I’m writing to clarify my comments that were paraphrased in a
story on July 23. I do not propose that Santa Clara County increase
taxes or fees or that we
”
conjure up
”
any new ones.
Dear Editor,
I’m writing to clarify my comments that were paraphrased in a story on July 23. I do not propose that Santa Clara County increase taxes or fees or that we “conjure up” any new ones. Rather, I suggested the county continue its efforts to aggressively reduce unnecessary overhead and recover revenue wherever possible.
For example, a recent audit of the county’s 1,800-vehicle fleet suggests selling surplus vehicles and improving oversight will save $7.5 million annually. In addition, the county has invested in making Valley Medical Center (VMC) the most efficient health care operation in the state. The effort, known as Transformation 2010, looks at every operation within the hospital in an attempt to make it as cost effective as possible. This effort has yielded savings, revenues and reimbursements that have saved over $57 million.
Our county has an in-house management auditing division that performs detailed analyses of county operations, reviews the annual county budget, and conducts financial analyses of major financial issues before the Board of Supervisors. Through close oversight and cost containment efforts like these, County Supervisors can focus on saving the county’s precious resources for core services on which our community depends, like health care and public safety, during these tough economic times.
Teresa Alvarado, San Jose
