Last Updated on Thursday, 17 November 2011 18:43

Call on Astorino Administration to Join in Pursuing $5 Million Savings for County Taxpayers

The Westchester County Board of Legislators (BOL) will actively encourage and give serious consideration to cost-saving suggestions offered by County employees, said several BOL members today after meeting with a Westchester Department of Social Services (DSS) employee whose idea to avoid grant duplications could result in a yearly reduction of $5 million in combined overpayments from the County, State and Federal governments.

“Our County employees have a better understanding than anyone else of how to find savings in the various programs and processes in the departments in which they work,” said BOL Chairman Ken Jenkins (D-Yonkers). “Here is an excellent example of an individual coming up with a superb idea, and we applaud the intelligence and courage that goes along with suggestions that challenge the status quo and usual way of doing business when it comes to savings for taxpayers.”

This September, Raymond J. Perrineau III, a DSS employee, met with Jenkins and presented him with his proposal to avoid grant duplications and overpayments in social service contracts when it comes to how Con Edison bills are paid with public assistance grants. Typically, DSS has been paying the full balance of the bill, even though only a restricted portion of the bill needs to be paid. Also, individuals who no longer need assistance have their Con Ed bills paid. In both cases, reimbursement from Con Ed is either slow or dropped, depending on paperwork or client cooperation.

At a joint meeting of the BOL Government Reform, Efficiency & Savings (GRES) and Community Services (CS) Committees today, Perrineau explained how more than 7100 extant assistance and safety net cases within Westchester County can be re-budgeted to eliminate outstanding bills (which are typical overpayments) and lessen grant duplications for those on public assistance who pay a portion of their Con Ed bills. The savings created, Perrineau claimed, are substantial: $2.3 million of Federal costs; $1.9 million of Westchester costs; and nearly $800K in State costs.

Although Perrineau first showed his proposal to his supervisors, including DSS Commissioner Kevin M. McGuire, there was no interest in following up on the idea. Perrineau sent the proposal to the County Executive’s attention, and again he was met with silence.

BOL Chairman Jenkins then received Perrineau’s report, and it was put on the last BOL meeting agenda on October 17 as a communication.

“The County Executive has repeatedly called for suggestions and ideas from County employees that will save money and resources that our taxpayers fund, and yet here is a proposal that no one in the Administration wants to take action on,” said Legislator Alfreda Williams (D-Greenburgh), chair of the BOL CS Committee. “We all know the County is going through challenging economic times, but we should first look at cost-cutting solutions without simply cutting vital programs or severely reducing service levels.”

Legislator Lyndon Williams (D-Mount Vernon), co-chair of the BOL GRES Committee, added: “The Board of Legislators stands ready to work with the County Executive and the department heads to save taxpayer dollars everywhere we can. There are probably hundreds of other good suggestions among County employees regarding cost-cutting and consolidation of services, all of which should be encouraged and examined.  The Astorino Administration should not allow politics to get in the way of the free flow of ideas and suggestions from County employees that could save taxpayers money.”
Perrineau informed the BOL members at today’s committee meeting that he has been singled out for possible discipline by his superiors at DSS for bringing his cost-saving idea to the Board of Legislators.

“Reprimanding Mr. Perrineau will only serve as a deterrent to other County employees wishing to help save the taxpayers’ money,” said Legislator MaryJane Shimsky (D-Hastings-on-Hudson). “This is not the way to make our county government more cost-effective and efficient.”