CM Brewer questions OMB on Chief Savings Officer examples and water fountains in schools

So Executive Order 12 required the Chief Savings Officer, CSO, to focus on recurring savings and efficiencies, as you know.

They will provide updated assessments every six months.

Can you provide some of the largest examples of agency efficiencies?

When are the next round of assessments due?

Should the council anticipate seeing them, either the adopted or November?

And do any of them include improving agency performances?

I hope so.

So during the break, Deputy Director Nathan Gustorf was very sad that no questions came his way.

And he was overseeing the chief saving officer's exercise.

So I would love to turn it to him to be able to address that.

Thank you.

Glad I'm not.

Sitting up here for nothing.

So just to start out, because as you noted, Council Member, the CSO exercise is ongoing.

We have five categories that we've used to frame CSO efforts that will continue to operate throughout the process.

You've probably seen these numbers, but in the current $1.77 billion in savings across the two fiscal years, we have $24 million in savings

from agencies giving up unused space, consolidating leases, and other leasing savings.

$28 million in savings from IT upgrades, renegotiating software licenses, and other related IT savings.

I think of particular interest for everyone here, $94 million in savings from pursuing better contract rates and insourcing functions rather than relying on outside consultants.

$368 million from increasing the efficiency of public services overall, including things like overtime management, phasing out unused or redundant programs and other programmatic improvements, and $947 million

from improved financial management, better estimates, and revenue improvements such as better grant claiming.

Okay, and as far as you feel strongly that in terms of the, how are we going to hear about all of this?

We'll see the savings coming up.

Is this what it's going to be?

Is that what you're saying?

So, yeah, we continue to track all of these savings to ensure that they will be realized.

Some of that is simply a matter of making sure that our estimates are accurate.

Some of them do require implementation, and OMB is overseeing that in partnership with the Office of the First Deputy Mayor.

And then in terms of the ongoing nature of the exercise, the executive order does require six-month check-ins, but the reality is that we are in touch much more frequently than that in order to continue working on all of these savings prongs.

And you think the agency performance will improve as a result?

Yes, it has been such a priority to avoid service reductions and find efficiencies that we should see better agency service go hand in hand with the savings because they are targeting efficiencies.

Okay.

Thank you.

Quick question on water fountains.

I know this is minutia, but the water fountains in the schools, they often don't work, and you can't get them fixed because you can't fix a standalone.

Can you change that?

No, you have to be part of some stupid big project, which isn't necessary, in order to fix a water fountain.

That's stupid.

We look forward to talking to you about working with water fountains for sure.

Thank you.

And then also...

Sorry, Council Member, I got to...

Because we got to move on.

Okay.

Time's constraints.

I'm so sorry.

Thank you.

But we're going to follow up with all the members'questions.

And then if we can just make the questions and responses brief.

Okay.