Well, Monday was another interesting day for the "Finance" Committee.
Sometimes I wonder if anyone really cares about listening to ways to save money and provide complete accountability at the same time.
The issue of the best and most economical way to purchase uniforms for sheriff's deputies came up. Be sure to scroll down and read my post of July 10 on this.
Currently, the county writes a payroll check to each deputy and deducts taxes and retirement from the check. The annual line item cost of uniforms is about $25,000.
When you write a payroll check, you have to deduct taxes and retirement from it---that means that a check that starts out as $400 (gross) ends up being written to the deputy for about $350 (net).
Obviously, the deputy can't go out and purchase $400 worth of uniforms if he only gets $350. So the deputy loses, say $50, right at the start.
On top of that, the county taxpayers lose money because they have to pay out matching money for each employee's retirement and tax deductions.
This is a lose-lose situation. The deputy loses and the county loses.
Monday, Finance Director Nicole Epps threw out a figure of $3,300 as the amount she estimated is lost to taxes and unavailable for uniforms.
$3,300 is a lot of money to a lot of people. It doesn't have to be wasted on taxes and retirement costs. I've been pointing out an easy way to save this money for the past several months.
The solution...
1. Take bids on uniforms from several companies.
2. Specify the quality and design features that are required (material, color, care requirements, etc.).
3. Award the bid for uniforms to the company that will provide the specified uniforms at the lowest price to the county.
4. Then handle the purchase and sizing of uniforms in the most convenient way.
For example, issue "Uniform Allowance Cards" (like a store merchandise card) to each deputy. Whenever it is convenient for the deputy, he or she goes to the uniform store, gets measured, and makes his or her purchase using the Uniform Allowance Card.
Using the example above, the Uniform Allowance Card would be for the full $400. That means that the deputy who gets a $400 uniform allowance is actually able to get $400 worth of pants, shirts, etc. instead of only getting $350 worth as is done now.
or
The uniform company can come to the sheriff's department, measure all deputies, and take orders from each deputy on the spot. Again, the deputy who gets a $400 uniform allowance is actually able to get $400 worth of pants, shirts, etc. instead of only getting $350 worth as is done now.
No payroll check, no tax deductions, no retirement deductions.
Uniform dollars aren't paid out for taxes and retirement by the deputies or by the county.
The uniforms are all of the same quality and are being obtained at the lowest price available.
You know that every uniform dollar is going toward the purchase of uniforms.
It Saves Money and Provides Full Accountability.
With all this information, what did the Finance Committee do?
Commissioner Osborne moved to table the issue (put it off to another time) and the committee agreed (I voted "no"). Tabling also ended any further discussion on this issue.
If it were your money, what would you do?
Issuing a uniform allowance card (or giving the uniform store the name and amount of the uniform allowance for each deputy) takes care of the tax issue for the deputies and for the county and is designed to ensure accountability in the spending of this money!
No one could explain what's wrong with saving the deputies money, saving the county money, and knowing that every uniform dollar goes toward the purchase of uniforms at the lowest possible price.
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