City Clerk/Treasurer

Goal 1:

Continue highly effective and efficient transaction processing

Objectives:

• Process, record, and report cash receipts, accounts payable, payroll, and other transactions timely and according to law, regulation, and policy.
• Optimize investment income by careful cash management and prudent investment in accord with law, regulation, and policy.
• Collect taxes, water and sewer charges, and other receivables fully and timely.
• Pay employees and provide fringe benefits accurately and timely; properly record all labor related costs.
• Pay vendors accurately and timely; properly record all expenditures.
• Maintain accurate and timely books of account that facilitate operations management.
• Support the audit function.
• Provide information to the City Council, City Manager, and other administrative staff that supports and facilitates their roles.

Goal 2:

Develop and improve staff competencies

Objectives:

• Evaluate assignment of tasks among department staff. Identify changes that would improve efficiency or internal control confidence.
• Train staff in the use of computer software applications.
• Cross-train staff such that each staff member is capable of properly performing most routine tasks of the department.
• Improve job skills by staff attending work related courses offered by local education institutions, the Michigan Municipal League, and other professional organizations.
• Improve staff’s working relationships with each other, other departments, and the public.
• Train and orient new and continuing staff in new roles to fully apply their skills and abilities and to discover potential process improvements.

Goal 3:

Maintain effective records management

Objectives:

• Facilitate future reference of records by organizing and maintaining hard copy files.
• Facilitate future reference of records through increased utilization of computers by cataloguing location of records by file type and description of each record within each file.
• Maintain a checklist for each record requiring follow-up action by elected officials, city attorney, or staff; track necessary events through proper recording and filing of each record.
• Maintain compliance in human resources record keeping; provide appropriate control, access, and retention.
• Retain records as required by record retention requirements of the State of Michigan and locally adopted policies.

Goal 4:

Improve budget development and administration processes

Objectives:

• Add supporting detail to the budget.
• Analyze trends in historical budget data to identify potential reductions and other adjustments.
• Add review and analysis to the process of monthly status reporting.
• Assist department heads with anticipating needs for budget amendments such that the total number of such amendments is reduced.

Goal 5:

Improve procedures for personnel actions including hiring, promotions and transfers, pay rate changes, evaluation, discipline, and termination

Objectives:

• Develop systems of personnel action that comply with pertinent law, regulation, and policy and support the achievement of departmental and City goals and objectives.
• Fully document such action in appropriate records.

Goal 6:

Evaluate and expand department technology systems

Objectives:

• Monitor adequacy of existing hardware and software to support department functions.
• Expand access to department data to staff of other departments.
• Explore access to department data by the public.
• Evaluate and consider implementing ability to receive payments for taxes, utilities, and other amounts due to the City via electronic means (credit cards and/or ACH transactions).
• Evolve ongoing strategic and tactical plans for upgrading and/or replacing existing systems according to identified needs.