The Montezuma County Clerk and Recorder, Assessor and Treasurer departments will go to a four-day week schedule beginning May 1 as part of a pilot program.

The offices at 140 W. Main St. in Cortez will be open 7:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and be closed on Fridays.

Hours Monday through Friday start 45 minutes earlier in the morning and remain open one hour later into the evening. Previous hours were 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Clerk Kim Percell, Assessor Leslie Bugg and Treasure Ellen Black will switch to the schedule as part of a pilot program until the end of the year, according to a proposal April 3 in front of the Montezuma County Board of County Commissioners.

The reason for the change is twofold, Black and Bugg said.

It will help the many working parents in the departments whose children are off Friday because the Montezuma-Cortez, Mancos Schools and Dolores school districts are on a four-day week.

The extended hours offer additional times for people to take care of business before and after work shifts.

“A complaint we often hear is that people can’t get here during working hours,” Black said. “We feel it helps the employees and the public.”

Citizens trying to get business done during the lunch hour often face long lines, and the extended hours are seen as another option.

Business for all three departments can be done online at any time. Drop boxes at the office for documents are available for after-hours business on the north side of the building.

Bugg said organizations that have regular businesses with the offices such as title companies, surveyors and funeral homes were informed of the plan and responded they could work with the new schedule.

Black said any due dates for customers that fall on Fridays will be adjusted to a different day.

In December, the new four-day week schedule will be reviewed to determine whether it is working and should continue.

The departments presented the proposal to the county commissioners to gauge support before moving forward, and they were agreeable to the plan.

It did not require a vote of the county commission because the assessor, treasurer and clerk and recorder are elected officials who make decisions on managing their own offices.

The change will not impact the budgets of the departments, which is controlled by the commissioners. County Administrator Travis Anderson said there could be some savings on custodial work because of the shortened week.