Oregon Public Broadcasting

Construction permits will likely take longer to come through in Portland, with the city preparing to cut more than half the workers in its Bureau of Development Services. April Baer reports.

Development Services is the office that handles building permits, building inspections, and some other jobs like noise control.

City Commissioner Randy Leonard oversees the bureau -- he says since it runs on building permit revenue, it's always been the first to reflect economic booms.

Randy Leonard: "After the last recession, we actually knew at the Bureau of Development services we were coming out of the recession before any of the analysts knew."

But unfortunately, it's usually the first to suffer in bust times. 52 positions have already been cut over the past year, but that hasn't been enough to counteract the ongoing building slump.

90 more people are losing jobs by September 1st. If things don't improve by the end of the year, 45 more jobs will be cut.

Leonard says he fears the wait-time for permits will grow, but the staff is looking at major restructuring.

Leonard is offering some of his own staff to help out at the bureau.