That option will ensure county services do not get bloated by overcharging simply because there is no competition, Crockett said. That scenario came to light just last week as county leaders acknowledged the fleet division had been overcharging various county programs for vehicle use. Those excessive costs to offices such as the sheriff's office built up a $10 million surplus in the fleet division.

"We want to ensure that everything we offer here is competitive," Willmore said. "If we can't, people ought to be able to look elsewhere."

The new department also will be kept in check by not having a guaranteed annual budget. The $53 million combined budgets of all eight divisions under its purview will have to be negotiated each year based on quality and cost of service.

That annual discussion, Crockett said, will ensure the divisions are not getting too fat or comfortable.

But not all the county's council members are sold on the new department. Councilman David Wilde lobbied to hold off on restructuring county government without any steering-committee research.

Creating an entirely new department, he said, is too big a decision to make "on the fly" and with little concrete data showing potential savings for the county.

"This is a big step. This is going to affect so many people, so many divisions," he said. "County government has had some problems in the last year, but it's been around for many years and hasn't fallen apart yet."

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E-mail: estewart@desnews.com