City’s Termination Of Contract Will Save $2 Million, Cost Local Jobs

El Paso City Council has terminated a contract with a local company, a move expected to save tax-payers about $2 million in the next couple of years, and may cost 20 borderland workers their jobs.

Since 2003, the city has had a contract with local billing company Currey Adkins, which collected money owed to the city for emergency services.

On Tuesday, Fire Department Chief, Otto Drozd, put an item on the meeting agenda that asked city council to terminate the contract with the local company and instead award the bid to Advanced Data Processing Inc,. a Florida-based company.

City council unanimously voted to end the contract with Currey Adkins.

“There was just great opportunity here for tremendous savings, I feel bad for the employees, but at this point, my primary responsibility is for the tax payer and to ensure that they’re getting the best services for the lowest price”, City Rep. Steve Ortega said.

City council said local Currey Adkins was charging them 17 percent revenue plus equipment costs. City Rep. Susie Byrd said that’s above the industry standard. The Florida company will charge the city about 10.9 percent revenue and no equipment costs.

“What we found is that the national benchmarks for billing companies, what we were paying within this contract, far exceeds what we can do”, said Fire Chief Otto Drozd.

Currey Adkins employee Zulema De Leon said the company consistently reaches collection goals. “It’s not as if there’s no work, the work is there, they’re just taking it elsewhere. They’re sending our jobs out, and that’s one thing I don’t understand”, she said.

There was just under two years left in the contract between the city and Currey Adkins but following a city audit of the local company that the city says found that the contract was not lean enough, the City put out notice for a new contract. City officials say Currey Adkins did not rebid.

“I’m sorry about the timing, I agree, it’s tough timing, but in a day and age where every government is struggling, and here. There were significant cost savings into the millions of dollars”, said Ortega.

Another Currey Adkins employee Amada Castillo said the move will make the holiday season somber.

“It’s bad because I really depended on this paycheck to buy Christmas presents, and now I have to save for rent for the next month, I don’t know what to do right now”, she said.

She and the other employees have not been told when their last day of work will be, but the city is scheduled to make the contract termination effective on January 15.

“What am I going to do? I have two kids. I just don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know how I’m going to pay my rent, it’s just hard. I’m scared to go and ask for unemployment because it’s not going to cover the expenses I have. I have a two month old. How am I going to buy diapers? It’s just hard”, said Castillo.

City Representative Susie Byrd said that Fire Chief Otto Drozd was asked to look at the fire department budget when he was being interviewed for the job, and asked to point out areas where money could be saved. Drozd, according to Byrd, mentioned the billing contract with Currey Adkins as a concern.

“It was a business decision that was in the best interest for the tax-payers of El Paso”, said the Fire Chief.

The city’s contract with Advanced Data Processing Inc. is for three years at a cost of $3,929,603.28.