San Juan County Community Development and Planning Department (CDPD) Director Ron Henrickson reported this week that his department will lay off two of its three permit coordinators effective March 24, due a significant drop in permit revenues.

“We regret this is necessary. It is extremely difficult to lose good people,” he said.

“But in the face of declining revenues, we felt like we had no choice.”

According to Henrickson, a sharp drop-off in construction activity in the county reduced CDPD revenues in January and February by 35 percent compared to the average for the last three years. He noted that other Puget Sound counties have experienced even greater declines and there is no indication that there will be a turnaround in the near future.

The building and land use permitting functions of the department are funded solely by construction and land use permit revenue, receiving no support from county property tax funds.

“Over the last three years we were able to build a dedicated team of professionals which allowed us to improve the department’s performance and significantly reduced processing time during a construction boom,” Henrickson said. “However, given the level of current reduced level of building activity, we do not anticipate a diminution in the level of service with our existing staff.”

Commenting on the lay-offs, County Administrator Pete Rose said, “These are difficult times for all county departments. We are trying very hard to take care of our team of talented and dedicated employees, while dealing with the harsh reality that the County has no rainy day fund to fall back on. All department budgets began the year with very little ability to absorb further declines in revenues.”