By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
LUDINGTON — The Ludington City Council is expected to discuss a proposal during its regular meeting today that would create a finance director position and separate many of the city’s financial responsibilities from the office of the city clerk, an elected position established by the City Charter.
In a memorandum to Mayor Mark Barnett and the councilors, City Manager Kaitlyn Aldrich said the proposal is intended to address the increasing scope and complexity of the clerk’s responsibilities, which currently include both statutory clerk duties and oversight of the city’s accounting functions. According to Aldrich, those responsibilities have effectively evolved into two full-time positions.
Under the City Charter, the city clerk is elected by voters and serves as the city’s official record keeper and election administrator. The clerk is responsible for conducting elections, maintaining voter registration records, attending City Council meetings, maintaining official city records, certifying ordinances and resolutions, issuing licenses and permits, and performing other duties required by law and the charter.
The charter also designates the clerk as the city’s general accountant. In that role, the clerk oversees the city’s financial records, manages accounts payable and disbursements, presents accounts payable reports to the City Council and co-signs city fund withdrawals and disbursements with the city treasurer.
Aldrich told council members that the Finance Committee is drafting a charter amendment that would remove the general accountant responsibilities from the clerk’s duties and transfer those functions to a dedicated finance director. The change would allow the clerk to focus on elections, records management and legislative support while providing separate oversight of the city’s accounting and financial operations.
Because the clerk’s duties are established in the City Charter, voter approval would be required to permanently remove the accounting functions from the elected office. If approved by voters, the amendment would authorize the city to hire a finance director to manage accounting and financial operations.
Aldrich said the city has also identified an alternative should voters reject the amendment. In that case, the city would hire a finance director and appoint that individual as a deputy clerk. The finance director would then assume the accounting duties currently assigned to the clerk while remaining under the clerk’s supervision, as allowed by the charter.
According to Aldrich, the objective in either scenario is to improve efficiency, accountability and long-term sustainability while ensuring the clerk’s office remains focused on its core statutory responsibilities.
The council is expected to discuss the proposal during tonight’s meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. at Ludington Municipal Building, 400 S. Harrison St.
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