Greene seeking director of budget and elections
The Greene commissioners are seeking applicants for a new position in county government: director of budget and elections.
The dual role is being created in anticipation of the retirement of Chief Financial Officer Scott Kelley at the end of this year, according to Mike Belding, chairman of the Greene County Board of Commissioners.
As posted last month on the county website, the candidate is to have a bachelor’s degree in business management or a related field, such as accounting or finance, or have commensurate expertise. The applicant must also know election law and the County Code.
The position, which reports to the county commissioners and chief clerk, will have a salary of between $48,600 and $53,700 and full benefits.
Belding said promising candidates have been interviewed, and he expects Greene County Salary Board to act on the position next month so the new hire will be on board before the Nov. 3 election and the preparation of the 2021 county budget.
The combination of budget and elections evolved because of changes in Kelley’s duties over the decades, according to Belding.
Kelley’s background in website development “morphed into budgeting,” Belding said, as Kelley’s assistant became the main information technology person for county government.
In the meantime, the county has trained department heads to do web and Facebook postings, while the county finance slot does not warrant a full-time position, Belding said.
The elections office, a two-person operation, can use additional manpower, as the county expects a larger-than-usual influx of mail-in, absentee and provisional ballots.
Greene Countians cast about 3,000 mail-in and absentee ballots in the June 2 Pennsylvania primary.
The primary and general elections do not coincide with preparation of the annual budget, so combining the positions aims to impart flexibility in covering both areas’ peak periods.
“The timing works out,” Belding said, and trying to hire part-timers to fill the two slots would likely not attract qualified applicants.
Presidential election years are typically those with the highest voter turnout, and no-excuse mail-in balloting, signed into law last year by Gov. Tom Wolf, has had magnified importance during the novel coronavirus pandemic, even though rates of the highly infectious disease in Greene County have been relatively low.
Tina Kiger, who formerly held the title of elections director, is now listed on the Greene County elections department website as “elections manager.” Her administrative assistant is Rachel Gillispie.
Both Kiger and Kelley have been part of Greene County government for more than 20 years, Belding said.
The U.S. Census placed Greene County’s population at 36,233 as of July 1, 2019. The county’s 2020 budget is $42,949,222, with $19,961,790 designated for the general fund based on millage of 7.53.
The annual budget of the elections department is $271,801.