“Our two agencies are very time-sensitive. There’s no luxury to wait,” Iboshi said, explaining the 48-hour deadlines for hearing notices, subpoenas and the like. “We can’t say to the judge, ‘Sorry, it didn’t make it on time.'”
BY NANCY COOK LAUER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com
HILO — The county could save more than half of the almost $200,000 it spends annually on courier service if it brought the duties in-house, according to a study by the county Legislative Research Branch.
The study contemplates using existing staff at county Support Services, or hiring one full-time driver, to shuttle documents and money around the island for the Police Department, Office of Prosecuting Attorney, Vehicle Registration and Licensing Division, Mayor’s Office and Clerk’s Office.
The service is currently conducted on a contract with Security Armored Car & Courier Service of Hawaii.
Council Chairman Dominic Yagong, who released the study Tuesday, said the courier service is just one of several areas of county spending he thinks can be tightened up and made more efficient.
He noted a County Council initiative enacted in December, cutting the $600 gas stipend for council members and requiring them to take a mileage rate instead, will save about $75,000 annually.
Consolidating legislative office space is making staff more efficient, and, once the county auditor is moved out of rental space back to the county building, another $60,000 or so will be saved annually, he said.
The next focus will be on county cellphones, to see if consolidating contracts and eliminating unnecessary phones could save even more.
“We’ve really got to be proactive and find a way the county can be more efficient and really save money for the taxpayers,” Yagong said.
The courier service savings may be more difficult to implement, however, because the service spans so many county agencies.
The county has already cut courier costs by consolidating numerous county contracts into a single vendor, said acting County Prosecutor Charlene Iboshi. The Prosecutor’s Office is the second-largest user of the service, paying 35 percent of the contract. The Police Department, at 55 percent, is the largest, according to the study.
Iboshi said her office is open to saving money, but for her office and the police, dependable, punctual service is a must.
“Our two agencies are very time-sensitive. There’s no luxury to wait,” Iboshi said, explaining the 48-hour deadlines for hearing notices, subpoenas and the like. “We can’t say to the judge, ‘Sorry, it didn’t make it on time.'”