A report looking at how to slash the senior management costs of Angus Council will be considered by councillors tonight.
The management structure of a chief executive, an assistant chief executive, five directors and 29 other managers costs £3.7 million a year.
Three options have now been suggested by the member officer working group (MOG), established in June.
Option A is to retain the status quo, which is similar to how many councils are organised.
Option B cuts the number of directors to four and dispenses of the assistant chief executive role.
The more radical Option C, which is recommended by chief executive Richard Stiff, is for a chief executive and just three strategic directors, who would be in charge of issues relating to citizens, community and council.
Changes to the number of directors could present savings of £250,000 per year for option B and £385,000 a year for option C.
Mr Stiff said: ”The council’s management structure was last reviewed in 2005. Since then (financial) pressures have not diminished, they have grown and been compounded by the impact of the global financial crisis.”
Mr Stiff said tighter financial constraints meant the council needed to change the way it works to make sure services are protected.
The MOG suggestions have been based on directing resources to where they most matter, reducing duplication of work, improving value for money and creating a flexible structure for the future.
If option B or C is selected by councillors then a post overseeing the changes would be created.
Upfront costs would be incurred in giving senior managers early retirement or making them redundant. More than two-thirds of the 36 top managers are over 55 and a quarter over 60.
The council has £910,000 available in a special budget and another £525,000 set aside in balances which could be used for this purpose.
Mr Stiff added: ”No specific provision exists to meet upfront management restructuring costs at present and it’s likely a significant sum will be required once the restructure across all tiers of management is complete.
”For context, the council’s previous senior management restructure in 2006 saw the loss of 11 posts, involved upfront costs of £1.3 million and delivered net annual savings of £460,000.”