Sparks announced the layoff of five full-time employees in the Community Development Department on Monday. An additional two employees were transferred to other city departments.

Community Develop-ment Director Neil Krutz said the slumping housing market and state budget cuts are “literally what’s driving these changes.”

Krutz said the department is not taking in fees from builders for permits and, as a result, the city has had to reduce its staff. The layoffs come after more than a year of budget studies by the department to identify other ways to cut costs before layoffs were considered.

The eliminated positions include: three building inspectors, one building plans examiner, one assistant planner, one office administrator and one public works inspector.

The impact will be in the length of time it will take for Community Development to process applications for permits and provide other services. Krutz said currently it takes four weeks to complete the process from the time they receive an application for a building permit, to the time when the city has completed its initial review.

“We’re hard-pressed to put a new timeframe” on the process, Krutz said.

“This is a dreadful process that the city worked diligently to avoid,” Sparks City Manager Shaun Carey said. “Layoffs are not simply business decisions; they are complex and affect people’s lives. Our Community Development Department has grown tremendously in recent years and has done an outstanding job keeping up with the growth we’ve seen in our city. Unfortunately, when growth slows, staffing levels are impacted most.”

In addition to Monday’s layoffs and transfers, one temporary employee was released the previous week, another full-time staff member recently found other employment, and a third employee’s salary and benefits have been divided with another city department. An additional 17 positions in the department are currently unfilled and will remain so.

The total cost savings to the department is approximately $850,000 per year.

The Sparks Community Development Department is primarily funded by fees paid for building permits, inspections, planning and other development services. The layoffs do not have an effect on the city’s general fund, according to city officials.

Karen Todd, customer service coordinator, said the funding for the department’s staff is generated from its enterprise fund, which was specifically meant to allow for the expansion of staff.

In 1998, before the building boom, Krutz said the department peaked at 42 employees. Today, there are 84 authorized positions, but Krutz said the city has had to limit the staff to 53 employees.

“We’re very much back to a pre-boom type of structure for this department,” Krutz said.

He also said it would be difficult to predict when the 17 additional jobs would be filled.

“It’s really going to be a function of where this economy is going,” Krutz said.

Although current ongoing projects will not be affected by the layoffs, Krutz said were it not for the Legends at Sparks Marina development, it would be difficult to support the department’s work.

To help in the transition, the city placed the laid-off employees on paid administrative leave for two weeks and will maintain employee benefits through the end of April.

“I deeply regret that these layoffs were necessary,” Carey said. “We will continue to monitor our financial situation carefully and protect the interests of our citizens and our city.”