EAST SPENCER — For the first time in its history, the town is interviewing for a full-time finance director to oversee the budget of the community.

According to Town Manager Michael Douglas, East Spencer has now reached a point that there needs to be a separate office to oversee the town’s finances.

“The finance director will be in charge of crafting the budget, and then once the budget is approved, in charge of implementing that budget,” said Douglas. Responsibilities, according to the job description, will also include disbursement and accounting of revenues and expenditures, accounting, purchasing, revenue collections, billing and payroll operations, customer service and grant administration.

“The finance director will also be responsible for our annual audit, so it’s done in house rather than having to hire an outside firm to do it,” added Douglas. The town is looking for an established professional familiar with the fiscal operations of a local government.

“East Spencer has never been in a position to need a finance director, but over the last three years, our growth as a community has necessitated growth on the management side as well,” said Douglas.

Mayor Barbara Mallett agreed.

“The turning point really came several years ago when the independent auditor said we needed to upgrade our accounting system,” she said. “And then we began receiving so many grants that it became difficult to keep track of all of the information. But in order to keep getting grant funds, and to begin to plan our budget out five, or even two years, we need to have records. And that is part of what this position will do.”

The town approved a tax increase last year as well, and Mallett said the town “needs to be a fiduciary with the taxpayers’ money. We need to have records of our history in order to plan future budgets, we need to be able to show the taxpayers what we are doing with their money, we need to be transparent.”

In May 2022, the town voted to transition from a mayor/council form of government to a manager/council form of government, giving Douglas some autonomy in implementing policies. Since that time, it has fallen on the manager to oversee the financial management of the town as well, often requiring outside agencies to assist.

“When you deal with finances, you can spend a half a day researching records and data, and the town manager does not have the time to do that,” Mallett said. “We have reached a point where the jobs need to be separate.”

It is a reflecting of the growth of the community “and its core,” she noted.

“We are not a small little town anymore, we are a growing metropolis, and I am excited about it,” she said.

The salary range for the position is between $55,000 and $70,000 and a full job description is on the town’s website at www.eastspencer.gov.