Strategic Planning: Cost Effective Committee

DATE: December 2, 2005
PLACE:
Room 213
Sauk County West Square Building

Attendance:  Jenny Erickson, Todd Liebman, Bill Wenzel, Kerry Beghin, Kathy Schauf, Carol Gasser, Steve Pate, Karna Hanna, William Orth, Joan Wheeler, Lance Gurney

Jenny Erickson called meeting to order at 8:03am
The meeting met the requirements for the open meetings law.
The agenda was adopted (Schauf/Gurney)
The Sauk County strategic planning process, goals and expectations were reviewed

The following is the summary of the brainstorming and organizing portion of the Sauk
County Strategic Planning process pertaining to the following question:

How can we provide cost effective and high quality services that are responsive to county needs?

1. Refine and utilize budget process to improve cost effectiveness of Sauk County Government.
   1. a) Evaluate and formalize budget process to ensure full participation and interaction by departments, oversight committees, administration, and budget staff.  Include guidelines for presentation of bullets to oversight committee and present to the board.
      • WHO:  Budget Committee (Kathy, Kerry, and Finance)
      • WHEN: March 2006
   2. b) Incorporate new board into the budget process and priority analysis. 
      Educate new board members (review mission, values and list County Board priorities)
      • WHO:  Administration and Board Chair
      • WHEN: April – May 2006
   3. c) Incorporate budget process into monthly oversight committee processes
      • WHO: Department Head
      • WHEN: Starting in January 2006
2. Formalize decision-making process for major issues.
3. Provide resources to support development of cost effective, high quality services.
4. Direct county departments to consider cost effective measures in terms of expenditures, policies, and legislation.
5. Utilize existing planning processes to address cost effectiveness on a countywide scale

VISIONING IDEAS

Broad based support for county government.            

POSSIBLE TECHNIQUES:

• How to major issues fit with mission of the county
• Look to St. Clare for assessment process ideas
• Oversight committees ensure programs are consistent with mission and goals
• Gather information with enough time to make a good decision
• Formalize cross committee groupings to proactively address major issues – long lasting effect on county operations
• Be more proactive – plan for 5 years ahead
• Outcomes vs outputs
• Asset mapping (with issues identified, who are the players, what is being done, gap analysis)
• Diversion/prevention programs
• Need lines of communication to feed needs to county government with feedback loop.
• Needs assessment – what do residents want?
• Leveraging resources as a part of the solution – look outside of county government
• Allow for more flexibility across non-traditional lines
• Intergovernmental cooperation and community involvement and partnerships
• Investigate and understand existing partnerships/resources to avoid duplication
• Beef up department planning during the budget process.  Plan for 5 years ahead on a department basis.  Need more specific questions on the last page of budget documents.

PARKING LOT IDEAS:

• Start with effectiveness rather than cost effectiveness.  Survey customers.
• Increase communication with the County Board on budget issues.
• What is the value of the service?  How much will it cost?  Is the value worth the cost?

THESE IDEAS ARE COVERED IN ONE OF THE THREE STRATEGIES:

• Formal process to identify major issues should include county board and department heads
• County Board should encourage departments to look outside their departments for cost sharing.
• Land use planning and economic development are the big issues
• Formalize/systemize – use the budget document as a monthly guide in committee meetings (form 1)
• Discussion on how topics reflect mission statement
• Department is the “feeler” that brings in the issue to county board
• Formalize the budget document as a monthly guide in committee meetings/mission
• County Board support through committee structure development of measures of quality and cost effectiveness in each department
• Provide resources to support development of cost-effective high quality services
• Formalize process for how county board makes decisions
• Describe the process that we currently use to assess and respond to opportunities and needs – has to be transparent
• “Needs” is not the right term

MOVED TO COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE:

(Kathy will add to County Board job description):

• County Board act as ambassadors for programs and public relations piece
• Communicate needs to residents of Sauk County – get energy from communication
• Improved public relations (separate department)
• Communications director/coordinator

Joan Wheeler, Bill Wenzel, Kathy Schauf, and Kerry Beghin will take these ideas to the County Board for approval on December 20, 2005. This group will reconvene in summer 2006 to begin to address the other major strategies identified in the planning process. The meeting adjourned at 11:57am.