Audit Of City Government In Tulsa Results In 1,100 Recommendations

By Emory Bryan, The News On 6

TULSA, OKLAHOMA -- A new audit of City Government in Tulsa has resulted in 1,100 recommendations for change. The study was performed by auditing firm KPMG.

Mayor Dewey Bartlett and representatives from the company briefed the City Council on the audit Wednesday afternoon.

The audit determined the City provides 1,512 distinct services through 20 departments, at a cost of $420,388,000 annually.

The 1,100 recommendations were divided into ways the city can save money, increase revenue and improve efficiency. From the original 1,100, the recommendations were boiled down to 21 "strategic initiatives" for the most immediate action.

Read The Report | Frequently Asked Questions 

"And when you hear that report that says 61% of the services you do are not required by any law, ordinance or charter, so why are you doing it," said Terry Simonson, Mayor's Chief of Staff.

The audit lists dozens of services and the jobs that go with them, as candidates for elimination, or privatization. Some city councilors didn't like hearing that what's important to them might be cut.

"I guarantee you when you try to implement some of that stuff, all hell is going to break loose in the City of Tulsa," said Jack Henderson, Tulsa City Council.

Mayor Dewey Bartlett said a new committee led by the city auditor will look over the ideas before anything becomes policy.

"And they will evaluate the immediate recommendations of 21 that were given to us, to see how suitable they are and how those can be implemented and then we will start the process of evaluating the rest of them," said Mayor Bartlett.

The City Councilors are still looking over the hundreds of recommendations, and the Mayor's top 21 priorities out of that group.

"I don't view this as a roadmap, I view this as a treasure map. This has the potential to save Tulsa millions of dollars, and make our government more effective and efficient," said GT Bynum, Tulsa City Councilor.

The report is very specific, for example listing work done by police officers which could be done by civilians, and jobs that Tulsa could outsource to other governments and services Tulsa could provide to other cities.

Read the scorecard used by KPMG to evaluate city services.

Read the "Indianapolis Case Study" by KPMG which summarizes what they did for that city.

Letter To Employees From Mayor Dewey Bartlett