Scott and Carver commissioners ask staff to explore targeted shared services — dispatch, IT, libraries and health-care pooling
Summary
Commissioners directed administrators to identify about 20 high-priority positions/functions where Scott and Carver counties could partner to save costs or address staffing shortages, with follow-up feasibility work and a reconvening planned after the legislative session.
During a broad discussion on shared services, Scott and Carver County leaders asked administrators to prepare a prioritized feasibility list of services and positions that could be combined, shared or coordinated.
The conversation covered concrete categories: shared or backup 911/dispatch coverage; medical services for jails; joint technology leadership and interoperability (shared CTO, Workday and GIS alignment); extended library access with staggered hours; pooled insurance/health-care cost strategies; and cooperative emergency management and public-health medical directors. Commissioners emphasized solutions must protect service levels and be neutral on net personnel—opportunities should arise through attrition and improved interoperability rather than immediate layoffs.
"What would it look like if we asked our staff to go find the 20 most impactful roles that we anticipate they're gonna be changeover, that are hard to hire...and come back with a list where we might actually partner together," one commissioner said, asking for a pragmatic list-based approach. Chairs asked staff to return with feasibility analysis and to reconvene in May after sine die at the legislature.
What happens next: county administrators were charged to produce a curated list of partnership opportunities and a feasibility plan; the boards agreed to reconvene after the legislative session to review staff proposals.
