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Letter to the editor: Management audit could ease Park Ridge’s financial woes
Updated: June 4, 2012 8:04AM
First, I believe the mayor and the City Councils of the past few years should be commended for tackling the city’s financial problems.
This takes political courage because these elected officials have to face, at a minimum, the ire of the unions, senior citizens and nonprofit organizations.
It is much easier to kick the can down the road and let the next guy worry about it.
Second, while we can all appreciate the benefit that Uptown redevelopment has brought to the city, it is our tax dollar that is keeping this project alive.
Once again, it is the taxpayer that has to bail out a project based on overly optimistic revenue projections and an unexpected downturn in the economy.
Where have we seen this before?
Hopefully, we learn from this experience and the next Tax Increment Financing district will be based on more realistic assumptions.
Finally, I think Alderman Knight overlooks one potential solution to the city’s financial problems.
It is time for the mayor and the City Council to consider a management audit of all city operations.
The attack on the city budget over the last few years has produced substantial benefits but now we are experiencing marginal returns.
We need to have an independent and in-depth view of all city operations to see if the city is operating as efficiently and effectively as possible.
It is time to see if the city is following “best practices” in purchasing practices and utilization of personnel.
Management audits conducted by competent consultants are not inexpensive.
But the financial benefits many times exceed the costs involved.
Certainly, the “missing $ 600,000” in municipal ticket and citation revenues suggests improvements need to be made.
The mayor and City Council need to consider the management-audit option as another measure to improve the financial viability of the City of Park Ridge.
Ken Balaskovits
Park Ridge
