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Olivia Todd is a new addition to the City of Winslow Finance Department. Hired on in December, Todd’s title is as a budget analyst, and it’s a field she’s been very successful in.
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Todd comes from a background of governmental finance. Over the last five years, she has served in both the Navajo County Treasurers Office and in the finance department, and prior to that worked in the Gila County Finance Department.
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In Gila County, Todd was the senior accountant, “I did a lot of work on budget in Gila County, but I also was their grants person and did a lot for the audits.”
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The position is supervised by the Finance Director Elias Jouen. “He handles a lot of the investment activity and is very hands on in the day to day finances of the city,” said Todd.
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“Basically, I take all of the information that we gather from our finance software and I help each department keep on top of their annual budgets using that data. I also reconcile all of the accounts within the city.”
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The software Todd spoke of keeps track of all of the city’s expenses and revenues. “All of the checks are paid out of there, everything financial goes through that program, it is entered by the staff at the Finance Department. For example, if they buy something, and they get an invoice that they need to pay, they will submit the invoice and then we process it. We do all of the entry, but the department heads have to authorize their expenses.”
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Todd not only handles the day to day finance, she looks for spending trends and changes. “I can take a look at data from year to year and compare it. If someone from a particular department says to me, ‘I want to know how much we spent on whatever last year versus this year.’ That is the kind of thing a budget analyst puts together.”
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In her roll, Todd also keeps an eye on the capital improvement project budgets for the city. The one percent sales tax in Winslow funds improvements each year. During the budget season city staff, council and the public come together to decide which projects will be explored in the coming five years. Todd explained, “We put together a plan that outlines all of the projects that we want to do over the next five years. We may not get them all completed in one year, so we spread it out. We prioritize what needs to be done.”
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For example, the 2020 budget reflects $250,000 allocated for street improvement but Todd added, “Keep in mind that we have a new city manager and a new city council, and priorities may change.”
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Todd is also responsible for helping to develop the overall budget for the City of Winslow. “We are already now beginning the cycle for the fiscal year 2020. We just finished up our calendar that shows us what needs to be done and when, and then we will move in to the next phase. Budget season is about half a year with the final adoption of the budget in late June as we begin our fiscal year July 1. It is a long process, but it is one of the most important aspects of my job.”
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A budget book for Winslow is in the works from Todd’s office this year. The book, according to Todd, will break down the citywide budget in a way that is easily accessed by the general public. “We are required by Arizona law to complete and submit our annual budget. What makes up that submission is a few forms that illustrate where money is coming from and where it is being spent. That will give you the numbers, but it doesn’t really give you a picture of what those numbers mean. That is what the budget book is intended to do. It describes the revenue sources, and there is analysis of the expenditures. It has information on the City of Winslow and its demographics and history and tourism. It is a really good resource for applying for grants and federal monies. And, it’s a more comprehensive picture of what we are doing with taxpayer funds. It will also be available on the city website in its entirety.”
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Todd has won awards for her budget book creation. The Government Finance Officers Association recognizes outstanding work in the budget presentation. Todd has won the award three times for her work in Navajo County.
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The City of Winslow website is also undergoing an update to improve their financial transparency. Todd said, “I think it is important for people to be able to understand their municipal budget. We are working on a project right now to expand the amount of information that we offer on our website. We are hoping to be able to export information from our financial software to the site. It will flow through Open Gov and come out on the other side as much easier to read charts and graphs and it should refresh on a daily basis. That will give a very good up to date picture of the city’s finances.”
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Governmental finance is not only a vital aspect of the system but also takes a certain kind of person to get the job done.
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“I am a detail-oriented person. Everyone thinks that to be in accounting, you have to be very good at math and that is true, math is part of it. But you have calculators and computers and spreadsheets, I don’t necessarily need to be able to do math in my head. It is more about the details and being able to do things that are tedious at times. So, if those are personality traits, like they are for me, you are probably well suited.”
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Todd’s office is located in the finance department at City Hall, located at 21 N. Williamson Ave.
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