NEW ULM — Brown County Commissioners approved a $45,000 staff study by David Drown & Associates (DDA) Sept. 20.

Brown County Administrator Sam Hansen wrote in the request that with large turnover and upcoming retirements anticipated in the next few years, it is an ideal time to evaluate current staffing and services to Brown County citizens.

Under the agreement, questionnaires will be sent to 40 staff, they will be interviewed and findings will be presented to the county board tentatively in the first quarter of 2023.

“I feel the information is very valuable. I fully support it,” said Commissioner Dave Borchert of New Ulm.

“I was taken aback by the cost, but we may end up streamlining service and better serve the public,” said Commissioner Tony Berg, rural New Ulm.

DDA will comprehensively assess department structure with a focus on relationships within, interview elected officials land administration, review financial information, and develop recommendations and implementation strategies to assure a cost-effective, customer-oriented service delivery system.

In addition to meeting with stakeholders, phone updates will be provided to the County at every stage of the process, according to DDA.

An analysis of County operations will include administration, assessor, attorney, auditor-treasurer, highway dept., human resources, license bueau, maintenance, planning and zoning, probation, public health, recorder, sheriff and veterans service office.

Job descriptions, workloads, policies, procedures, and other internal operational documents will be reviewed in addition to reports, surveys and other external data and service delivery options from comparable counties.

The study will focus on enhancing customer service, identify new efficiencies, effective internal and external communications, organizational structure, identify current and future staff needs and organize clarity of duties and staff expectations.

(Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com).