Oswego County awarded nearly $1.8M in state matching funds after shared-services tax savings

OSWEGO, N.Y. — New York has awarded Oswego County nearly $1.8 million in state matching funds as a result of taxpayer savings from shared services in 2020.

The funding is provided through the County-Wide Shared Services Initiative (CWSSI), the New York Department of State announced Monday. CWSSI provides a one-time state match of county and local-government taxpayer savings achieved in the first year of implementation of new shared-services projects.

“Our County-Wide Shared Services Initiative plays a critical role in helping local governments run more efficiently and effectively,” New York State Secretary of State Robert Rodriguez said in a news release. “Through this program, Oswego County worked together with its local government partners to identify new and creative ways to share services, delivering real savings for taxpayers that will repeat annually for years to come.”

Pharmacy benefit, highway equipment

As part of the CWSSI, Oswego County created a shared-services plan that identified ways to consolidate services and save taxpayer money through government efficiencies in services and community programs. The two shared-services projects that were implemented as part of this plan and resulted in taxpayer savings included a pharmacy benefit coalition and the sharing of highway equipment.

Oswego County partnered with Onondaga County and the City of Syracuse to create a pharmacy-benefit coalition. This partnership allows the county to reduce spending associated with administering employee benefit plans and save taxpayer dollars, while also reducing prescription-drug costs for employees. Oswego County had more than $1.7 million in taxpayer savings in 2020 as a result of this partnership.

At the same time, Oswego County obtained a piece of highway equipment called a screener that was shared between the towns of Richland and Sandy Creek. A screener is used to refine waste roadway materials for wintertime application and is usually towed behind a large utility vehicle, such as a dump truck.

Oswego County generated $35,702 in taxpayer savings in 2020 as a result, and Richland and Sandy Creek each had $4,133 in taxpayer savings, for a total of $43,969.