The Fiscal Accountability and Strategy Team (FAST) put in place by Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro is projected to save the county hundreds of thousands of dollars. The effort is designed to work with fiscal staff in county departments to find cost savings and efficiencies in the government within the limited resources available.
Molinaro launched the FAST team as part of his effort to close a $40 million budget gap going into 2013.
“I believe we have identified we have identified to date in the neighborhood of $2 million in operational savings,” the county executive said. “This initiative to digitize records and to limit the amount of contracts being shared and passed around county government will save us over $100,000 annually and really speaks to the kind of savings you can wring out just by questioning the process, questioning why we do something the way we may.”
Accounts payable processing will be streamlined electronically, saving time, paper and space. The number of copies of contract originals will also be reduced from five to two and that is expected to save $25,000 annually.
“These changes add up to critical tax dollar savings, but of equal importance, these allow our employees to be more efficient with their time,” Molinaro said.
