Department of Revenue News Release

JEFFERSON CITY - Following Gov. Jay Nixon's call to make state government smarter and more efficient, the Missouri Department of Revenue is reviewing contracts and cutting costs.

"Gov. Nixon has made it very clear that he expects our departments to work smarter, more effectively and with more accountability to the taxpayers," said Alana M. Barragán-Scott, director of the Missouri Department of Revenue.  "By saving money on contracts and overhead costs, we're allowing state government to invest in the Governor's top priorities of creating jobs and getting Missourians back to work."

One area the Department is examining closely is the cost-effectiveness of contracts with outside vendors for services such as technology and collections.  Private entities are sometimes the most cost-effective means of obtaining a service or product, but, after review, the Department has found that in some cases, in-house solutions save time and money.

Examples of smarter solutions identified during this review include:

*More than $700,000 in savings has been realized from renegotiating a contract with an information-technology contractor who assisted the Department's Taxation Division;

*More than $512,000 has been saved to date by replacing a tax-collection contractor with state employees who perform the same work.  Annual savings from this efficiency could be as high as $841,000;

*The Department consolidated its St. Louis-area Criminal Investigation Bureau office and its Field Compliance Bureau office into one area, resulting in the termination of the lease for the Criminal Investigation Bureau space.  A leased storage facility was also vacated in the Jefferson City area, and the items stored there were moved into existing space identified through the review.  These moves saved about $42,000.

"Working smarter can make our entire government more efficient, and it will save money for the people of this state," Director Barragán-Scott said.  "By focusing on our key priorities, we will ensure that we have the resources we need to get our economy moving forward again."

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