Proposed Restructure of BoCC Employees To Be Revealed Tuesday

By Linda Dean Cooper

Per the January 21^st agenda, item 6, County Manager Mary Ellen Harper requests the BoCC’s approval of a new organizational structure that includes Division Directors as follows:

Cost & Funding Source:

The current budget includes an appropriation of $74,000 for a Public Information Officer. As the position is vacant, this funding can be reallocated to fund the proposed pay scale for the new organizational structure.

Justification of Request:

The proposed organizational structure reduces the County Manager’s span of control from 19 Department Directors to 12 Division Directors and incorporates the quasi-departments into the organizational structure. Each Division Manager has a span of control of five or fewer departments, allowing for improved communication, increased efficiency due to inter-departmental collaboration, and better accountability with all departments.

The Proposed Organizational Structure:

Reduces the County Manager’s Span of Control from 19 Department Directors to 12 Division Directors.
Organizes Departments into Divisions. Each Division Manager has a span of control of four or fewer Departments, allowing for improved communication, increased efficiency due to inter-departmental collaboration, and better accountability within all departments.
Creates a Fleet Division with a more forward-facing county-wide role in acquiring, managing, and repairing all county vehicles. At present, Fleet is a sub-department of the Roads and Bridges Department.
Creates a Code Enforcement Department within the Development Division. At present, Code Enforcement exists as a sub-department of the Building Department.

A Three Phase Plan

Phase I: Funding

The proposed reorganization creates added responsibilities for Division Directors. The current budget includes an appropriation of $74,000 for a Public Information Officer. As the position is vacant, this funding can be reallocated to fund the proposed pay scale for the new organizational structure.

Selection of Division Directors

If the BoCC approves this proposed organizational structure, Human Resources will invite all current employees to submit a leter of interest for all Division Director Positions except Emergency Management, Roads and Bridges, Human Resources, Engineering, and Public Safety. These Divisions are not being modified, so there is no competitive process, and the current Department Heads will become the Division Heads to maintain consistency within the organizational structure.

Division Director Positions are an added responsibility to the employee’s current job. As the county will not increase the number of employees, these opportunities will be opened only to current Levy County Employees. The County Manager will work with Human Resources to select the Division Directors. The anticipated start date for Division Directors is February 8, 2025.

Phase II: Department Evaluations and Pay Study

Once the Division Directors are in place, the County Manager and Human Resources will work with each Division Director to:

Identify any changes that should be made within each Department, including potentially adding, removing, or reclassifying positions.
Conduct a pay study for all Department-level positions.

Conclusion

The proposed organizational structure reduces the County Manager’s span of control from 19 Department Directors to 12 Division Directors. Each Division Manager has a span of control of four or fewer departments, allowing for improved communication, increased efficiency due to inter-departmental collaboration, and better accountability within all departments.

The county recently added the agenda with supporting documents to their website @ https://meetings.municode.com/PublishPage?cid=LEVYFL&ppid=30f40d5f-0bf1-4d60-8413-75276d9d7712&p=1