Efficiency: Performance audit could serve city well

Published 12:00 am Sunday, July 12, 2009

In his first public business session with Vicksburg aldermen, Mayor Paul Winfield pointed out that while he has the top job, every city employee in the room knew more about the city’s day-to-day operations than he did. Candidly, he said he knows the responsibility solidly entrusted to him by voters is great and he feels compelled to learn as much as he can as fast as he can. To that end, he asked permission to pay for departmental reviews, of sorts, to help him learn the ins and outs.

Winfield didn’t use the term, but there is something called a performance audit.

Not only the mayor, but all of Vicksburg could benefit greatly from such a study, as long as useful suggestions in a final report did something other than gather dust.

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There is no doubt that while Vicksburg’s population has changed little, Vicksburg’s government has grown substantially. Twenty years ago, the city budget was less than $9 million per year. Today it’s well over $30 million. Twenty years ago, Vicksburg had about 300 employees. Today, that number has nearly doubled. There’s a lot the city does well. Training is good. Equipment is good, including the latest in computers and software. But there’s always room for improvement.

Performance auditing firms are private companies with experts in municipal government efficiency on their payrolls. Much like the team assessing precisely what Warren County needs in a new jail, performance auditors visit and conduct a comprehensive assessment of every aspect of local governance. They then write recommendations offering ideas on how to get more bang for the public buck.

A simple example would be two departments sharing a photocopier without inconveniencing either. A more complex example might be blending clerical services for fire, police and emergency medical operations.

It’s good news that the new mayor is for eliminating waste and improving services. He knows he doesn’t understand how everything works and is wise to avoid ordering reshuffling without understanding processes now in place. The point is not only to save money, but to have a more responsive, more relevant City Hall.

Aldermen Sid Beauman and Michael Mayfield voted to give Winfield the go-ahead to design a study. It should be a performance audit.