By: JANE ROH • Courier-Post Staff • March 25, 2010

GLOUCESTER TWP. — A shared services agreement between Camden County and Camden County College has yielded $12.7 million in savings in its first year, officials said Wednesday.

The savings came as part of the Camden County Transformation Initiative, said Louis S. Bezich, a college administrator who's overseeing the effort to develop a more efficient government. In a letter accompanying the initiative's fourth-quarter and year-end reports, Bezich recommended that the shared services agreement be continued through a second year.

The initiative has seen savings in six of 18 reforms outlined in preliminary reports, Bezich said.

Those areas of progress include a property and casualty self-insurance pool; expansion of a pilot courier service, an increase in consolidated procurement and consolidation of safety and code compliance functions.

He also noted consolidation of publications and the increased use of alternative or social and electronic communications with residents.

The bulk of the county's spending, and its savings, can be found in human capital.

One goal of the initiative was to target employee absenteeism, which was estimated to cost the county upwards of 4 percent of the $250 million spent annually. In the first year of the partnership, the county's absenteeism-reduction effort has yielded $10 million in savings.

Freeholder Rodney Greco, the board's liaison on the project, said the transformation was four years in the making. Through policies such as employee attrition, the county was able to reduce the size of government against the tide of revenue shortfalls.

In that sense, officials say, Camden County has a jump on other municipalities and counties coping with the stingy economy.

The situation for many governments has been worsened by the state aid cuts announced by Gov. Chris Christie earlier this month. But so far, Camden County has been able to reduce the cost of government without layoffs or steep cuts in services.

"These are not quick fixes," Bezich said, adding that the goal wasn't mere survival but long-term institutional reform.

At first blush, some of the cost cuts seem insignificant. For instance, by consolidating printing and publishing services, administrators were able save $300,000. But bloated budgets are rife with line items tossed in with little thought as to their necessity, officials said.

Bezich said that in most cases, he was still collecting data to study the remaining 11 areas targeted for streamlining.

Bezich also recommended applying private sector principles to county government. For instance, consistency in communication and messaging could drive home the county's overall goals in the dozens of departments, units and boards, he said.

And an annual leadership summit involving the heads of the county's departments could reinforce unity and cohesion, he said.