Joint committees review proposed centralized finance reorganization; ordinance and charter changes tabled

Holyoke99s joint ordinance and charter rules committees spent most of the April 16 meeting discussing a proposed reorganization of city finance functions that would create a centralized finance operation (referred to in materials and discussion as a CAFO), combine some positions including the treasurer and tax collector, and create new department-level roles such as a comptroller and a director of internal audit. The committees did not adopt the ordinance language; several items were tabled for further review.

The presentation was led by Rory Casey, the city99s current elected treasurer, with consultant TJ Plant and city staff providing detail on draft ordinances, job descriptions and a budget comparison. Committee members were presented with a summary showing the proposed fiscal 2026 budget essentially flat compared with FY25 budgeted costs, and projected savings in FY27 on the order of roughly $100,000. Presenters said those figures reflect moving some work in-house that the city currently pays contractors to provide and eliminating two full-time budgeted lines under the proposed structure.

Committee members pressed staff on…