By Jim Newell

Review Editor

The Orion Twp. Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve the job description and post a position availability for a Budget & Procurement Director during its meeting on Monday.

The newly created, director-level position would have a salary range of $75,000-$80,000, which would be negotiable based on experience and skill, and is a non-union position.

Treasurer Donni Steele made the motion to approve the job description and publish the posting for candidates. Trustee Brian Birney supported the motion.

Supervisor Chris Barnett said the position is the one piece missing from the township’s financial team.

“We are an organization that has about $30 million coming and going in any given year. With all the projects we have going, the statute is very clear with lots of great checks and balances where the treasurer is in charge of the money and the clerk’s office is in charge of the reconciliation of the money,” Barnett said. “But the one piece we’re missing is kind of the looking forward at the cash flow and making sure that all of our departments are talking to each other as far as their needs.”

The candidate the township is looking for would ideally be a certified public accountant.

“On the procurement side of things, there’s no one not following the purchasing policies that we have in place, but we certainly think there is an opportunity to (help)…with best practices and purchasing,” he said. “I’m excited about this position…it is definitely a need in our organization.”

At the Dec. 17, 2018 meeting, the board authorized the Human Resources Department to create a job description and conduct a salary survey for a Senior Budget Analyst, the original title for the position.

“Human Resources conducted a needs assessment and determined that there was a need for a full-time employee that would perform a variety of complex financial analyses and reporting which include short- and long-term budgetary projections, analysis of Utility Billing processes, develop and implement all procurement policies and procedures, and other duties relating to purchasing and budget forecasting,” according to the documents in the board’s meeting packet.

If the township interviews and selects a candidate for the position, they would have to go before the board for final approval.