A county committee put its weight behind merging the Health and Human Services departments Thursday.

The group of employees studying the merger presented to the board about the pros and cons of joining the two departments, and officials said the change could be implemented as early as next spring.

“Our transition team is in agreement that we do support merging the positions,” said Human Services Director Julie Stevermer.

The merger could save $90,000 next year, according to budget projections. The county board could approve the merger as soon as Tuesday, Dec. 13. Still, the soonest the merger could take place is April 1.

“We have a lot of work to do,” Stevermer said.

One big remaining issue is negotiations with the two unions involved. Merging the departments means employees may have to leave one union and join another, which can be tricky.

Another issue will be training, according to County Coordinator Craig Oscarson. Currently, the employees are not trained to cross duties between departments, but certain employees will have duties applying to both Health and Human Services.

“There’s going to be a lot training involved,” Oscarson said.

Lisa Kocer, interim director of Public Health, said the community health services manager position will be different from the director position held by Margene Gunderson.

Kocer said there could be less time available for community outreach and collaborative community projects.

“I still think that’s going to be important and we’ll do as much as we can,” Kocer said. “But it won’t be, perhaps, as much as the prior administrator.”

The board commended the committee for the work it has done. While other counties hired consultants to study such mergers, the county board opted to have staff investigate, which Stevermer said saved about $20,000.