The Financial Services Department is proposing a departmental reorganization to become better aligned with and reflect the functional structure of the City’s organizational plan that was proposed by the new City Manager and approved by Council on April 22, 2019.  Under the changed City structure, the Financial Services Department is tasked with better serving the City’s need for compliance and risk management.  As such, the following five functional divisions within the Financial Services Department are being proposed for consideration with each functional division reporting directly to the City’s Chief Financial Officer:

1. Accounting Systems and Compliance Division (3 employees) led by an Accounting Manager:
   • Generally responsible for ensuring compliance with accounting regulations; establishing internal financial controls and fraud protection; coordination of external audits; ensuring grant fiscal compliance; and accounting for the City’s fixed assets, inventories and Special Revenue and Debt Service Funds.

2. Accounting Operations Division (7 employees) led by an Accounting Manager:
   • Generally responsible for managing the City’s cash flow, investment portfolio, and debt obligations; payroll processing, accounts payable and accounts receivable.

3. Budget and Departmental Support Division (3 employees) led by a Budget Manager:
   • Generally responsible for creating and managing the City’s budget; providing fiscal analysis and strategic management support to the City’s other departments; managing the accounting and budget needs of the City’s Proprietary, Capital Project Funds and the Redevelopment Agency.

4. Contracts and Risk Management Division (1 employee) led by a Contracts and Risk Manager:
   • Generally responsible for managing vendor contracts and database; procurement functions; general insurance policies; and the risk management needs of the City.

5. Information Technology (IT) (10 employees) led by the IT Manager:
   • Generally responsible for managing the City’s Information Technology systems development; operational support (help desk and technology support); and network security.

This proposed structure is designed to allow staff a greater focus at a functional level to help manage the “daily whirlwind” of the City’s multiple and varied compliance and risk management needs.  Allowing staff to work within a more functional structure should also allow new opportunities to act and perform duties with strategic intent, thus offering better support to city departments and various stakeholders while providing greater alignment to the City’s overall strategic efforts.  This reorganization will improve support and visibility to services and functions, some of which are still lacking resources as the City continues to grow and emerge from the financial affects of the great recession (for example, financial systems coordination, risk management and payroll processing).

Complement Change

To implement the new structure, two title changes are required in the employee complement.  One (1) Senior Accountant will be reclassified to an Accounting Manager and the Budget Administrator title will be changed to Budget Manager. Attached to the agenda item is a comparison between the former complement and the proposed complement.

Implementation of this proposal creates internal promotional opportunities within the Department, the cost of which is estimated to be $600 for FY19, $13,000 for FY20 and $23,000 for FY21.

1.  The City Council may approve the complement changes as presented.

2.  The City Council may not approve the complement changes as presented.

3.  The City Council may not approve the complement changes but provide direction or alternatives to the City Manager.

I move to approve the complement changes to the Financial Services Department effective May 28, 2019.