We’re a P.I.E. Winner!

I know I’ve spent the last several weeks talking about the different reasons we can’t reduce budgets so I feel it is necessary to tell you that we are working diligently to always find ways to be efficient and save money.  

Recently the Auditor of State, Rob Sand, stopped in Franklin County to present us with a P.I.E Award.  P.I.E. stands for Public Innovations & Efficiencies.  This is a survey that is sent to all schools, cities, & counties in the state to complete annually.  It is a way for us to see ways we are being efficient and find areas that we can improve upon.  

We were awarded the Best Performing County of Its Size for 2024.  This is exciting in many ways because it shows the effort we are making to operate efficiently.  So, what are we doing to save every penny possible?  

• We have implemented weekend/day off shutdown programs.  This means at night, on the weekends, or days we are not here, the furnace and air conditioning is set to run warmer (or cooler depending on the time of year).  Additionally, lights are off (except for a few for security purposes).  This saves dollars in energy bills.  As you can imagine, lighting as well as heating & cooling the Courthouse specifically, is not cheap!  

• To piggyback on this, temperatures are set within a certain range. This means we don’t have one office running warm while another runs cool. This helps save money because the system is running consistently and keeping all temps even.   

• Lighting in all county owned buildings has been upgraded to LED lighting to save energy, and we are using blinds and curtains to help regulate light and block excess heat.  Additionally, we are utilizing occupancy sensors (motion light switches) in certain rooms, so lights are not necessarily on.  

• Offices either print double sided as much as possible to save paper and many are transitioning to retaining things by scanning them or eliminate as much paper by doing forms electronically, etc.  

• When one department has furniture or office supplies that they no longer need, it is made available for all other departments to utilize.  This helps avoid buying new furniture when options are available or one department having a surplus of an office supply that another department can use (and ultimately not have to buy).  

• Back in 2021 the county was the recipient of ARPA funds (American Rescue Plan Act) as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic.  We used those funds to invest in a variety of projects that were needed to either maintain buildings, improve buildings, or other items and we didn’t have to utilize tax dollars for these things.  (More on all those projects in a future article).  

• We do not water the Courthouse lawn or any other lawn of county buildings.  While we all love green grass, we understand the cost that is associated with watering lawns.  

While some of these items may not seem like big money-saving things, over the months and years they add up.  In addition, they are things that the State Auditor’s office has identified as helping the County be more efficient with your tax dollars.  I hope you can see that we are truly making an effort to be efficient.  If you have questions about the PIE program or the award (or have an idea of how we can be more efficient), feel free to stop by my office or give me a call.  My door is always open.  Until next time…