Finance committee to draft finance‑director job description after reviewing Kankakee template
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Summary
Committee members reviewed job description examples from neighboring counties, discussed whether grants or payroll duties belong in the role, and asked staff to draft a local job description with a proposed salary range for the next meeting.
LaSalle County’s Finance Committee spent substantial time May 30 reviewing templates for a possible finance‑director position and agreed to direct staff to draft a job description for committee review.
Chair Tina Jensen said she had reviewed materials from Kankakee and Tazewell counties and liked Kankakee’s combination of budget and financial‑management duties; she emphasized the new position is intended “to help us do the budget and keep us online with our budget,” not to remove duties from the auditor’s office. Committee members discussed which duties should transfer and which should remain with constitutional officers.
Key debate points: Members questioned whether payroll, human resources, or grant‑writing duties should be part of the finance‑director role. County payroll and insurance responsibilities were described by Melissa as functions that should remain outside the finance director’s responsibilities; several members said the new role should provide budget reporting and analytical support, and that grant writing could be centralized under the new office or left as a separate hire. The committee discussed salary ranges cited in the sample materials: Kankakee’s finance office budget listed a salary range of $75,000–$95,000; committee members noted a local draft had referenced about $100,000 and agreed to consider ranges while finalizing duties.
Next steps and outcome: The committee asked Melissa to draft a job description reflecting the committee’s preferences (removing payroll control and deciding how to handle grant functions) and to present it for review at the next finance meeting and the following board meeting. Chair Jensen said she would deliver the committee’s marked‑up materials to Melissa for drafting. Members emphasized the description is a template for discussion, not a final structure, and that any changes must avoid improper overlap with the auditor’s statutory duties.
Context and constraints: Members noted Kankakee had previously litigated related duty allocations with an auditor and that LaSalle should avoid overlap; members proposed a phased, trained implementation if the county activates a PO module or centralizes additional functions. The committee did not take a formal vote on creation of the position at the May 30 meeting.
