Salt Lake City leaders are moving quickly to shepherd the city's planning division out of its dysfunctional state, including making the money available to do the job.

Earlier this week, the Salt Lake City Council approved Mayor Ralph Becker's budget amendment requests for three new full-time employees in the planning division, as well as new electronic planning and review software.

The staff increases were listed as major recommendations in an audit of the planning division by management consultant company Citygate Associates. It was released earlier this month. The report labeled the city's planning processes "dysfunctional" and said that a "cultural change" was needed to remedy the problems.

"This is in direct response to the audit," David Everitt, Becker's chief of staff, said of the new planning positions.

The three full-time employees will assist with the city's new One-Stop-Shop Buzz Center. Also a recommendation of the audit, the Buzz Center is designed to provide more efficient and convenient service by allowing residents to address all of their planning and zoning needs in one place.

The council has given the OK for two principal planners (annual salary and benefits of $76,700 each) and one development-review planner ($58,600 a year) beginning May 1. A little more than $35,000 has been approved to fund the positions for the remainder of the 2007-08 fiscal year, which ends June 30.

"I'm very appreciative of the council's response to this," Becker said. "This is an unusual move for us and for the council to consider this late in the fiscal year adding positions like this."

The first-year mayor said he has been reluctant to add planning personnel, wanting to first address procedures and standards of the division. The Citygate audit, however, revealed that the planning division had significant personnel needs.

"We decided that regardless of whatever else happens in our planning, zoning and building services functions, these positions were needed now and would be needed regardless of other improvements," Becker said.

Equally significant, Everitt said, was the council's appropriation of $357,000 in one-time funds to purchase a paperless planning program from Avolve Software for planning submissions, review and approval.

"That was a remarkable budget amendment approval," he said. "It really shows support (from the council) for the changes that are being made right now."

City Council chairwoman Jill Remington Love said the council and city administration both are "very committed" to what she expects will be a several-years-long process of fixing the city's planning function.

"It's an important feature of City Hall," Love said. "We want to aggressively do the things recommended in the audit."