Trumbull officials uncovering ways to save money

The combined water and sewer bill for the county jail is down $2,743 from the previous December.

By ED RUNYAN

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

WARREN — Shopping around for lower prices and keeping expenses in check are paying off for Trumbull County.

First, county officials uncovered mistakes in their electricity billing from Ohio Edison, resulting in a refund of about $270,000.

Then, Commissioner Frank Fuda looked into the cost of the water and sewer bill at the county jail and discovered that inmates were jamming faucets in the open position to run cold water over beverages in their sinks.

On the heels of those savings, commissioners have turned their attention to other costs, such as natural gas and milk.

Fuda says a commissioners employee checked prices for natural gas last spring and reported that a change to another gas supplier could reduce the cost of gas by about $3.50 per thousand cubic feet, or around $100,000 per year.

The county switched in May from Dominion East Ohio Energy to Interstate Gas Supply and reduced the fixed rate from $12.75 per thousand cubic feet to $9.29, said Vickie Housel, the county’s accounts payable secretary.

Total savings from the switch is not known, but $19,245 was saved between May and July, Housel said.

Fuda said he recently asked the head of the county sanitary engineer’s department to advise workers to check prices before buying items such as paint. Employees have also recently checked prices for milk used at the jail and juvenile justice center.

“We’re looking at every possible place where we can save money,” Fuda said. “When you’re purchasing this stuff, if each department saves money, it’s a big savings for us.”

Meanwhile, the combined water and sewer bill for the jail fell about $1,400 in June, the first month after repairs were made to leaky faucets — from $7,763 to $5,906, and a total of $1,857 by November.

But after Fuda noticed an upward spike in December — to $6,455 — he sent building maintenance personnel back to the jail to look for additional problems.

About half a dozen faucets were jammed in the open position again with a clay-type substance and fixed again, he said. The result was that the bill went back down to $5,697 — which is $2,743 less than the bill for the previous December, when it was $8,440.

County workers have also examined mailing costs in recent weeks and have found a company that can provide the services at a savings for between $12,000 and $15,000 per year, Fuda said.

The company Trumbull Presort Mail Service Center Inc. on High Street in Warren provided mail handling services to the county’s Family Court and other county offices, but it discontinued those services to the county in 2006. The county has agreed to work with Postal Mail Sort of Youngstown this time, said Paulette Godfrey, interim administrator and commissioners clerk.

An intern has been checking the prices for milk provided to the jail and juvenile justice center, Godfrey said. It appears the price-shopping may save the county some money, but she’s not sure how much, Godfrey said.

runyan@vindy.com