Continue Discussion on Outsourcing Ramsey Resident Newsletter

The purpose of this case is to discuss options for reducing the overall cost of the Ramsey Resident newsletter and allowing the Administrative Department to allocate more time to other tasks such as records retention. Our goal is to make this process more efficient and cost-effective as outlined in our Strategic Plan. 

The City Charter requires the City to publish a minimum of six Newsletters per calendar year. (Sec. 12.13)  Currently, the City publishes a bi-monthly Ramsey Resident Newsletter which fulfills this requirement. In addition, the Community Development Department publishes one to two Ramsey Recycler newsletters per year which fulfills the Select Committee On Recycling Environment (SCORE) funding requirements. These newsletters are bulk mailed to every address in Ramsey, including all businesses, for a total of approximately 10,600 addresses.  The newsletter is currently printed by Countryside Printing with ads being sold by Scott Robinson of Universal Apparel. The revenue from ad sales is split 50/50 between the City of Ramsey and Universal Apparel. The invoicing for ads is handled by the City's Finance Department.

Since we last met on this topic (May 14), staff has conducted research in terms of how other cities of similar population handle their newsletters and what other vendors exist that can handle the design, printing and solicitation of ad sales. Other than PRIME, staff found no other vendor that coordinates the design, printing and advertisement sales. Most companies, on the chart provided, only have the capabilities to handle the design and printing. The following six options exist:
 

1. Completely outsource the Ramsey Resident Newsletter to PRIME (four, 24-page full color glossy Ramsey Resident Newsletters, one Community Guide and at least one 4-page Ramsey Recycler)
2. Continue (as is/no change) using Countryside Printing, Scott Robinson (ads) and staff time for design (Six, bi-monthly Ramsey Resident newsletters, no community guide and at least one 4-page recycler)
3. Select a new designer and printer, Scott Robinson (ads) (Six, bi-monthly Ramsey Resident newsletters)
4. Discontinue print newsletter and move to electronic only (Would require an amendment to the existing Charter; the City would then be able to determine how many it wishes to produce)
5. Use a combination of these methods (i.e. Move to quarterly newsletter designed in house with ads being sold by Scott Robinson, outsource with PRIME for Community Guide and publish at least one Ramsey Recycler to meet our six required publications)
6. Other combination approach

 
Please note that the cost of postage will remain relatively consistent no matter which vendor is selected as postage is determined by weight and number mailed.

 Administrative Services Staffing
The Administrative Clerk is currently responsible for collecting articles and designing the newsletter.  In 2018 the Administrative Clerk spent 184 hours on the newsletter. Staff proposes that the Administrative Clerk would spend more time on other duties within her job description, but especially records retention, which includes the ongoing task of scanning, retaining and destroying city records.  

Looking ahead, in December 2019 the part-time 20 hour per week City Clerk will retire.   To help off-set some of the loss of staffing hours, the long-term succession plan currently in place allocates an additional 11 hours per week to an Administrative Assistant already working part-time in Administrative Services, but this is still a drop of 9 hours per week in the Administrative Services Department.  Opening up more time in the Administrative Clerk’s schedule would help off-set some of this reduction. 

By outsourcing the design work, combined with condensing the number of publications and the number of pages per publication, the City can cut its annual newsletter expenditures to an estimated $32,500. By taking these steps, it would also allow the Administrative Department to accomplish more tasks with its existing staff.

Previous Meeting Questions/Concerns
At the May 14 Work Session, the Council brought up concerns about the paper quality and design of the example presented and the current Ramsey Resident newsletter.

Regardless of the design vendor chosen, staff has the flexibility to work with the designer to see that the adopt our current design and match paper quality.

A question was also asked about the City's control or copyrights over the newsletter. If the newsletter is outsourced, designers will work with us on proofing and we will still own the copyrights to the newsletter. It should be noted that, with other vendors the City would be responsible for copy editing content. With PRIME, their design team would copy edit our material.

Lastly, a question was also asked about alternative vendors, other than PRIME, that have the same scope of services. In your packet you will find a table outlining which vendors staff contacted, their scope of services and how much they charge for those services. Please note that, while PRIME's numbers appear to be the highest, their scope of services is greater than any other design and printing company staff found.

Advantages to Outsourcing
To reduce costs and staff time spent dedicated to the newsletter, staff is recommending a combination of the options by outsourcing the newsletter, as follows: Four quarterly newsletters, PRIME's Annual Community Guide and at least one Ramsey Recycler, for the following reasons:

1) The Community Resource Guide is an economic development marketing tool designed to promote Ramsey business and market Ramsey to other businesses looking to locate in the area. The Guide would serve as a helpful tool for the City to retain and draw retail to Ramsey - an important issue for Ramsey residents as outlined in the latest Citizen Survey.
2) The Ramsey Recycler would serve as a dual purpose document - it would also be reimbursed by SCORE funding and also help the City meet its Charter requirements. The City currently publishes the Recycler in addition to its newsletter. Please note, in order to be reimbursed by SCORE funds, the City is required to educate the public about the changes in global recycling trends via a print publication.
3) Condensing from six issues to four, this would amount to less dollars spent on printing and postage and also a drop in staff time.

Staff Recommendation
Of the six options listed above, it is staff's recommendation to use a combination approach, as follows: outsource the Ramsey Resident, the Community Resource Guide and at least one 4-page Ramsey Recycler to PRIME Advertising. This would then meet our requirements via City Charter.  Staff also plans to make a concerted effort to reduce article length, in turn, reducing the number of pages to help reduce printing costs. This would save both staff time and overall publication cost.This would account for an approximate 25 percent cost reduction.

Another scenario that would save annual costs and only slightly reduce staff time spent on the newsletter is to convert from a bi-monthly (6) to a quarterly (4) Ramsey Resident Newsletter and at least one Ramsey Recycler in house and outsource the Community Resource Guide to PRIME. This would meet our City Charter requirements and amount to an estimated 40 percent cost reduction. Whatever the outcome, City staff retains copyrights and remains in full ownership of the Ramsey Resident Newsletter.

 

16-Page in house	16-page PRIME
$32,095	$36,664
-4,164 (SCORE)	-4,164 (SCORE)
$27,931	$32,500

These numbers are an estimate and may fluctuate slightly due to ad sales, printing and postage. Please note the current amount spent on the Ramsey Resident is $42,190.50. Both options would yield a cost savings.

Staff is recommending a start time of January 1, 2020.

The funding for the Ramsey Resident is a line item in the General Fund Budget. The funding for the Ramsey Recycler is initially paid for by the City and is later reimbursed via the Select Committee on Recycling and the Environment (SCORE) funds, which the City receives  as part of its Recycling Agreement with Anoka County. Please note that the City must publish education material regarding changes in global recycling patterns in order to be reimbursed by SCORE. The staff time spent designing the Ramsey Recycler is charged to the Ramsey Resident line item.

 

Communications and Events Coordinator Megan Thorstad

For the City Council to direct staff, based on discussion, on how to produce the City's newsletter.