County eliminates 5 jobs

Five jobs were eliminated Friday in the Citrus County Department of Development Services, according to a news release.

After reorganization in the department, five budgeted staff positions were found to be no longer needed, according to Lindsay Ubinas, county spokeswoman.

Vince Cautero, development services director, completed his evaluation of the department and decided to reorganize responsibilities and assignments to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Expected long-term savings are projected to be about $300,000 annually.

Cautero’s department includes the divisions of building, code compliance, land development and planning. Its programs and projects guide the growth and development of the county through plan review, permitting, inspections, code enforcement, land use planning, environmental sciences and historic preservation.

Staff members held the following positions that were eliminated: planning division director, flood management coordinator, senior planner, senior secretary and GIS/CADD technician.

The employees affected will receive assistance by the Human Resources Department in finding other employment.

During the past three years, the county budget has had to be cut by almost $53 million. Part of this savings was achieved by already eliminating 116 county jobs, according to Chronicle archives. These job losses have been gradual through the years.

This year, the Citrus County Board of County Commissioners will need to find a savings of $4 million, although commissioners play no role in departmental administrative decisions.

Chronicle reporter Chris Van Ormer can be reached at cvanormer@chronicleonline.com or 352-564-2916.