County personnel committee approves job eliminations and reclassifications in health and human services

Pine County commissioners approved multiple personnel changes affecting Health and Human Services and county administrative functions, with projected 2026 savings tied to several position eliminations and reclassifications. At the personnel committee report, commissioners acknowledged and approved multiple resignations and recommended changes including: - Elimination of a public health educator position effective Sept. 19, 2025, with duties reassigned to other public health staff; county administration projected approximately $82,000 in 2026 savings from the elimination. - Elimination of one full‑time child support officer position by Dec. 31, 2025, due to declining caseloads; estimated savings of $31,000 in 2026 (commission discussion noted that some costs are reimbursable and savings are not entirely direct). - Acknowledgement of a resignation for an eligibility worker (effective Aug. 27, 2025) and consideration to backfill at a later date. - For child protection, the board acknowledged the resignation of a Grade 10 social worker and approved a proposal to waive the county’s two‑month waiting period for backfill and to backfill instead with a Grade 7 Community Support Technician (CST) at a lower starting wage ($24.66/hr). County staff said the CST could perform supervised visitation and transportation services previously contracted externally, producing estimated 2026 savings of more than $20,000 (about $10,000 for position wage difference and $10,000 from reduced contracted services). Other personnel actions - The board approved an update to the account technician job description to remove references to the Minnesota merit system and to reflect a revised reporting structure, after human resources manager Jackie Koydisto described the county’s exit from the merit recruitment process. - The board approved reassigning responsibilities for a vacant clerk 3 and auditor responsibilities to an account technician position (one of three) to realize an estimated $60,000 savings in 2026. Discussion and caveats Commissioners questioned the timeline and justification for grading and recruitment — particularly the proposal to backfill a child protection role with a lower‑graded position — and staff described a six‑month on‑the‑job training period for new child protection workers, plus typical hiring windows that can take two months. Commissioners said they expected “more make‑your‑case” details for exceptions to the county’s backfill waiting policy. Formal actions and next steps The personnel committee’s recommendations were moved and seconded on the board floor and approved by voice vote; where savings were cited, staff said they would be reflected in the 2026 budget. The board also directed human resources to complete memoranda of agreement with exclusive representatives as needed to implement the changes. Ending: Commissioners approved the personnel committee recommendations, with staff to finalize job descriptions, MOUs and to track the projected budget savings.