San Diego city employees will save taxpayers more than $7 million over the next six years with new cost-cutting measures they have suggested through a new program.
The program, called San Diego Works, was launched by San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and includes dozens of money-saving ideas from city employees that improve city operations, from using cheaper envelopes to cutting library fees.
The program's goal is to introduce reforms that will make tax dollars more available for community projects and services. It aims to spur innovative ideas from city employees to reduce costs by rewarding employees for outstanding proposals.
Employees will get bonuses as large as $5,000 for participating in the program, which has already yielded 262 ideas from 550 city employees. Officials plan to use at least 100 of these ideas.
Some include revamping and eliminating trash routes, shrinking overtime shifts for maintenance workers, cutting library fines in half and reducing printing costs by using less blue ink on city stationary.
Officials estimate the plan will save the city $500,000 during the fiscal year beginning on July 1, and $1.3 million per year from 2017 through 2021 for more than $7 million in total savings.
Of the 100 accepted proposals, 55 will be implemented, eight will be enacted as pilot projects and 37 will be studied further.”
"Some of them are common sense, but it's about focusing on doing things differently - not just sticking with the way we've always done them before," Mayor Faulconer told the U-T San Diego. "I think we're just scratching the surface. And the dollars we're saving can be invested back into the libraries, rec centers and neighborhoods."
