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Finance commissioner proposes new deputy role as accounting unit struggles with vacancies and workload
Summary
Syracuse Finance Commissioner Mike Kennezera told the Common Council the Bureau of Accounts is proposing a new Deputy Commissioner of Finance to add capacity, manage grants and supervise accounting after prolonged vacancies and turnover; he described recruitment and pay pressures as chief barriers.
Syracuse Finance Commissioner Mike Kennezera told the Common Council on April 15 that he is proposing a new Deputy Commissioner of Finance to give the Bureau of Accounts additional capacity for supervision, grants tracking and strategic projects.
Ken-nezera said the Bureau of Accounts (BOA) is organized into three broad areas—accounting, financial operations and the City Payment Center—and that the accounting column alone includes the general ledger work performed in PeopleSoft, 800 general ledger accounts, about 500 open projects and 28 funds. “We have a little bit over 6,000 total accounts that we maintain in the general ledger,” he said.
The proposal would add a higher-salaried deputy position targeted at a CPA or MBA with five to seven years of public accounting experience. Kennezera said the role is meant to allow senior staff to step back from day-to-day operations and “be a little bit more strategic with some of our initiatives.” He described the hire as primarily an effort to increase supervision and capacity rather than to add more clerical positions.
Ken-nezera detailed persistent staffing gaps: BOA currently proposes 11 positions in the accounting unit, and several lines are vacant. He said some vacancies have lasted “probably over a year,” and recounted a recent resignation: “We got her letter of resignation emailed to us at 07:55AM,” referring to an accountant who left two weeks after starting. He added the city competes with private-sector salaries—“an accountant 3…can get paid 85 to $90,000 a year in the City Of Syracuse” in the private market—and that residency requirements and pay differentials are limiting recruitment.
Council members pressed on how the proposed deputy would affect activity indicators and head count. Kennezera said the new deputy would increase salary-driven lines in the budget but would not materially change the department’s activity indicators. He also described one perimeter hiring detail: one accountant position currently appears in BOA because of a cost-reimbursement arrangement with the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA); that employee’s salary and benefits are reimbursed and therefore do not represent a true net increase in BOA costs.
Ken-nezera said BOA is pursuing a grants-management project to centralize and better track awards and deadlines—work he said cannot advance without additional staff time. “We do have an active, grants management project going on right now,” he said, noting current grant communication with departments is “very much so on a haphazard basis.”
Councilors asked about other internal capacity and succession planning. Kennezera said he works closely with Ann Marie Deegan (first deputy) and Deputy Commissioner Vicki Voss but that all three are “very, very busy” and need additional leadership to advance multi-month initiatives. He said the city will post the position publicly and hope candidates apply.
The hearing continued to other budget items; Council did not take a vote on the BOA staffing proposal during this session.
