JACKSON, Miss. – Today State Auditor Shad White announced the City of Cleveland as the third winner of the Mississippi Public Innovations and Efficiencies (PIE) Award. The PIE award is given to government offices for cutting costs, reducing waste, and improving efficiency in the workplace.

To win the Award, the City of Cleveland improved efficiency by going paperless. All Cleveland’s internal and external documents were brought online, and current forms were digitized for electronic submission, saving staff time. 

Cleveland began the process of going paperless in 2017 and estimates that it has saved the city over $25,000 in the last five years in paper and printing costs alone.

“I’m proud of the City Clerk and all our department heads that work so hard to keep our City moving forward.  The conversion to paperless for our applications and processes in the City has streamlined our processes internally and for our citizens.  This award is evidence of those efforts,” said Mayor Billy Nowell.

“We spend a lot of time in the auditor’s office pointing out when people steal or do wrong with taxpayer funds, so it’s nice to be able to point out a time when someone in government is saving taxpayers money,” said Auditor White. “That’s why we created our PIE award, and that’s why it’s nice to be able to honor the City of Cleveland for the savings they generated by digitizing records.”

“I hope this inspires others in government to get creative, find savings, and then report it to us in next year’s PIE contest. If you save enough cash for taxpayers, I’ll even come and bring you an old-fashioned Mississippi pecan pie,” said White.

Other 2022 PIE winners are the Vicksburg-Warren School District which used computer software to keep its students safe and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College with its creative work-study program.

The 2023 Mississippi PIE Award will open to school districts, county or city governments, and any other government office in the state in January 2023. The winners will be notified and awarded beginning in March. Applications can be found on the Auditor’s website.

Questions about the program or application process can be emailed to PIE@osa.ms.gov or directed to Kelley Ryan.