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LEE COUNTY, IOWA -- Two Lee County offices will change the way they do business

The Lee County, Iowa Board of Supervisors voted to consolidate the north and south county offices in a 4-1 vote.

"There are 99 counties in Iowa. Lee County is the only one with two county seats. All the rest of them have one county seat. So, the people in the county all have to drive to one location," said Lee County Supervisor Larry Kruse.

And Lee County will stay that way. You might have to travel farther but neither one of the two county buildings will close. In the Fort Madison office, you will find the auditor and treasurer's offices. If you need to deal with the Assessor or Recorder, you will need to go to Keokuk. As of now, this is just a switch of office location.

"Each department will have all of their people in one location. So, it will be much easier to keep their counter open," said Kruse.

In the past, if there were not enough people at the office, it would have to close for the day. Supervisor Gary Folluo thinks this might be a state wide trend.

"If the trend is to continue cutting taxes and to consolidate more and more, I guess it's feasible and plausible, that there could be other consolidations throughout the state." said Supervisor Gary Folluo.

There has been talk of consolidating whole counties in Iowa -- causing people to lose their jobs. But for now, everyone is safe.

"At the planning stage there will be the equal number of jobs that are currently located in each of the offices," said Kruse.

Eventually, positions will be eliminated but from people retiring, not being fired.

Supervisor Gary Folluo cast the lone vote against consolidation.