SAVE Award 2011 Ideas

I was raised on a family farm and worked most of my life in the profit/loss world of private industry (only in govt' 10 years), so imagine my astonishment when I learned how government budgets really work.

Currently, government agencies/entities function on annual budgets, that have been built up over years of spending histories. What happens at end/beginning of fiscal years is that HQ offices "finds" additional $'s... more »

Energy Audits are complete for a large number of federal facilities. These energy audits produced numerous recommendations that can produce savings at a rapid rate. Some of these measures will pay for themselves in less than a year and begin saving money after that point and far into the future.

All measures with a payback of less than five years should be implemented immediately. These energy savings measures will reduce... more »

The DoD budget process need to be revamped. For years Air Force leaders have been forced to spend the money or lose it. It’s simple economic principles that have been neglected for years and has contributed to the current debt crisis. A budget fluctuates with supply/demand, operations tempo, leadership/management, unit needs etc. Instead of being rewarded by effectively managing a budget. Units are punished by being forced... more »

I think in order to eliminate politicians' "sacred cows" and to neutralize the threat of constant earmarks, the tax payer should be allowed to determine - at least a percentage - where their tax money goes.

Some value healthcare over others and more value national defense, etc. Well let the taxpayer put their money where they feel best.

In the age of electronic voting you can pick your president but you can't determine... more »

For non-essential buildings, use increased security measures such as alarms, key-code access, and cameras instead of contracting for securtiy guards. If you don't have a "key" or an escort, you don't get in the building. By using a "one time fee" (of course there will be maintenance and updates required) for install of these systems instead of contracting for security for years, it may save the taxpayers some money...... more »

The idea is that each federal agency must comply with the environmetnal laws and regulations. This means each has to staff to identify and ensure compliance requirements are properly funded. Instead of having each agency provide the staff make them all EPA employees assigned to the field. They are placed under the CEOs of every federal field activity to provide an environmental element budget development and annual execution... more »

It appears that most of us agree that at the end of the fiscal year a large amount of money is wasted in order to keep the previous years budget. My suggestion is to allow the excess funds to be saved and reduce the budgets by a small amount accross the board. Allowing the funds to be saved while reducing the budgets across the board will end wasteful spending year round.

All federal agencies I've been involved with go through the same thing at the end of every fiscal year - a huge spending spree, many times on items not needed, to spend down money before it is swept away. A big reason for this is fear that the budget requests for the following year may not be approved if the agency did not spend it's entire budget in the current year.
This is wasteful spending of money. The so called... more »

Units I have been under normally refresh their IT assets (computer towers, monitors, printers) about every three years.

The only reason it sounds that they do it is because of a warranty expiring. Many computers can be ugraded if need be and CSA's should have knowledge to replace/repair parts. Refresh for any IT assets should be five years or more.

To save additional time, money, and manpower, the entire military should... more »