1. Creating Government Efficiency
Washtenaw County Working Session
April 16, 2009

2. Agenda Support Services: Always Evolving
Working with Partners & What We’ve Learned
Balance of Internal & External Support
Next Steps

3. Support Services Evolution
Central Administration
Regulation / compliance focus
Internal customer satisfaction low
Support Services (Guiding Principle #4)
Integrate service delivery
Focus on enabling departments to do their work well
Support Services: “Change the way government works”
Focus on Community Impact: Improve services to residents by partnering with local municipalities
Strategies toward shared service delivery (GP #7)
Central Administration (compliance)
Some staplers still say “property of washtenaw county” – we hired someone to do this!
Triplicate was common, lots of approvals
Fear of making the wrong decision but very expensive to make sure no one made the wrong decision
Support Services: new purpose was to enable others to provide services to the public
Focus on customer service, making sure that departments were spending more time with customers than filling out triplicate
Help Desk implemented, service standard, support services survey, partnership agreements, etc.
Change the way government works
Minimize geography to maximize benefits to citizens
Make local units our partners since we share common customers
Analogy: dunkin donuts and Sunoco

4. New Objectives Change the way government works
End duplication of services
Enhance customer service
Target and conserve local taxpayer dollars
Open doors for service-level collaboration
Government Efficiency Task Force
Vision: change the way government works in the Ann Arbor Region to optimize front line services, improve customer responsiveness, and maximize efficient and fair use of tax revenues.

5. Local Unit Evolution
Culture shift with a new vision: The “Washtenaw County Local Unit Outreach Project” became “1Washtenaw”
Vision of one internet portal for government services regardless of which government body provided service
Washtenaw County provided websites, , GIS and shared purchasing free of charge

6. 1Washtenaw Evolution Revenue Contracts City of Ypsilanti
Road Commission
Pittsfield Township
Chelsea Police
Numerous ongoing exploratory discussions
Cost-recovery model for IT and HR services

7. Shared Services Evolution
Moving to Shared Services
Combined IT Data Center
Program evaluation with City of Ann Arbor
IT Strategic Plan with City of Ann Arbor

8. Supporting Regional Forums
Ann Arbor Region Success Strategy
METRO Alliance, SWWCOG, CAPT/ DART, etc.
Eastern Leaders Group
Purchase of Development Rights Program
Aerotropolis
Brownfield Redevelopment
Regional Master Plans and Planning Grants
Strategic Planning and Facilitation Support
Wireless Washtenaw
Regional efforts mostly out of Planning/ Strategic Planning; some of these were done by Mary and Scott

9. What We Have Learned
Better outcomes are achieved when government works together
There is risk, but also great opportunity for each government entity and the community at large
Each step taken opens new doors
Every entity needs to engage; each entity needs to give up some control
Residents care more about services than who provides them
External observations: these are things that make working with others a challenge

10. What We Have Learned
Need is growing while County resources are declining
Existing County staff must understand long- term strategy of shared services
Information must be clear to avoid internal perception that the County loses while other jurisdictions gain
These are internal observations – when business model changes to look externally, there are costs internally with doing so

11. Status of Support Services
Guiding Principle #4 has been a strategic priority for nearly10 years
Major Service Areas include:
Information Technology Human Resources
Facilities Management Finance
Fleet Management Budget
Strategic Planning Project Management
Organizational Development, Professional development, BIP

12. Internal / External Balance
Support Services has taken substantial cuts since 2003
Increased support for many local and regional projects since 2003
Balance between supporting internal organization and leadership around local and regional partnerships

13. Next Steps: Define our Future Role
What should our role be in providing leadership in our community?
Are there ways to enhance our role in partnership with the community?
Internally, what service level should employees expect?
Policy considerations for the BOC
Community: now is an opportunity to re-create government because there has never been a greater need.
Internally: freeing up time for employees to spend time with their customers has been our standard. If this changes, employees in departments will be spending less time with their customers.