GUESTWORK | Sheila Stocks-Smith
On Tuesday, Sept. 20, the Springfield City Council approved a $50,000 contract with Maximus, Inc., “to perform a review of a fiscally-sustainable staffing level for the city.”
During debate, aldermen disagreed on whether the contract was designed as an efficiency study or a personnel-cutting study, but I think Bill McCarty, director of Office of Budget and Management, was pretty clear when he said the mayor’s budget plan was “predicated on cutting staff” and that this review was needed for budget development.
The city has turned to Maximus for help apparently based upon positive reviews from Sangamon County, which has paid Maximus to review numerous departments over the years including reviews of the sheriff’s office, the public health department, the recorder’s office and most recently the coroner’s office. In fact, the Sangamon County Board passed a resoultion in April 2011 to authorize negotiations with Maximus for a “master agreement that would establish financial and performance guidelines for any future services.”
Maximus, it seems, is firmly established with Sangamon County government and is now gaining entry to Springfield city government.
Maximus is one of the largest providers of business process outsourcing services in the U.S. and the countries it serves. Maximus employs more than 7,000 people and conducts business in almost every state, with more than 200 offices in the U.S., Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and Israel.
According to the company’s annual federal Securities and Exchange Commission report for the period ending Sept. 30, 2010, Maximus “is primarily focused on administering government-sponsored programs such as Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), health care reform, welfareto-work, Medicare, child support enforcement and other government programs.”
And they make a lot of money doing it.
For the period ended Sept. 30, 2010, Maximus reported revenue from general operations of $831.7 million and, according to Bloomberg Business Week, it has upped its 2011 general revenue forecast to between $925 and $930 million. Like Ross Perot, who made millions in Medicare and Medicaid outsourcing with his Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS), David V. Mastran, founder of Maximus in 1975, has made the business of poverty and public service very lucrative, especially for company executives and board members.
According to Forbes.com, Richard A. Montoni, chief executive officer and director of Maximus, received a total 2010 compensation package worth $3,258,409. Other top executives
at Maximus received the following 2010 total compensation packages:
chief financial officer and treasurer - $1,437,768; president of human
services, $1,167,109; president of federal services, $1,086,141; and
president of health services, $1,758,791
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