Cultus Lake residents should see an improvement in services and a smaller tax bill thanks to an organizational realignment by the park board.

Just one person has lost a job and the board will be hiring an in-house building inspector, according to Cultus Lake Park Board (CLPB) chief administrative officer Ronald Campbell.

Campbell couldn't say how much money would be saved, but that the realignment of jobs at the CLPB will save "a substantial amount of money."

Part of the impetus for the changes was a community survey conducted at Cultus Lake last year that had a response rate of 40 per cent. A significant item addressed in the survey was the provision of services and the cost of those services.

Campbell said some efficiencies would be found, for example, in the reduction of three campground managers to one and four park patrol managers to one.

Another reason for the changes was the fact that the City of Chilliwack will no longer provide the CLPB with building inspector services due to a high workload.

An in-house building inspector, who will also be responsible for bylaw enforcement and emergency co-ordination duties, will be hired.

"Because of that, unfortunately one of our existing employees had to be laid off," Campbell said. "This was all done to save money and streamline our organization."

Park board chair Sacha Peter said he understood some people might be skeptical that a reorganization could both save money and improve service, but this was such a case.

"There always is that inherent cynicism and with any change there's an instinctive fear of change but I believe this change will result in a much more efficient and financially sustainable Cultus Lake Park," Peter said.

He added that with the dissolution of the Cultus Lake Governance Committee (CLGC), Cultus Lake Park has to sustainably operate for the indefinite future on its own.

The CLGC was disbanded in April 2010 after it became clear that amalgamation with Chilliwack was the only option the provincial government would support, but that amalgamation was not possible without the support of the Soowahlie band, which did not support joining Chilliwack because of ongoing land claim issues.