March 15, 2007

State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias presented a Fiscal Year 2008 budget for his office that reflects a $200,000 decrease in the discretionary spending from last year’s budget.

In his $1.8 billion budget proposal, Giannoulias cut $100,000 from both his office’s General Revenue and State Pension funds.

“My proposed budget for the Treasurer’s Office is designed to best meet the needs of the public,” said Giannoulias, who took office in January. “Given these difficult times and with financial challenges confronting the state, I felt it was important to find ways to do more with less.”

Most of the savings is attributed to employee attrition or turnover. In some cases, Giannoulias hired new employees at a lower salary or existing employees have been assigned to take on the responsibilities of departed staff.

“Since taking office, I have sought to enact better management practices in an effort to reduce wasteful spending and eliminate a number of contracts that were either unnecessary or too costly,” Giannoulias said.

The Treasurer’s Office realized nearly $23,000 it paid to a Chicago parking garage by significantly cutting the number of parking spaces the office required.

In another cost savings move, Giannoulias terminated the $750,000 contract of a private bank to review claims submitted for the recovery of unclaimed property.

Giannoulias has since hired temporary employees at a cost of $70,000 a year to assume the bank’s responsibilities. The funding came out of a special Bank Services Trust fund established by the Illinois General Assembly and did not affect the Treasurer’s budget.

In the coming months, Giannoulias plans to employ new technology to streamline the office, make employees more efficient and ultimately save the state money.

The Treasurer’s Office is developing a program that allows state residents to recover unclaimed property and money by submitting claims online. Giannoulias also plans to auction unclaimed property online, instead of a live auction, which will generate higher bids and more revenue for state coffers.

“As State Treasurer, I will continue to use my financial and private sector experience to employ innovative measures to better serve the public and cut costs,” Giannoulias said.