When residents of Northlake head to the polls this election season, they will be faced with a referendum question seeking to abolish the office of city treasurer and allow those duties to be assigned to the finance director.
Officials said the measure, if approved, is meant to streamline government operations and get rid of the duplication of services. The referendum question notes that the office of city treasurer has been vacant since Jan. 18.
The election takes place Nov. 6.
An elected official has fulfilled the duties on a part-time basis. Officials said historically, the responsibilities have been shared with the city’s finance director. Mayor Jeffrey Sherwin said he thinks that staff can handle the duties without having a city treasurer.
“The finance director is, here, on a full-time basis,” he said. “The finance director is doing a bulk of the work because they work, here, full time.”
“The finance office is quite capable of handling this,” Sherwin added, noting the finance director tends to be familiar with the day-to-day operations, payroll and taxes.
Sherwin said eliminating the office of city treasurer would not be expected to create an additional burden to the finance director.
He said eliminating the office of city treasurer would result in a cost savings to Northlake residents, noting that the elected treasurer’s position is paid $10,000 a year. In addition, the city wouldn’t need to account for the position and its accompanying health insurance.
The city of Northlake intends to include information in an upcoming newsletter to inform residents of the referendum.