Lee County Clerk and Comptroller Kevin Karnes is proud to announce $787,175 in proposed savings of taxpayer money. These funds are a direct result of the Clerk’s new Chief of Government Efficiency role, which the Clerk created six months ago to save taxpayer dollars.
Since the inception of the role in February, the Chief of Government Efficiency (also known as CoGE) has been focusing on identifying cost-saving measures and providing strategic recommendations to help reduce the office’s budget, streamline operations, and promote a culture of excellence. John Bodner serves as the Clerk’s CoGE.
Through a new line-item budget review from the CoGE and a second line-item review at the Clerk level, Clerk Karnes was able to save the county significant funds by reducing the Clerk’s annual budget for fiscal year 2025-2026, which begins Oct. 1, 2025. Through these new line item budget reviews, the Clerk’s office was able to submit a proposed budget to the Board of County Commissioners with a budgetary decrease of 4.7%, which is a $787,175 reduction from the year prior.
“As Lee County’s Clerk and Comptroller, I am committed to being a good steward of taxpayer money,” said Karnes. “That is why I created the CoGE initiative – to save our county’s tax dollars. When I became Clerk, I set a vision for myself and my office to be ‘1% better than yesterday.’ With that mantra in mind, my goal was to cut the office budget by at least 1%.
“To ultimately reduce our budget by 4.7% speaks to all the hard work we are doing to save taxpayer money. The CoGE role has only been in existence for six months, and I couldn’t be prouder of all the savings we have already achieved.”
This is the first year in more than a decade the Clerk’s office has been able to submit a decreased budget from the year prior.
To review the Clerk’s budget and other financial reports, please visit www.leeclerk.org/finance.
ABOUT THE CLERK’S OFFICE:
The Florida Constitution established the Clerk of the Circuit Court as a public trustee, responsible for safeguarding public records and public funds. Clerk Kevin Karnes is directly elected by and accountable to Lee County residents. In addition to the role of Clerk of the Circuit Court, the Clerk is the County Recorder and Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners, and the Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Auditor for Lee County.
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