County to decide on more layoffs

On Tuesday morning, the Tulare County Board of Supervisors will vote to layoff 12 people in the Resource Management Agency.

The layoffs would save the county $759,000 annually, and are in response to declining building permit and land use applications “due to the recession,” according to a staff report.

If approved by supervisors, four people who work in the project review division, six people who work in the building inspection division, one person from the building maintenance division and one person from the custodial division will be handed pink slips Jan. 15.

In June, three employees from RMA were let go due to a large drop building permit activity.

The board will also consider an agreement with a Visalia-based housing rehabilitation organization to carry out management services for the county’s First-Time Homebuyer Mortgage Assistance Programs.

If approved, the county will spend $75,000 of a $900,000 grant to pay Self-Help Enterprises for its services.

The remaining money will be spread among 15 first-time homebuyers in Cutler-Orosi, Earlimart, Goshen, Ivanhoe, Pixley and Poplar-Cotton Center.

The grant was awarded by the California Department of Housing and Community Development CalHome Program as a continuation of the county’s mortgage assistance program.

The Tulare County Board of Supervisors meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday at 2800 W. Burrel Ave. in Visalia.