Island County to cut hours offices are open to public

Island County commissioners said Wednesday they would cut hours that four county offices will be open to the public in light of the county's $1 million budget shortfall.

All of the offices that will see reduced hours are located in the Courthouse Administration Building in Coupeville. The human resources office, and the offices for county treasurer, county assessor and county auditor will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays starting Monday, March 2.

Hours for the county's offices in the courthouse and annex will remain the same, and will continue to be open to the public from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The offices include the planning department, public works, the health department, sheriff's office, prosecuting attorney's office, and the WSU Extension office. Hours for the courts will also not change.

The cutbacks in service hours are necessary due to diminished staff levels caused by the layoffs late last year. Island County cut the equivalent of 31 full-time jobs to bridge a $2 million budget gap in the 2009 budget.

More layoffs are expected as the county tries to overcome a new $1 million shortfall, largely caused by a drop in investment revenues due to the sour economy.

Comment on this story.

COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in our online community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read.