Several years ago, when school budgets were under great stress, I realized my firm could help public school districts achieve overhead cost savings.
As in many organizations, your staff’s limited time might be better spent on projects related to the core business — student achievement, in your case — than in auditing utility, telecommunications and other bills to look for cost savings due the district or to negotiate more advantageous terms or fees based on a sense of industry standard rates.
Chris F. Patterson
I am the vice president and chief operating officer of Optimum E.R.C. (which stands for Expense Recovery and Consulting). We have worked with AASA, school districts and government agencies, and companies of all sizes to provide an off-site review of invoices for gas, water, electric, local/long distance and wireless telecom, waste removal, freight and credit card processing.
The purpose of the review is twofold: to reduce costs and identify possible cost-savings opportunities within clients’ current service providers and/or existing contracts. In the nine years I have been with Optimum, we have achieved a success rate of more than 95 percent of reducing expenses permanently, typically without changing providers. Because our compensation is based on savings realized and refunds captured, school leaders can be assured our loyalties rest with you, not the service provider.
Money Recovery
In short, Optimum saves AASA members money by recovering money from billing errors (which are actually quite common on complex invoices) and through suggested ways you may save further. We do all the research and allow our clients to maintain 100 percent control of the decision-making process.
Better yet (from your perspective), if we don’t save you money, it doesn’t cost your district anything but the time it took to gather one month’s invoices for our team to audit. In sum, because our fees are contingency-based, Optimum profits only when you profit. If we want more, we have to save our clients more. Clients are not charged any upfront expenditures, hourly fees or retainers.
My hope is that our services will help you generate cost savings that may stave off job layoffs and deeper program cuts. This fact alone makes me love what I can do to support public education.
Our clients include school districts nationwide as well as government agencies, small businesses and nonprofits. At AASA, with its modest staff of 38, we achieved a permanent annual savings of $5,000. Calvert County Public Schools in Prince Frederick, Md., received $175,000 in refunds plus $160,000 in savings for a total return of $335,000, according to Gordon Smith, former executive director of fiscal services.
Is Optimum E.R.C. the answer to every obstacle schools are facing in America today? Absolutely not, and we don’t claim to be. But we feel we have at least done our part to make the most of scarce public dollars.
Another important point: Optimum’s staff has more than 25 years of combined experience in the cost-reduction arena. Our service is designed to complement and strengthen your current system of checks and balances. The auditing process is designed to verify the invoices and services you receive from your service providers are accurate, valid and on the most-advantageous, cost-effective tariffs available.
Simple Process
All our work is offsite, so it does not disrupt your usual day-to-day operations, and the process is simple. First, clients provide us with a hard copy of or electronic access to the most recent invoice in its entirety received from each service provider being reviewed. (This provides us with enough information to solicit past invoices from the provider.)
Second, we conduct the audit, which consists of an in-depth analysis of invoices to identify savings and refund opportunities. Third, we provide our findings for client approval. (The decision to act is yours alone.) Fourth, we fully implement all approved solutions. And finally, we verify savings and invoices on actual savings; no estimates or projections.
We have a proven track record. When your district needs to reduce costs, we hope you will consider us.
Chris Patterson is vice president and chief operating officer of Optimum Expense Recovery and Consulting in Dallas, Texas. E-mail: patterson@OptimumERC.com
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