LaSalle County finance committee hears case for a dedicated finance director; will collect job descriptions from larger counties

Tina Bush, chair of the LaSalle County Finance Committee, opened the April 22 meeting and said, “We’ve called this meeting today to discuss a finance director.”

Mary, county administrator for Grundy County, and Matt Melvin, finance director for Grundy County, described how creating a finance department helped their county move from reactive spending to multi-year budgeting and a five‑year capital improvement plan. Mary said the director role was intended to do more than an auditor’s review: “We wanted someone to bring the departments together and actually give them some guidance as they go through, especially budgeting time.”

The committee heard that Grundy County reorganized the finance function as a separate department reporting to the county administrator, added a purchasing manager under the finance director, and changed an initial “finance analyst” title to “finance director” after evolving the duties. Matt Melvin told the committee the most visible benefits were a proactive capital reserve and a five‑year budget plan that reduced emergency spending and helped smooth levy pressure: “The biggest change has probably been a proactive versus reactive approach.”

Grundy County staff described routine tasks the position performs: budget preparation and review with department heads, capital asset tracking and depreciation schedules, debt and lease tracking, centralizing grant records, preparing the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards, payroll reconciliations and monthly general ledger review. Mary and Melvin said those changes reduced audit findings; Melvin said the county still receives some comments but has not had significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in recent audits.

LaSalle County committee members used the presentation to ask operational questions. Committee members asked whether department heads enter invoices directly into CIC (the county accounting software), how many check runs the county does (two per month in Grundy), whether the county uses purchase orders (Grundy said it does not), and how Grundy handles late invoices and vendor terms. Melvin described working with the treasurer’s office on adjusting entries so the finance director functions as an independent reviewer rather than a daily data‑entry position.

Grant management and one‑off grants drew significant discussion. Both presenters described routine, recurring grants the health and highway departments manage and said one‑off opportunities (for example, COVID‑era relief programs) are where a dedicated grant lead or a finance director can add the most value. Mary told the committee that hiring a full‑time grant writer often presents tradeoffs because those hires sometimes lack the broader management and communication skills departments need.

Members raised statutory and structural questions. One committee member cited the county’s Chapter 55 provision governing the duties of the elected auditor and said a future finance director’s duties would require a clear delineation so an appointed finance director would not conflict with an elected auditor’s statutory responsibilities. Committee discussion acknowledged potential tensions—questions about pay scales, reporting lines and which duties would remain with the elected auditor drove the committee’s plan to collect job descriptions from counties that already have both positions.

At the end of the presentation the committee agreed to gather job descriptions from nearby counties (members mentioned DeKalb and Putnam) and to consider a Zoom meeting with a larger county to discuss duties and boundaries. The committee planned to wait for the sample job descriptions and then revisit the item at a future finance meeting.

Votes at a glance: The committee approved a motion to dispense with the minutes of the prior meeting (motion by Craig, second by Grama; outcome: motion carried). The meeting was adjourned by motion (motion by Doug, second by Steve; outcome: motion carried).