County Reducing Wasteful Printing and Eliminating Part-Time Positions
Allentown, PA- The Siegel Administration announced today that its cost-cutting and efficiency initiative has identified and implemented over $500,000 in reoccurring savings to the county through the elimination of temporary part-time positions and added efficiency and cost controls in county printing practices.
“As Lehigh County looks to fix years of short-term and unsustainable financial management that resulted in depleted county savings and exploding structural deficits, it’s critical that taxpayers see strong and dedicated efforts to efficiently invest each dollar we receive. This administration is dedicated to responsibly managing revenues and expenditures,” said Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel.
The initiative has been spearheaded by Lehigh County’s Director of Administration Jessica Baraket who has been aggressively identifying outdated and inefficient practices where Lehigh County lags behind its peers in cost-cutting and efficiencies.
“Lehigh County must join the 21st century and embrace innovation and ingenuity. The idea of doing more with less should be accomplished through investing in and empowering employees and departments to maximize service delivery by giving them the resources they need to succeed to be more responsive and efficient. We’re moving towards a local government that responds faster and delivers more by embracing technological improvements,” said Baraket.
The county is anticipating saving almost $300,000 over two years from consolidating printing in county offices as the county currently has nearly 800 desktop printers. Through implementation of stronger oversight, the county believes it can reduce paper and toner purchases, restrict color printing and reduce maintenance costs associated with prior practices.
Further, the administration will be eliminating part-time positions within the Government Center. These positions entail separated employees being rehired in their former role on a part-time basis. The practice was historically intended to assist with the transitional phase, but in recent years has seen employees continue their employment well past the transition period.
There are currently part-time employees budgeted at nearly $300,000 through December 2026. This will result in immediate savings in the 2027 budget created by the Siegel Administration.
In addition, the counties cost avoidance and cost deferral program has resulted in nearly $145,000 in reduced expenditures since being initiated in September. Cost deferrals could potentially become permanent cost avoidance as departments evaluate their ability to function following several months without specific expenditures.
“While assisting with offices transitioning in new employees is vital to service delivery, it’s become apparent and clear that the practice hasn’t been sufficiently scrutinized or evaluated resulting in considerable costs to the county. Budget constraints require tough and decisive decisions and strong management practices. This decision will ensure stronger planning and preparation for the separation of long-term employees while savings taxpayer dollars,” said Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel.
Lehigh County will continue to pursue efforts in modernization and optimization of delivering county services including deploying new technology and management software to better scrutinize county spending and enhancing individual employee productivity.
Information provided to TVL by:
Hillary Kleinz
