February 14, 2017 at 6:17 p.m.
Council can't duck tough decision
Editorial
Probably no aspect of local government is as misunderstood as the county council.
There are plenty of examples over the years of folks running for the job and winning election who don’t have a clue what they’ve gotten themselves into.
For the record, the council is the county’s fiscal body. It controls the purse strings. It sets budgets. And when additional appropriations are called for, it’s the council that’s charged with giving a thumbs-up or thumbs-down.
Because it approves budgets, the county council also has a hand in tough decisions like pay rates and staffing levels.
That becomes particularly important when county finances are tight — as they are now — and when some departments — like Jay Emergency Medical Service — are hemorrhaging red ink.
Admittedly, the decisions are tough. But that’s what the job entails, that’s what people ran for and that’s what they were elected to do.
All of that should be obvious.
But Jay County Council seems to need a reminder.
For the past few months, there’s been an admirable effort to get JEMS’ finances under control. Jay County Hospital has stepped up to the plate to provide some leadership and professionalism, and new director Eric Moore has been working on everything from staffing schedules to pay rates.
He’s also been working on billing problems.
Historically, the county’s emergency medical service has done a lousy job of billing and collecting for services. And while Moore has been working to bring expenditures under control, he also wants to increase revenues. It’s a pretty simple formula: Spend less, and get more money coming through the door.
Trouble is, when faced with a decision that required fiscal discipline last week, the county council went AWOL.
Moore investigated the idea of outsourcing JEMS billing. What he learned was that by contracting with an outside firm on a six percent commission basis the county would save between $30,000 and $40,000 a year even if collections stayed flat. Because the firm would be incentivized to collect more, the savings are likely to be even higher.
The switch would seem to be obvious.
Yes, two current county positions would be eliminated. But while that’s unfortunate, it’s also the way of the world.
Just ask anyone who has seen similar cutbacks in the private sector or in government. Just ask any of the Jay Schools employees who now see the words “reduction in force” in their future.
Nobody promised county council members that all of their decisions would be easy, no one said they wouldn’t face tough calls, no one said they wouldn’t have to be the bad guy once in awhile.
But, folks, that’s the job you ran for. That’s the job you were elected to do.
Anything short of that is a dereliction of duty. — J.R.
There are plenty of examples over the years of folks running for the job and winning election who don’t have a clue what they’ve gotten themselves into.
For the record, the council is the county’s fiscal body. It controls the purse strings. It sets budgets. And when additional appropriations are called for, it’s the council that’s charged with giving a thumbs-up or thumbs-down.
Because it approves budgets, the county council also has a hand in tough decisions like pay rates and staffing levels.
That becomes particularly important when county finances are tight — as they are now — and when some departments — like Jay Emergency Medical Service — are hemorrhaging red ink.
Admittedly, the decisions are tough. But that’s what the job entails, that’s what people ran for and that’s what they were elected to do.
All of that should be obvious.
But Jay County Council seems to need a reminder.
For the past few months, there’s been an admirable effort to get JEMS’ finances under control. Jay County Hospital has stepped up to the plate to provide some leadership and professionalism, and new director Eric Moore has been working on everything from staffing schedules to pay rates.
He’s also been working on billing problems.
Historically, the county’s emergency medical service has done a lousy job of billing and collecting for services. And while Moore has been working to bring expenditures under control, he also wants to increase revenues. It’s a pretty simple formula: Spend less, and get more money coming through the door.
Trouble is, when faced with a decision that required fiscal discipline last week, the county council went AWOL.
Moore investigated the idea of outsourcing JEMS billing. What he learned was that by contracting with an outside firm on a six percent commission basis the county would save between $30,000 and $40,000 a year even if collections stayed flat. Because the firm would be incentivized to collect more, the savings are likely to be even higher.
The switch would seem to be obvious.
Yes, two current county positions would be eliminated. But while that’s unfortunate, it’s also the way of the world.
Just ask anyone who has seen similar cutbacks in the private sector or in government. Just ask any of the Jay Schools employees who now see the words “reduction in force” in their future.
Nobody promised county council members that all of their decisions would be easy, no one said they wouldn’t face tough calls, no one said they wouldn’t have to be the bad guy once in awhile.
But, folks, that’s the job you ran for. That’s the job you were elected to do.
Anything short of that is a dereliction of duty. — J.R.
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