately $16,000 by shifting the burden of paying for
Cigarette Tax Stamps from taxpayers to vendors
Saved $15,000 annually by upgrading the website programming language
Saved approximately $8,500 per year by switching to an Ohio-based
printing vendor
Saved $2,000 by ending plant watering contracts
Helped state agencies save money by providing them with a comparison
matrix of credit card fees
Increased the security of the tax dollars we invest by upgrading the
financial software for the first time in almost 10 years
Took 180 pieces of unused electronic equipment and made them available
to state agencies and schools in order to help other government
entities save money
And finally, please take the time to read this last and truly
eye-opening cost-savings made possible by modernizing the office’s
banking practices:
When I arrived at the Treasurer’s office there was a guy who drove
checks everyday from Columbus to deposit them at KeyBank in Cleveland –
and not even in a Brinks truck! He was literally driving
approximately $234 million per month right up I-71! So I asked my
staff, “If individual citizens can do banking on an iPhone or computer,
why can’t state government?” I am proud to report that through
aggressive leveraging of technology and application of private sector
business principles, we have made this process electronic, thereby
increasing security for the taxpayers’, making money more readily
available for investment, and ultimately saving the taxpayers over
$100,000 per year.
Below is the story from this morning’s Columbus Dispatch that outlines
much of what I have described above. I hope you’ll take the time
to read it.
I remain focused on my job as Treasurer, would appreciate any feedback
you might have, and hope that I’m making you proud.
Best regards,
Josh
Columbus Dispatch...
Mandel tightens money belt
State treasurer: Departmental review leads to $1.2 million in savings
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
By Alan Johnson
Until recently, a state treasurer employee was making a round trip to a
Cleveland bank five days a week, transporting an average of $11million
a day in checks written to the state of Ohio.
No more.
By converting to electronic deposits, the state is sparing taxpayers
the cost and security risk of the weekday trips, plus an estimated
$100,000 a year savings in check-processing and related fees and by
gaining access to deposits more quickly, Treasurer Josh Mandel said.
That was one of several changes prompted by what Mandel called a
“top-to-bottom” review after his first six months in office. The report
is being released today.
The changes helped produce a $400,000 surplus that Mandel returned to
the state treasury at the end of the fiscal year on June 30. In
addition, he projected an estimated $1.2 million savings in the current
biennium.
Small change: ending a plant-watering service that cost taxpayers
$2,000 a year.
Big change: eliminating 13 jobs, saving $850,000 in salaries and
benefits.
“I know families throughout the state of Ohio are struggling,” Mandel
said. “If families and businesses are cutting back and tightening their
belts, the state can, too.
“We’re not done. We’re going to keep cutting.”
The treasurer reported saving $30,000 annually by disconnecting unused
phone, fax and mobile phone lines; $10,000 by lowering cellphone
minutes; and $47,000 by consolidating regional offices.
Mandel said he upgraded financial-investing software; encrypted
financial records and sent 180 old computers, monitors and printers to
the Department of Administrative Services for surplus sale.
His other moves included catching up on a backlog of 100 unprocessed
applications for linked-deposit loans and asking Attorney General Mike
DeWine to investigate allegations that two major banks were
manipulating foreign-currency exchange rates at the expense of Ohio
pension funds.
Mandel, a Republican, won the office last year by defeating incumbent
Democrat Kevin L. Boyce. As a likely candidate for the U.S. Senate next
year, Mandel has been roundly criticized by Democrats for focusing on
campaign fundraising instead of tending to his treasurer’s duties.
Mandel defends his time in office, saying he has been focused on his
job.
Even though he discontinued his predecessor’s practice of giving away
promotional water bottles, totes, pencils and other items - an $80,000
savings, he calculated - he spent $1,500 to mail congratulatory letters
on treasurer’s letterhead to Ohio college graduates this spring.
“I think it’s important to communicate to young people throughout the
state of Ohio and let them know there are leaders who want them to stay
here in the state,” Mandel said.
Read it at the Columbus Dispatch
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