Key staff departures can be disruptive to an organization’s mission. Sometimes, though, such changes can also offer opportunities to re-assess how a department’s or group’s functions and roles are assigned. Could there be a better or more efficient structure for the group’s responsibilities? This was the lens through which First Selectman Carl Fortuna, Jr., looked when told that long-serving Accounting Supervisor Sharon Migliaccio would retire on Dec. 31.

Change was already underway in the finance/accounting functions before Migliaccio left. In fall 2016, the town signed a contract with SunGard services to buy a new accounting software package, eFinance Plus, and data migration services for $140,000. The new system’s capabilities meant that tasks the department had previously done with pen and paper would soon be automated, saving time and labor hours. Plans are to officially convert to the new system as of July 1, 2017.

Another layer of complexity, though, was added to the conversion project. That was to simultaneously change the town’s accounting system structure to match the new state-mandated Uniform Chart of Accounts (UCOA).

So in the near term—from fall 2016 through July 1, 2017, when the conversion would be complete—there were many challenging tasks to be accomplished, and this at a time when the department had lost Migliaccio’s years of experience and institutional knowledge to retirement.

This was the challenge facing Fortuna and Finance Director Lee Ann Palladino in December 2016. How should the department’s tasks be assigned and staff roles defined to best accomplish a smooth transition?

Fortuna had begun in 2012 to add depth to the town’s management of its finances; that first step was to hire the town’s first-ever finance director, Lisa Carver. After Carver passed away in February 2016, Palladino was hired to take her place. To accomplish the tasks of the finance and accounting functions, Palladino, as Carver had before her, worked with the accounting department staff and Town Treasurer Bob Fish to get the work done.

With the retirement of Migliaccio just as the town was converting and upgrading to a new financial accounting system, Fortuna decided it was time to step back and see if the department and its task assignments might be restructured.

“Since I’ve been in office, I’ve wanted to implement an integrated system for running the Town’s finances. Until now, we relied on a lot of institutional knowledge and paper documents. We had an extraordinarily manual rather than an automated system for accounting,” said Fortuna. “My primary goal in making these changes has been to increase the financial acumen of town government.”

First, he advertised for an accountant to fill the opening left by Migliaccio’s departure. Interviews were conducted in January and the finalist chosen late last month.

The next step was to assess how the new hire’s skill set, when paired with the increased task automation offered by the town’s new accounting system, might facilitate changes that would increase efficiency and save time. For example, all four town unions have now agreed to receive bi-weekly instead of weekly paychecks. Since the new eFinancePlus system has a payroll module, the payroll function can return in-house, instead of the town contracting for the service.

In addition, as of July 1 other previously manual tasks will be automated, such as time card entry by town employees.

Next, Fortuna talked with Fish, who has worked for the town nearly full-time in the Accounting office for more than 20 years. With the new eFinance Plus system and the new accountant, Fortuna decided to talk with Fish to see if he would consider moving from full-time to part-time and focus his efforts mainly on doing the official duties defined by law for a town treasurer.

“The official position of town treasurer, as defined by the State Constitution, is to manage and track the town’s general fund revenues. That is limit of it. But Bob Fish, due to his ability, experience, and the town’s needs, has done much more than that for the Town over the last 20 years, in excess of his official authority as treasurer,” said Fortuna. “This was repeatedly pointed out by the town’s auditors, that there needed to be more of a separation between the expenditure and revenue sides. It’s all about having strong financial controls.”

Fortuna said that most town treasurers in the state, due to the limited scope of their responsibilities, are paid between $5,000 and $15,000. Because Fish has done many non-treasurer functions in the Accounting office, he is paid $54,000 a year. Now, with an accountant in the department and new system that automates previously manual tasks, Fortuna thought that this would be the time to adjust the town treasurer’s duties and salary. After a discussion of the topics, Fish agreed with Fortuna’s assessment.

What this means is that the budgeted town treasurer’s salary will go from $54,000 to $8,000 a year going forward.

Fortuna and Fish both recognize that the next six months, however, will require extra work of the department’s staff as a new hire adapts to the town’s processes and all in the department learn to use the new accounting system and the new structure based on UCOA. As a result, in addition to Fish’s duties as town treasurer, he will paid for filling another part-time role, that of revenue accountant, in the near-term.

With this shift in the staffing profile, however, the accounting department will now move from a staffing level of four full-time to three full-time and one half-time employee—Bob Fish.

“We will re-examine this arrangement in July 2018,” said Fortuna.