Kinnelon to Hire CFO With Administrative Duties

The is planning to hire a full-time chief financial officer (CFO) with administrative responsibilities and unanimously agreed for the borough clerk and borough attorney to begin working on a job description for the position immediately.

Salary will be depend on experience, Councilman and Finance Committee Chairman Stephen Cobell said.

Mayor Bob Collins said the borough's current contract for CFO services will expire and that the borough needs to have a CFO appointed at the council's reorganization meeting Jan. 2.

The council has also been considering hiring a consultant to take on some of the borough's administrative duties and Collins said the council should entertain the idea of creating a full-time, hybrid position that would fulfill both needs.

In January, Kinnelon had inquired about a shared services agreement with the Borough of Bloomingdale for Borough Administrator Ted Ehrenburg and CFO Donna Mollineaux to each work 12 hours per week in Kinnelon when not working for Bloomingdale.

Bloomingdale Mayor Jonathan Dunleavy said at the Jan. 11 meeting that Kinnelon had offered to pay Ehrenburg a $25,000 stipend, Mollineaux a $15,000 stipend and $35,000 to the to offset the costs of both of their salaries. However the council majority decided to reject the offer.

Cobell spoke in favor of the hybrid position.

"We probably don't need a full-time CFO but we need significantly more than the 12 hours that we have been contracted for, but I think we need some administrative tightening up," Cobell said.

"I think we're a small enough town that one person can fulfill both of those roles."

Collins said he was particularly interested in having a person take on the position to stay "on top" of areas where the borough could be saving money.

"I just think the budgetary considerations are so grave to us that we can't be working in the dark. We should really be on top of things," he said.

Councilman Ron Mondello said he has heard of similar hybrid positions in other municipalities and that it seems to be a trend.