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Responsibilities of Finance Department:

It is the intent of the Office of Finance Department to assure proper accountability of county funds under the jurisdiction of this office.

The Director of Accounts & Budgets manages a professional business office that is responsible for accounting and budgeting for all county offices, except for the Department of Education. The primary responsibility includes making sure the accounting records are kept in compliance with all rules and regulations as prescribed by the various laws of the State of Tennessee and Federal Government, as well as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GASP). The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is responsible for establishing GASP for state and local governments.

The budgets for the various county departments are developed through this Office with various meetings by the standing committees through a process that routinely takes six months for final approval. The final budget document for Sullivan County including the schools is coordinated and published by this office.

This Office manages all debt for the county including the issuance, retirement, and refinancing. Over the past four years Sullivan County government has been able to save the County taxpayers more than $2,500,000 in interest through refinancing of debt. Currently the County has an “AA” debt rating by Moody’s for general obligation debt.

It is this Office’s responsibility to prepare the financial statements for the annual audit. The audit is completed by auditors from the Comptroller of the Treasury for the State of Tennessee as prescribed by governing statutes and routinely released within six months of the close of the June 30th fiscal year.

Relative to accounting and bookkeeping responsibilities, this office prepares all payrolls, pays all bills, records all revenue, and prepares month-end and year-end reports. All requests for payment of expense incurred on behalf of the county except the School Department are processed for payment on a weekly basis to assure vendors receive their payments promptly.

Payroll processing for all County employees, with the exception of the School Department, is the responsibility of the Payroll Section. All employees with the exception of certain salaried officials are paid bi-weekly. A six day delay is necessary for the processing of all bi-weekly payments. By utilizing direct deposit to the employee’s depository of choice all employees will receive their compensation before 8:00 A.M. on Friday morning.

This Office’s responsibilities for payrolls also include the managing of the employee benefit accounts which includes advising and assisting the Commission in updating employee health insurance plans. Recently, this office has provided assistance to the Risk Management Office in providing oversight for the implementation of the Ashville Project for the diabetes patients covered by the County’s Health Insurance plan.

The Director and his staff also work with the County Mayor in developing financial information for the various departments and the Budget Committee while reporting the financial status to the County Commission. Various operations have been designated by the Mayor to report through the Director of Accounts and Budgets. In addition, the Director of Accounts and Budgets sets as an ex officio member of the board (NETWORKS) for the Economic Development Partnership between Sullivan County and its municipal governments.