iowa charter agencies
Charter agencies are saving Iowa money
DES MOINES (AP) - State departments that chose to become charter agencies and reinvent the way they operate in exchange for more freedoms are showing big savings, Iowa officials said.
For example, the Iowa Department of Revenue brought in nearly $1.2 million more over the past year. It boosted its revenue by $533,186, mainly through increased audits, and it saved $645,255 by reducing interest payments on tax refunds.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources saved $38,281 by replacing contract employees with 15 full-time positions. The move also eliminated supervisor duplication.
Charter agencies are "showing the way for agencies to do things in less bureaucratic ways, to be more entrepreneurial, to produce better results for Iowans," said Jim Chrisinger with the Iowa Department of Management, which oversees state agencies.
Iowa's six charter agencies are part of the state's reinvention plan, introduced last year. The performance-based program focuses on results, with an emphasis on better serving Iowa taxpayers.
Promising to forgo some state funding, capture more savings or earn more revenue, charter agencies asked in return for more flexibility and freedom from mandates.
During this year's legislative session, charter agencies won even more freedom, including the ability to approve out-of-state travel, convention participation and professional memberships.
The state's charter agencies are: the Iowa Veterans Home; the Alcoholic Beverages Division; Corrections; Natural Resources; Revenue; and Human Resources. Together, they've pledged to save the state $15 million.
The Revenue Department reached its goal of saving $1 million by adding five staffers to help conduct more audits and speed up refunds, said Don Cooper, compliance division administrator for the agency.
"After having two or three years of quite a bit of budget reductions . .. the opportunity to get additional staff back was pretty positive from our standpoint," he said.
Next year, he said, the department will try to top $1.5 million
in savings.
He said the Alcoholic Beverages Division was about $3 million over its savings target. The agency was working to change the way it prices liquor, using a variable markup to boost profits and reduce the price of premium liquors.
The Iowa Department of Human Services helped boost Medicaid funding to schools, from $4.26 million in fiscal 2003 to $5.35 million last year, Chrisinger said.
After spending $3.2 million for prescription drugs for inmates last year, the Iowa Department of Corrections is working to save taxpayers money on medicines. Instead of using a single provider, the department is now submitting bids to multiple public- and private-sector providers.
Another recent example, Chrisinger said, was when a Corrections Department employee hit a deer with a state vehicle. Normally it would have taken eight months to get the car replaced, but because of its charter agency status, the department was able to buy a car in about two days.
"It's just evidence they're really able to slice through the red tape and get things done," he said.
Sen. Maggie Tinsman, R-Davenport, a member of the Senate State Government Committee, said at first there was hesitation by some lawmakers that they were giving charter agencies carte blanche.
"There was a fear there was not enough oversight," she said.
However, Tinsman said the agencies appear to be doing exactly what they were supposed to do.
"The whole idea," she said, "was to give them some latitude to
see what kinds of savings they could come up with on their own
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