The Holyoke City Council discusses the proposed Finance Department restructuring at the Feb. 3 meeting.
Photo credit: Holyoke Media
HOLYOKE — Following months of discussions, the City Council approved provisions to the city’s Municipal Finance Modernization Act during its Feb. 3 meeting.
After going through each position, their job descriptions and the City Council’s appointing authority for each position, the Ordinance Committee voted 4-1 in favor of a proposed finance structure before sending it to the full council.
After over an hour of discussion and a few failed amendments and motions to send it back to the Ordinance Committee, the City Council approved the reorganization of the Finance Department by passing the first and second readings with an 11-2 vote. City Councilors Linda Vacon and Howard Greaney were the only two councilors in opposition.
After more than a year of deliberation, this reform will modernize the city’s financial management, strengthen controls, reduce liabilities and align with long-standing recommendations from the state’s Division of Local Services.
City Councilor Meg Magrath-Smith said the last two Ordinance Committee meetings included conversations with City Treasurer Rory Casey, TJ Plante — a financial consultant at Open Architects — Mayor Joshua Garcia, the city auditor and Human Resources Director Kelly Curran about how they could best structure the Finance Department in alignment with the DLS guidance.
The group also holistically reviewed minimum qualifications for all job descriptions for an established Finance Department based on the long-time DLS guidance to ensure internal controls, clear lines of accountability and appropriate education and skill-level.
At the top of the Finance Department will be the mayor, just like any other department in the city. Underneath the mayor in the organization chart is the chief administrative and financial officer, a role that the state has urged Holyoke to create for nearly 20 years, according to Garcia, who talked about the provision approvals in a Facebook post. The CAFO will be a mayoral appointment with City Council approval.
Garcia said this position “will bring professional oversight, better coordination and improved fiscal accountability to our operations.”
Magrath-Smith explained that the CAFO will oversee the Finance Department with “very clear lines of accountability.” Underneath the CAFO will be the director of assessment, an assessor and an assistant assessor, in that order.
The Finance Department will also have a chief procurement officer and an account payable specialist underneath that. The treasurer/collector position will combine with an assistant treasurer/collector, two revenue collection specialists and an administrative assistant in that column.
There will also be a director of technical service. Magrath-Smith explained, “This is someone that’s really going to be coordinating services and management over all of these disparate contracts that are currently happening.”
Based on the chart, there will also be a comptroller and underneath that will be a senior payroll specialist and three financial analysts. The Finance Department will also have a director of internal audit and a professional accountant.
Magrath-Smith said that even with benefits, the proposal is budget neutral. She said it won’t save the city money, but a position such as the director of technical service will be beneficial because the city is currently paying “so much” money for consultants to manage its technology for them.
Magrath-Smith shared that there’s a lot of specific technology in the Building Department, School Department and city offices that can be merged or improved.
Vacon brought forth a few concerns before voting “no” on the matter. She said the proposal conflicted with Holyoke’s charter by altering council authority, and argued that it was advanced without proper procedural authority.
City Solicitor Michael Bissonnette explained that he did not see any problems with the process.
Vacon also brought up how voters approved changing the treasurer position from elected to appointed and that someone was supposed to be in the position by Feb. 1. She noted how the treasurer position will combine with the collector position.
Garcia expressed his jubilation about the passage of the new structure. “This success reflects the council’s constructive engagement and commitment to good governance. I look forward to implementing these changes very soon. Standby, more information coming on what all of this means, coupled with an update on where we are with our fiscal landscape and how this work will complement the forthcoming progress.”
Magrath-Smith explained that these changes will not happen overnight. Since this is an ordinance change, the Charter and Rules Committee will then discuss what charter changes need to occur to make this a reality. It will then go through the home rule petition process.
