A friend -- Mike Paunovich -- recently mentioned to me something that I can't seem to get out of my mind. Maybe writing about will do it.
He was talking about government efficiency, and ways state government could, and should, save money. One of his suggestions -- which made complete sense to me -- is leasing space from counties or municipalities to house Indiana license bureaus.
Why not, I asked myself? After all I suspect many, if not most, are paying pretty good dough for space in office buildings and/or strip centers such as Valparaiso where it is located south of US30 in a small business retail center.
While I don't have any idea what the state is paying for that space, I can only guess it's not cheap.
Who has ever heard of a government agency getting a bargain on virtually anything?
Now I know everyone who works in a government building will cry "We're already too crowded...we don't have any space."
Maybe that's true. But surely throughout the 92 Indiana counties there must be opportunities for this kind of partnership. And maybe there are some examples of this being done, of which I am not aware. If so, congratulations.
And maybe there are other areas to look for cost savings in government. For example, road maintenance. Most cities and towns do their own, separate from county highway departments. Are there opportunities --even at a minimum level -- to contract with each other for certain services that wouldn't impact public safety?
Something to think about. After all, in these tight times saving a buck puts you a dollar ahead.