The city has been searching for a finance director since last December. Job responsibilities of the position are currently divided among several people, according to City Manager Joshua Smith.
“We started the job search by doing it internally, but after several months of resumes that did not meet expectations we hired a national recruiting firm to assist,” Smith said.
To get the position filled, the firm placed advertisements in a variety of areas, including with the Government Finance Officers Association. The city’s recruiter also called “every sizeable city” within a four to five-hour drive of Hamilton to solicit interest, Smith said.
Approximately 100 people applied for the position based on both searches that were performed, but the city had no success in finding someone with all of the qualifications that are necessary to fill the position, he said.
The boost in pay range is being used to attract talented individuals, Smith said.
“After having advertised at a lower salary range, it became clear that we needed to enhance the salary to attract candidates that met our expectations,” he said. “Hamilton is very unique, due to owning and operating all four major utilities, in addition to being an urban city with complex issues.”
The director of finance is responsible for working with the mayor, council, executive leadership and large management teams to create an annual operating and capital budget in excess of $300 million. The position requires experience in audit, accounting, operations, treasury, tax collection and numerous other areas.
“We need someone that can clearly see the ‘big picture’ and help Hamilton become a sustainable financial operation that serves our citizens and businesses in an efficient fashion,” Smith said.
The complexity of Hamilton’s budget and its operations is different from any other community in Butler County and most others in southwest Ohio, he said.
Smith cited, as an example, Fairfield’s all funds budget, which was $65 million in 2012 while Hamilton’s was nearly $350 million.
In Fairfield, the salary range for department heads, including the finance director, is $68,144 to $131,887 with a midpoint of $100,016, according to city officials. Fairfield’s finance director’s salary is $107,952.
In Middletown, where the all funds budget is $138 million for 2013, the pay range for finance director is $74,906 to $98,576, city officials said. Middletown’s finance director’s salary is $74,906.
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