Combining the fire coordinator’s job in Warren County with that of an unfilled secondary post in emergency management could help save nearly $34,000 in next year’s budget, officials said Tuesday.

The job comes available for the first time in 20 years Thursday when Fire Coordinator Kelly Worthy retires. The office-holder currently also acts as environmental officer, who supervises the county’s compliance with state-mandated garbage pickup outside Vicksburg. Base salary is $42,000, while an environmental clerk is paid about $26,000 and the county’s permit officer, $27,000.

Shifting the position to emergency management — a notion at which the Board of Supervisors scoffed earlier this month — gained steam Tuesday with an endorsement from EMA director John Elfer.

A fire coordinator/operations officer could be paid $40,000 a year, while the clerk and permit positions can be raised to $28,000 and $29,000, and eliminate the cost of hiring a separate operations officer, who acts as a deputy director.

“It would streamline emergency services,” Elfer told supervisors Tuesday, stressing the arrangement in other counties and the savings could go to expand the CodeRed alert system countywide, a move the board approved last week. “It would bring that volunteer piece into the emergency management office.

Supervisors will advertise the fire coordinator position internally for a week, as per board policy, then open it to the public. State law mandates counties hire a fire coordinator who is either a volunteer or municipal firefighter.

Once the board chooses a coordinator from a pool of applicants, it may assign the person to any number of departments that come under its own purview, according to a draft job posting inside county board offices.

Managing the county’s database of people who pay for lawful garbage disposal falls to the environmental clerk, a position held by Katie Stanford. The permitting officer, currently Reed Birdsong, answers to Elfer and acts as a roving inspector on building permits and to check that residential developments comply with the subdivision ordinance.

If the combo plan is enacted, Birdsong, who ran for District 1 supervisor last year, could have two bosses — Elfer for permits and County Administrator John Smith for garbage compliance.

“It actually would create more work for me,” Elfer said of the split fire-and-emergencies post, which would answer to him as EMA director. “But, I think it would be a good fit, and I think I can manage it.”

District 1 Supervisor John Arnold, who favored the combo idea in earlier talks, continued his support, saying Birdsong “was already out there” checking permits and the two jobs “would work good together.” District 2 Supervisor William Banks said he wants no change to the current structure and doubted the permitting officer “could handle” double duty on the road. District 3 Supervisor Charles Selmon attended a community and economic development seminar at city hall annex and was absent from the session.

Board President Bill Lauderdale and District 5 Supervisor Richard George voiced concern over how a reshuffled staff would affect fire coordination. In Warren County, the job coordinates response from the six volunteer fire departments outside Vicksburg. Forces number 85 to 100.

A natural disaster, such as a hurricane or river flood, usually ties up emergency management for extended periods, which could complicate fire response, they said.

“That’s the only thing that worries me about it,” George said. “We may be condensing too much.”