Positions within Sweetwater County government are being restaffed, with some positions being eliminated or changed, following staff members leaving as part of the county’s voluntary separation program.
Positions in the Accounting Department, Titles Department and the County Assessor’s Office were approved to be restaffed during Tuesday’s County Commission meeting, all of which were connected to changes resulting from the voluntary separation program.
The program is for people who want to retire or have other reasons for leaving their employment with the county, according to Human Resources Director Garry McLean. When they meet certain criteria, they can receive incentives as part of the program when they leave.
“If, as a result of that, we can save some money, meaning that we could replace it at a lower level or in some cases eliminate the position, which we’ve done for a number of them, then we’ll consider doing it,” McLean explained.
One of the changes approved by the commissioners this week was to eliminate the position of Office Manager in the County Assessor’s Office, which had an annual employment cost of $105,177.45, and replace the position with a full time field assistant, anticipated to have an annual employment cost of $76,687.43, resulting in a savings of $28,490.02 annually.
The County Assessor’s Office was also approved to promote an existing employee to the vacant position of Chief Appraiser and to staff a seasonal field assistant position. These changes are required due to the “chain reaction” of positions being moved around, Sweetwater County Assessor David Divis explained to the commissioners.
In the Accounting Department, the commissioners approved the request to restaff an accounting clerk vacancy but postponed the decision to restaff the Accounting Clerk Supervisor position because of details that needed to be adjusted. The commissioners anticipated approving this decision at the next meeting. County Clerk Cindy Lane explained she has already decided on an existing employee to promote to the lead position, and positions will not be vacated until May, but she wants to have time to start recruiting to restaff the other position.
The anticipated annual savings for the Titles Department added up to $18,372.
The Titles Department was approved to promote an existing employee to the Auto Title Clerk Supervisor position and restaff the employee’s current position as a Title Clerk. The anticipated costs from these changes saw an increase due to changes in health insurance.
Restructuring and reducing costs through the voluntary separation program has saved Sweetwater County money over the years and cut down the number of county employees, according to McLean. He estimated the county had approximately 235 employees in the early 2010s and currently has less than 250 employees.
“We’ve probably saved over $15 million since doing this,” McLean said.
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