City of Evanston, Illinois

Evanston Township Efficiency Assessment

Summary of Report Recommendations

July 22, 2013

Today’s Agenda

• Project Goal

• Methodology and Approach

• Findings and Recommendations

Project Goal

Project Goal

• City of Evanston and Evanston Township are separate local government agencies but share the same borders and governing body

• Are there opportunities for the City and the Township to work more closely together to improve services, eliminate duplication, and gain efficiency?

Methodology and Approach

Methodology and Approach

• Develop a detailed understanding of Township operations• Interviewed each Township staff

member and elected official• Mapped Township processes• Reviewed workload and performance

data

• Interviewed selected City of Evanston department directors• Are there opportunities for shared

service and cooperation?

Methodology and Approach

• Benchmarking Research• Conducted benchmarking research into the

operations of four local comparable townships• Maine Township• New Trier Township• Niles Township• Oak Park Township

• Conducted research of 20 coterminous Illinois Townships with emphasis placed on seven that share a joint Board of Trustees/Municipal Council

Findings and Recommendations

Findings & Recommendations

• Supervisor’s Office• Township processes for General Assistance and

Emergency Assistance are primarily driven by State Statute

• Township effectively utilizes the VisualGA case management system to manage caseload and process

• Case management staffing levels are comparable to peer townships

• No indication that case worker staffing levels are too high

Findings & Recommendations

• Assessor’s Office• Office provides taxpayer advocacy and

support with two total full-time personnel• No opportunity for staff reduction without

service elimination

• Assessor’s Office staff maintains expert level understandingmof the property tax assessment and appeal process in Cook County

Findings & Recommendations

• Service Duplication?• Township services do not easily align

with traditional city services • No immediate opportunity within the

City government where Township functions could be effectively absorbed without ramp up

Findings & Recommendations

• Opportunities to Increase Efficiency and Effectiveness• Workforce Training and Emergency

Assistance partnerships• Increase back office support from the

City of Evanston and reduce Township administrative personnel

• Proactively market Township programs• Enhance cooperation between the City

and the Township

Findings & Recommendations

• Contract with the State for delivery of workforce training to GA clients• Requires specific expertise in job

training and workforce development that can be provided more effectively through a partnership with State

• Mandated service but can be contracted• Allows case workers to focus on the GA

programs

Findings & Recommendations

• Initiate discussions with local non-profits to contract for management of the Emergency Assistance program• Connects EA clients with more services

and training to reduce the likelihood of future EA need

• Allows case workers to focus on mandated GA programs and services

Findings & Recommendations

• Fill the vacant case coordinator position• Benchmarking research and workload

analysis indicates that case manager staffing levels are appropriate

• Filling the vacancy allows the Executive Director to spend less time in direct case management and more time on administrative and supervisory responsibilities

Findings & Recommendations

• Utilize the City of Evanston for back office administrative functions and eliminate the Confidential Accounts Manager position• City of Evanston has capacity, through

economies of scale to provide admin support without adding staff (e.g., accounting, IT, payroll, etc.)• Generates savings by eliminating professional

services contracts for accounting and IT• Reduces the body of work for Accounts Manager

position

• With hiring of case coordinator, increased capacity of the Executive Director, and admin services integration, the Accounts Manager position can be eliminated

Findings & Recommendations

• Improve marketing of taxpayer advocacy and support services• Township does not have a functioning

website• Little proactive marketing• Need targeted, proactive marketing to

Evanston property owners

Findings & Recommendations

• Enhance the coordination of governance strategies and service delivery between Evanston Township and The City of Evanston• Integrate a Township operations

orientation process into Board of Aldermen orientation process.

• Establish a quarterly meetings between board and executive staffs of the City and Township identify opportunities for collaboration.

Questions?

Thank you!

Questions?

Julia Novak, PresidentJnovak@thenovakconsultinggroup.com