We also released 10 letter reports to the following: Schoharie County [pdf] and the Village of Richmondville [pdf]; Broome County [pdf] and the Town of Union [pdf], the Town of Kirkwood [pdf], and the Village of Deposit [pdf]; and Tompkins County [pdf] and the Town of Caroline [pdf], the Village of Groton [pdf], and the Village of Dryden [pdf].
Purpose of Audit
The purpose of our audit was to determine if local governments could reduce IT costs and/or enhance their efficiency through cooperative services for the period January 1, 2010, to August 8, 2011.
Background
Local governments, regardless of their size or complexity, are becoming increasingly reliant on information technology (IT) services to help them provide government services. Because many local governments provide similar services to their constituents, having each local government separately provide the services leads to inefficiencies. Through intermunicipal cooperation, local governments can share the costs of IT equipment and services, and provide improved functionality and efficiencies to their taxpayers, resulting in cost savings to the participating local governments. The 10 local governments we audited serve approximately 335,000 people, and had combined budgeted operating expenditures totaling $607 million, including $7.3 million for IT costs, in 2011.
Key Findings
Intermunicipal cooperation for the provision of IT services has resulted in cost savings for local governments.
- Schoharie County has reduced the IT costs for software and support for local governments within the County by a projected $87,372 through cooperative IT services.
- Intermunicipal cooperation for certain IT services is also occurring in Broome and Tompkins Counties. Additional opportunities exist for cooperation between the counties and their local governments for the provision of IT services. The six local governments audited within Broome and Tompkins Counties could have achieved cost savings totaling $39,649 with potential county-wide savings totaling $288,711 for these two counties combined.
Key Recommendation
- Work with other local governments in their respective counties to explore the possibility of intermunicipal cooperation for IT services.