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Prince William announces layoffs
Prince William announces layoffs
By Tara Slate Donaldson
Times-Democrat Staff Writer
Layoffs are already underway in the Prince William County government as officials scramble to cut the budget in the wake of the economic downturn.
On Dec. 9, supervisors approved a plan to eliminate 42 positions in development, transportation, public works and planning. Of those, 17 are currently filled by employees who have been told that they will need to move on by February.
“It's driven by workload,” said County Executive Craig Gerhart. “The development that's occurring in our community is substantially less than we anticipated.”
The problem is that the county's Department of Development Services is funded by development fees. Because development has slowed, the fees aren't coming in as expected. That means there isn't enough work for all of the employees, and there isn't enough money to pay them, either.
It's especially painful, Gerhart said, because officials had been working hard to improve the process for businesses and homeowners seeking to build in Prince William.
For years, supervisors have been listening to complaints that the county's development process is unnecessarily time consuming and difficult. Several years ago, they went to work on the problem, constructing a new Development Services Building and bringing in new workers to streamline the process.
“To a very significant degree, these folks have succeeded,” Gerhart said. “It's very unfortunate that we have to take this action.”
But the alternative is a $4 million shortfall in the land-development area and another $2.7 million shortfall in the Building Development Division.
So of the 180 fee-supported positions, 42 will be impacted.
“The employees who would be impacted by this already know they are being impacted,” said Assistant County Executive Susan Roltsch.
She added that the Human Resources Department is working with the employees to help them find new jobs in vacant positions within the county. They're also being allowed to field calls from potential outside employers while they're on the clock.
“We're trying to make it as easy as possible on the remaining employees and hope by February we will have placed more of these employees,” she said, adding that if other workers retire or move on, more of the impacted employees could be shifted to vacancies.
One of the jobs that is being impacted is that of an arborist. Prince William currently has two arborists who review development plans to ensure that trees and buffers are being protected. One of the two jobs is being eliminated and the other one will be revamped for efficiency.
However, the county will still have an arborist, much to the relief of supervisors who have been getting calls from citizens concerned about that particular layoff.
“This is a community that really does like trees,” said Occoquan Supervisor Mike May (R).
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