Scott County considers combining area plan director and cartographer roles to save payroll costs

Scott County commissioners and council members debated whether to combine the area plan director and county cartographer positions to reduce personnel costs and improve continuity.

At a joint session Oct. 7, Stacy (the county employee currently performing both sets of duties) proposed placing both job duties under a single person and hiring a three-day-a-week part-time assistant to provide backup and training. "My suggestion was to put both jobs together ... with a part time person, maybe a 3 day a week part time person," Stacy said, describing the need for coverage and training.

County staff and commissioners discussed the budget math in detail. The transcript shows the area plan director salary at $35,053 and the cartographer at $36,005.73; commissioners and staff said combining duties and adding $10,000 to the incumbent's salary while hiring a roughly $13,000-per-year part-timer would increase the county's payroll for these lines compared with leaving both positions separate but would be cheaper than hiring entirely new full-time staff. A staff calculation presented during the meeting said combining the roles with the proposed adjustments would cost roughly $25,000 more in total payroll than the current single-role budgeting but likely avoid higher recruitment and training costs.

Council members and commissioners repeatedly emphasized preserving service continuity and training. Jennifer Floyd, who spoke for the auditor's office, said the auditor's office needs additional staff regardless of the cartographer decision: "We're gonna have to have another person," she said.

Commissioners said they would move the cartography line into the commissioners' budget and leave the area plan director line in the area planning commission budget (also under the commissioners). Several officials expressed informal support for making the transfer effective Jan. 1 and for advertising the vacancy that would be created in the auditor's office. Staff cautioned that a formal salary-ordinance amendment and approved combined job description must be in place before any employee can assume the new title or pay.

Why it matters: county officials said the change would centralize mapping and permitting functions, reduce the risk of service interruptions if a single staffer leaves, and provide a lower-cost training pathway than hiring two new full-time employees. Officials repeatedly framed the proposal as a budget-year planning item rather than a final personnel action.

What happens next: staff will create a combined job description, advertise the auditor vacancy created by any transfer, and prepare any required salary-ordinance changes for formal action. Commissioners indicated Jan. 1 as the target effective date if the council and legal steps are completed.

Ending: Officials said they will bring salary-ordinance changes, job descriptions and specific appropriation requests back to a future meeting for formal approval before changing payroll lines or titles.