COEUR d'ALENE - The Kootenai County commissioners are implementing some government restructuring, they announced on Tuesday, including the elimination of 10 positions across multiple departments, expected to save $415,000 a year.

The reductions were spurred by reduced workload in some departments, said Commissioner Jai Nelson, and efforts to streamline duties.

"This is what we determined was the best fiscally prudent thing to do," Nelson said. "I think this is one of the first policy changes the new board has made, and this is an important one."

Commissioner Dan Green said the commissioners will continue looking at possible reforms in other departments.

"We know we were spending money where it was not prudent, and we're trying to be more efficient," Green said. "This is what we were charged to do, to run this more like a business."

The reforms including cutting one administrative secretary position in the commissioners' office, two detention counselor positions from Juvenile Detention and seven from the Building and Planning Department.

The commissioners agreed the secretary duties could be streamlined among other staff, Nelson said.

Cutting positions at District 1 Juvenile Detention Center was proposed by Detention Director J.T. Taylor, due to decline in detained individuals.

"There's been a substantial downturn in the juvenile population over the past several years," Taylor said. "We try to avoid any knee-jerk reaction to downturns or trends, but it had maintained for quite a while."

The most affected department will be the Planning and Building Department, now taking on the new title of Kootenai County Department of Community Development.

It's undergoing a total reorganization, including reduction of positions in all areas, on account of lightened workload during sluggish construction years.

Although the number of permits issued has remained fairly constant, Nelson said, the types of projects are much smaller.

"If it's just a little project, it's not going to take the intense time or reviewing," she said.

Scott Clark, department director who worked with the commissioners on the restructuring, said some positions were already held vacant.

"It's certainly something that we recognize, that we don't want to have folks in here that were not busy," he said.

The department will also convert four existing positions into new titles: Deputy building official, planning manager, code enforcement deputy and an executive administrative position.

This should distribute responsibilities more broadly across different divisions, Clark said.

"What we hope will be an outcome of that is to provide better customer service," he said.

Some of those positions will be advertised for hire shortly.

Together, the new positions and reductions will result in overall savings of $286,000 a year.

Clark has also established new customer service standards, spelling out how quickly department services will be provided.

"It's a way for the public to know what to expect, and for our staff to work toward obtaining those standards," he said.

The name change, he added, better reflects the range of services the department provides.

Kootenai County has about 300 employees. Its budget this fiscal year is $72,151,802.

Commissioner Tondee, out of the office on Tuesday, stated in a press release that the county sets a goal of doing more with less.

"The departments have again stepped up to meet the challenge," he said.