The state auditor has some excellent suggestions which will save millions of dollars.
In his letter explaining the performance audit, Sonntag noted that state agencies mailed more than 66 million letters, postcards, and other documents in 2010 at a cost exceeding $30 million. That’s a whole lot of correspondence – more than $25 million in postage costs alone.
Sonntag said that agencies can take advantage of more modern technology such as email and in the process sharply reduce the number of mailings. Lawmakers can also change outdated state laws that require notification via mail.
These are terrific suggestions that lawmakers and state officials should enact.
Sonntag said, “We share the agencies’ commitment to clear communication and we know they cannot reduce or eliminate all mailings. But we found instances in which agencies are asking the right questions and making good decisions to reduce costs without restricting the flow of information. We think all state agencies should investigate these opportunities.”
Again, great suggestion.
Sonntag’s audit pointed to two agencies that have made significant strides to save tax dollars.
The state’s Employment Security Department, for example, has saved $1.2 million by directly depositing jobless workers’ unemployment checks. And the Department of Social and Health Services reportedly saved $2.8 million by replacing paper medical benefit coupons with a magnetic card. Sonntag said, “In these and other cases, agencies can use savings to improve services or cushion the impact of budget cuts.”
That’s wise stewardship of public tax dollars.
Four agencies in state government account for a lion’s share of the high-volume mailings in the state, according to auditors. Employment Security sent 21.4 million pieces of mail in the sample year, followed by the Department of Social and Health Services (18.2 million pieces), the Department of Licensing (9.7 million pieces) and Department of Labor and Industries (8.3 million pieces). The other agencies of state government accounted for just 13 percent of the mailings – 8.9 million letters, postcards and other correspondence.
Auditors found a surprising disconnect between what agency managers believe they are required to send via the U.S. mail system and what laws and regulations actually require via mail.
“Neither state nor federal laws nor state regulations require mailings for most of the high-volume mailings we analyzed,” Sonntag said. “In many cases the law requires the agencies to inform their customers, but does not require them to mail printed documents.”
Audit details show that agency administrators said they were required to mail 80 percent of their correspondence. When checking regulations, however, auditors found that mail notification was only required in 26 percent of the high-volume correspondence.
Auditors said in more than half the high-volume mailings the laws require agency officials to “provide” the information, not necessarily mail it through the Postal Service. Twenty percent of the high-volume mailings analyzed by auditors provided information the agencies were not required to deliver in any form.
Auditors put forth a handful of sound recommendations:
• Have the Department of Enterprise Services help agencies evaluate their mailing policies with an eye toward saving mail volumes and costs.
• Seek other forms of communications such as email for correspondence that is not required to be delivered via the mail system.
• Review relevant mailing requirements.
• Report the results of mail reduction efforts.
• Lawmakers can remove from all state laws the requirement that notices be mailed.
Those are solid recommendations that should be embraced.
Much of the correspondence sent from state agencies is critically important to clients and citizens. Auditors are not recommending that communication cease, just that the state can save significant dollars by using advanced technology and other delivery systems to provide the necessary information.
Isn’t that what taxpayers expect from their institutions of government?
