Sandy Springs led the way outsourcing government services, but it’s now reversing course and bringing most services in-house.
Because of a robust economy and tight labor market, “the gap between private-sector prices and in-house costs for these services was such we cannot justify the difference,” said Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul.
The City Council on Tuesday approved a resolution to cancel solicitations for general government services.
On July 1, services including public works, community development, information technology, finance, economic development, communications, facilities and Performing Arts Center operations will be handled by city employees, the city said. On Aug. 15, recreation and parks and municipal court contracts will be terminated.
The city estimated its actions will save more than $14 million over five years.
The Call Center, 911 Services, Public Works field services, fleet services, the city attorney's office and municipal court solicitor will remain with private-sector partners. Information: https://bit.ly/2JGfbNl
About 183 contract positions will be brought in-house, bringing the total number of city-held positions to 482.
Sandy Springs, which pioneered the “P3” public-private partnership model for municipal governance when it was incorporated in 2005, will retain a hybrid model for services, Paul said.
“We are not abandoning the P3 model and are keeping some private-sector providers for services where the costs make sense,” Paul said. “We will continue to evaluate P3 options with in-house service delivery, and will again ask the private sector to bid on these services when job conditions and other market forces allow us to obtain competitive prices.”
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