As a part of the City of Loveland’s ongoing efforts to reduce its operating costs, the City has eliminated a receptionist position and will implement an automated phone call answering system for its main line at City Hall.

The system will provide residents calling 683-0150 with a series of options from which they can choose to direct their call to a staff member. With as little as a push of a button, callers can speak with a person who can respond to their inquiries.

The implementation of an automated answering system comes as a part of a broader effort to reduce the City’s operating costs in response to cuts in state funding and reduced property values in the community. The City of Loveland will launch a third-party administered lockbox service for utility billing which dramatically reduces the City’s inhouse utility bill processing. With this work formerly performed by the City’s receptionist position being outsourced, the City no longer had justification to keep a fulltime receptionist and as a result that position will be eliminated.

The elimination of this job is expected to save the City between $20,000 and $30,000 per year after lockbox and other costs are accounted for. The City of Loveland has eliminated 4.9 positions since 2010, cutting its work force by more than 10%. This is the first elimination of a position by means of layoff; other job eliminations have been implemented through attrition and retirements. The City’s overall personnel costs have been reduced by more than $300,000 since 2009 because of position eliminations and benefit changes, even as employees have enjoyed pay increases consistent with inflation over this period.