Ellington Town Office Hours To Change Starting In August

ELLINGTON, CT — Beginning August 1, the town of Ellington will be implementing a trial of new hours for most town offices. Affected offices will be the town clerk, finance department, tax and revenue collector, assessor, emergency and risk management, the first selectman, town planner, building official, fire marshal, recreation, human and youth services and the Ellington Senior Center. They will each be open longer hours Monday through Thursday, and will close on Fridays.

New open hours for these town offices will be 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m on Mondays, and 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays.

Extending public hours on both ends of these four days will increase access for residents to conduct business prior to and after their own work day, and aligns with current use of town services. Longer work days will increase productivity and allow town employees to complete their projects and tasks more effectively and efficiently, according to a news release.

The drop boxes for the town clerk, assessor and tax collector, located in front of the town hall building, will continue to be available for use during off hours, and existing youth and recreation programs will continue to run as scheduled, including Friday programming.

Other benefits to the transition will include town savings on HVAC and electricity costs, as well as attracting quality applicants for town jobs. The change will also improve the work-life balance for current employees.

After a 90-day trial, the success of the new schedule will be evaluated by First Selectman Lori Spielman prior to a decision being made on whether the change will become permanent.