Colleen Renner

Park County Clerk Colleen Renner plans to try reducing her staff by a half-a-position, converting a vacant, full-time job into a part-time one.

“We’d like to save the county some money,” Renner told commissioners on Tuesday.

The plan could potentially save the county as much as $40,000 a year, though whether the clerk will be able to make do with a part-time worker remains to be seen.

Renner indicated she plans to advertise the position over the coming weeks and see what interest it draws. If the clerk finds no good candidates, she may ask commissioners to allow her to hire a full-time position instead.

Commissioners are always looking for ways to cut costs, but they had some questions about the clerk’s part-time plan.

“I do commend you for trying to save us some money,” said Commissioner Joe Tilden, “but is this a wise move?”

Tilden remembered that Renner tried reducing her staff by a full position a couple years ago, and that proved unsustainable; additionally, the office became overwhelmed and fell behind last summer after a death and a departure temporarily left two positions vacant.

However, Renner said she wanted to give this new plan a try, noting that her office is currently caught up on its work and that the treasurer’s office has had success with part-time help.

“We’ve never tried it,” she said.

Commissioner Lloyd Thiel called it “a great idea” — though he wondered what would happen if the clerk discovers that she needs more than part-time help; would the new part-time worker then be laid off?

In that scenario, Renner said her intent would be to try to hire another part-time worker. The county would still come out as much as $25,000 ahead in that scenario, because, unlike a full-time worker, neither part-time employee would receive health insurance or retirement benefits.

There has also been some discussion about whether the county might consider hiring a “floater,” who could work between four or five offices within the courthouse throughout the year.

“This might be a way that we could do multiple things with one person,” Commissioner Dossie Overfield said, adding “If this works, this may work really good.”

In the meantime, however, Renner plans to advertise the deputy clerk position as working from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in her office, helping to cover the busiest part of the day. Starting pay is $13.73 an hour.

The new hire will replace a worker who recently decided she couldn’t handle the job, Renner said, saying the work is “very stressful.”

“There’s a lot of parts and pieces to it, you have to work with the public,” she said.

The clerk described the position as a potential opportunity for a mom who wants a part-time job.

“Or dad,” chimed in Commision Chairman Lee Livingston.