Xerox contract to save Utah about $1 million a year

The Utah state government's copy center, located in the basement of one of the new office buildings at the Capitol Complex, doesn't really seem much different since a private company took it over late last month.

But look closer and you'll see that the workers handling printing orders from government agencies have a Xerox logo on their shirts. And there's a brand new machine that can whip out color photocopies faster — and cheaper — than the equipment the state used to have.

How much cheaper? The state is expected to save about $1 million annually as a result of the five-year contract with Xerox, according to Douglas Richins, director of the state Division of Purchasing and General Services.

Those savings are passed along to the state agencies that depend on the division of the Department of Administrative Services for printing and other services. Those agencies must budget funds to pay for the actual cost of the services.

For printing reports and other documents, that cost used to be about 3 cents a page. Now, though, Xerox is charging that much for double-sided copies. While that may not seem like a big difference, consider that the state copying center duplicates some 30 million pages a year.

"It's huge," said Brian Jensen, program manager for the state's print services. "It's cut your print job in half in terms of cost."

He said the savings are the result of the copying giant being able to use state-of-the-art equipment.

The state had leased equipment — from Xerox — that had become outdated and was scattered in three locations. The new contract for a single site was timed in part to the expiration of the leases, just before the new fiscal year began July 1.

But the savings don't come without a cost. Seven of the state's nine print services employees affected by the contract saw their jobs eliminated through what's known as a reduction in force.

As for the two print services employees who weren't put on the reduction-in-force list as of mid-June, one retired and another found a job in the state mail room. Xerox offered jobs to three of the employees on the list, but only one accepted.

"That's obviously, from a management perspective, the most difficult thing about privatization," said Richins, who also sits on the state's privatization board. But, he added, saving a million dollars is "pretty persuasive."

D'arcy Dixon Pignanelli, executive director of the administrative services department, said such decisions are difficult because eliminating jobs means "impacting someone's personal life."

Still, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has made efficiency a priority since taking office in January. That means more functions of government may well be turned over to the private sector.

"I think everything is absolutely on the table," Dixon Pignanelli said.

The lone Democrat in Huntsman's Cabinet said she supported privatizing the copy center, saying it "definitely goes down the line of looking for efficiencies and cost savings and supporting those initiatives of the new administration directly."

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