County Mulls Cutting 13 Departments

BROOKSVILLE - The fallout from Amendment 1 and a faltering economy could force the county to cut the number of government departments from about 25 to 12, County Administrator Hamilton said Thursday.

That would eliminate the need for many managers and supervisory personnel, some of whom will be offered retirement buyouts.

Hamilton said cutting management positions is preferable to laying off rank-and-file employees because the upper echelon jobs incur the highest costs in salaries and benefits.

"(Rank and file) job reductions are on the table but, from my perspective, it's one of the last options we will be looking at," he said.

Hamilton would not identify which departments should be cut. That could be determined by a meeting he would like to set up soon comprised of about 25 people, which would include a mix of constitutional officers and appointed department heads.

He said he will also know more when he gets the first draft of his balanced budget, probably later this month or in July.

Hamilton stressed that county commissioners would have the last word on department reductions and job cuts.

Hamilton said fewer departments would necessitate managers taking on more duties as their responsibilities increase. As part of the streamlining, there could also be divisions within departments, he said.

It's the classic case of "doing more with less" as Hernando County government moves toward downsizing, Hamilton said.

"We want to increase accountability and give broader authority to key department heads to manage the organization," Hamilton said.

Constitutional officers, even though they are elected, would also step up to the plate and share in the responsibilities, he said.

"The bottom line is that we are using the budget and the lowered bottom line to reconfigure our organization and manage Hernando County more efficiently," Hamilton said.

He stressed that taxpayers should be kept in the loop as the streamlining process takes shape.

While line staffers' jobs are not in immediate jeopardy, there is a move afoot to review the current pay grid system for all employees - possibly switching from a system based on a broad job grade classification to one resembling more of a "step" system.

Deputy County Administrator Larry Jennings said a step system would create a more standardized compensation system and allow the county to better define the progression of employees who rise through the ranks.

Currently, the minimum starting salary for the lowest grade is $6.79 per hour, which is also Florida's minimum wage. An employee starting out at that salary would make $14,123 annually, according to statistics supplied by the county's Human Resources Department.

The maximum a starting employee can make is currently $9.18 per hour, or $19,094 a year.

The maximum hourly rate for the highest pay grade is currently $61.93 per hour, or $128,823 annually.

Citrus County currently operates under a similar pay grade system.

Earlier this week, Hamilton released a list of 12 budget "drivers" to identify potential savings in a downsized market.

One of those drivers addresses the current employee pay grid system.

"What we need is something far more detailed than what we have and, as much as possible, it needs to be universally applied throughout the organization," he said.

The current system, based in large part on an employee classification and compensation study by the Mercer consulting firm, does not provide a detailed plan the county needs to plan a budget over a period of years, he said.