Campbell City Council puts finance director on notice

By Sarah Lehr

slehr@vindy.com

CAMPBELL

City council has put the finance director on notice.

During a meeting Wednesday night, council members again raised concerns about the accuracy and timeliness of information provided by Finance Director Michael Evanson.

The finance director serves at the pleasure of the mayor.

During the previous council meeting Feb. 15, Council President George Levendis asked Evanson about several perceived discrepancies.

Evanson responded to those concerns Wednesday. In his written response, Evanson acknowledged the city’s 2016 criminal court revenue was actually $54,895 less than he had conveyed to council in a monthly report.

Evanson wrote that the error happened while he was hand-copying receipts and that, in the future, he would take steps to safeguard against such mistakes.

“Unfortunately, this error would mislead council in believing that more money was being generated by the police department through the courts than was actually happening. I deeply regret this type of error and the resulting repercussions it generated,” Evanson wrote.

Since council controls the city’s purse strings, Levendis said such inaccuracies make it difficult for council members to effectively do their jobs.

Councilwoman Juanita Rich, D-4th, said she still was not satisfied with the answers Evanson provided.

“I’m not confident any of this is accurate,” she said. “It seems like it changes every five minutes.”

Last June, Levendis and Rich called upon Mayor Nick Phillips to fire Evanson pending Evanson’s closure of a backlog of the city’s monthly accounting books. Evanson used council’s summer recess to catch up with reconciliations, and the mayor did not fire him.

On Wednesday, however, Phillips said “changes are needed” in the finance department but said he has not made any final decision on what those changes would be.

“The finance director needs to be held to a higher standard,” the mayor added.

Evanson, who earns about $42,000 annually without health benefits, first became finance director in 2012 under the administration of then-Mayor William Van Such.

Council approved his reappointment under Phillips in December 2015.

Evanson acquiesced to council’s demands for more timely reports, but he declined to comment after the meeting on council’s criticism of his performance.

Also, council gave final approval to a 10 percent reduction of the 2017 general-fund appropriations. Council made the cut after discovering a projected year-end deficit in that fund.

The total budget is now about $9.6 million, including nearly $3 million in the general fund.

At the mayor’s request, council tabled an ordinance that would have created positions for part-time civilian dispatchers earning $10 hourly without benefits.

The change would have cut costs because dispatchers currently earn between $11.75 and $14.50 hourly without benefits. By ordinance, those dispatchers are technically defined as auxiliary police officers.

Phillips asked council to revise the ordinance so three dispatch employees could be grandfathered in so as not to lose their status and pay grade.