Roy Maynard: Early Returns

It’s so easy — and oh so fun — to point out the fiscal foibles of government. According to groups such as Citizens Against Government Waste, silly spending practices abound, with a record $17.6 billion in pork spending this year.

Last week, for example, I made fun of the nearly $1 million spent per year for “Alaskan berry research.” And for the record, I received numerous emails from people informing me that berries do indeed grow in Alaska. I even received a link to www.alaska-wildberryproducts.com, the inter-net home of jams, jellies and other reportedly delicious products. I’m still in favor of sending government berry scientists out into wilderness areas in search of those alleged wild berries. At least they’d be doing something useful, and potentially assisting the threatened polar bear population in the nutrition department.

But it’s also easy to overlook instances of the government doing something right.

On Friday, the Smith County Purchasing Department held a reception for other governmental entities — cities, emergency service districts and neighboring counties — to launch a cooperative purchasing project.

The driving force behind the project is Purchasing Director Kelli Davis, who says that standardizing specifications and making purchases in bulk will save everyone money.

Arp Mayor Jamie Morgan attended Friday’s reception, and he spoke about how tight municipal finances are these days.

“We try not to buy anything we don’t have to,” he said.

Troup City Administrator Russ Obar agreed. “We hope you can help save us money, and maybe we can help save you money.”

The principle is sound; buying in bulk means lower prices. That goes for most things cities, counties and other taxing entities need, from paper clips to diesel fuel.

“Is there anyone here who doesn’t need to save money?” asked Smith County Commis-sioner JoAnn Fleming in Friday’s reception. “All of our constituents are looking at their own budgets, saying what can we cut out and what can we get a better price on? We must do the same.”

Ms. Davis says the savings can be significant. For example, Smith County will spend $94,538 in fiscal year 2008 on vehicles. But if the vehicles were bought in volume, the county could save about $1,000 each. That would add up to a savings of $85,000 over five years.

Officials point out that as oil prices rise, they’ll be looking for any savings on petroleum products they can find. That’s not just gasoline and diesel; it’s also oil sand and asphalt for road repairs.

Smith County’s Roadmap calls for intergovernmental networking, streamlining and efficiency. The cooperative purchasing project aims to achieve all three. It’s a great example of government doing it right.

Early Returns is the political observations column of staff writer Roy Maynard, who can be reached at 903-596-6291 or at roymaynardtmt@gmail.com.

Roy Maynard
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