Board readies cost-cutting options ahead of compressed budget timeline

Supervisors reviewed a compressed budget review timeline and discussed options to be prepared for quick decisions, including outsourcing or partially outsourcing custodial services, exploring alternative health-benefit arrangements and issuing RFPs to gather pricing for HR and custodial services.

Speaker 1 said custodial salaries and benefits currently cost about $215,000 per year and suggested the county could save if parts of the service were contracted out while retaining at least one county employee to oversee sensitive areas. The board discussed the need for a clear job description and tasks inventory before issuing an RFP and agreed staff should prepare model RFP language and circulate a draft.

The board also discussed a proposal to create a salaried facilities manager or county-administrator role to manage vendors, coordinate ADA compliance and relieve department heads of facilities tasks. Supervisors said they would prefer to test market interest through an RFP and analyze cost trade-offs before any structural staffing changes.

Next steps: staff will draft RFP language and job descriptions, seek template RFPs from the state procurement office where helpful, circulate drafts to supervisors for feedback, and place RFP authorization on a near-term agenda so bidding timelines can feed into levy and budget deadlines.