Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/12/2010 08:23:20 PM PST

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a merger of the Treasurer/Tax Collector and Auditor-Controller offices and the reorganization of other offices in an effort to save the county up to $1 million a year.

The plan will eliminate the elected position of Treasurer/Tax Collector and merge the functions of that office with the Auditor-Controller’s Office. It would also shift the Recorder and County Clerk offices from Auditor-Controller to Assessor, and the Public Administrator’s Office to Sheriff-Coroner.

The county will immediately save more than $500,000 a year through the elimination of positions and could eventually realize more than $1 million in annual savings, county spokesman David Wert said.

Former Treasurer/Tax Collector Dick Larsen has called the decision one of the poorest decisions made by the board in a long time. He said the move is an attempt to bypass the electoral process by taking the decision away from voters.

County supervisors, however, said the move is strictly for financial, not political, reasons.

“This is a common sense, money-saving approach that could only be achieved during a narrow window of opportunity without thwarting the will of the voters,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Gary Ovitt said in a statement.

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