DISCLOSURE OF FINANCIAL INTERESTS

FINANCE DIRECTOR OF A COUNTY, MUNICIPALITY,
OR OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION

To: Robert B. Shillinger, Esq., County Attorney (Monroe County)

SUMMARY:

The Monroe County Senior Director of Budget and Finance is a local officer, within the meaning of Section 112.3145(1)(a)3, Florida Statutes, who is required under Section 112.3145(2)(b) to file CE Form 1, Statement of Financial Interests; the Finance Director within the Monroe County Clerk & Comptroller's Office is not the "finance director of a county, municipality, or other political subdivision" and, therefore, is not a local officer required to file financial disclosure. CEO 13-17 is referenced.¹

QUESTION:

Does the Code of Ethics require financial disclosure for the Monroe County Senior Director of Budget and Finance and/or the Finance Director for the Monroe County Clerk of Court & Comptroller's Office?

Your question is answered as stated below.

In your letter of inquiry, as the Monroe County Attorney, you ask on behalf of the Monroe County Commission and the Monroe County Clerk of Court & Comptroller whether the Senior Director of Budget and Finance for Monroe County and/or the Finance Director for the Office of the Clerk of Court & Comptroller are "local officers," as defined in Section 112.3145(1)(a)3, Florida Statutes, who are required under Section 112.3145(2)(b), Florida Statutes, to file CE Form 1, Statement of Financial Interests.

Monroe County - Senior Director of Budget and Finance

You state that the Senior Director of Budget and Finance position supervises three County units (Management and Budget, Grants, and Purchasing) and answers to the County Administrator. The primary duties of the position are as follows:

• Office of Management and Budget — directs the preparation and presentation of the County's annual budget for adoption by the Board of County Commissioners; reviews and updates financial policies to promote fiscal discipline in order to maximize credit rating potential; ensures practices in accord with governmental accepted accounting practices and standards; provides advice to the County Commission regarding legislation potentially affecting the County's budgets;
• Grants — Oversees grants awarded by or to the County;
• Purchasing — Serves as purchasing agent, with purchasing authority under $20,000; oversees issuance and publication of procurement solicitations; collects bids and proposals in response to solicitations; oversees amendments to the County's purchasing policy; reviews purchases to assure funds are available.

Monroe County Clerk of Court & Comptroller – Finance Director

You state that the Office of the Clerk of Court & Comptroller, a Constitutional officer, employs its own finance director to provide for planning, development, oversight, evaluation, and administration of finance services and functions performed by the Clerk & Comptroller's Office. The Finance Director position answers to the Chief Deputy Clerk and includes the following primary responsibilities:

• Finance — Oversees annual budgeting and planning process for the Clerk & Comptroller's Office; develops internal control procedures, controls, and policy for finance department within the Clerk & Comptroller's Office; supervises team regarding collection of monies owed to the County, other Constitutional officers, and Monroe County Land Authority (accounts receivable) and payment of monies owed by the entities (accounts payable), including general ledger and cash management; oversees preparation of annual financial statements for the Board of County Commissioners and the five constitutional officers and Land authority and for working with external auditors in preparing for the consolidated annual financial reports; oversees compliance with budgetary policy and local, state, and federal regulatory standards; oversees debt management, investment management, and development of sound fiscal policies;
• Internal audit — Supervises a team of internal auditors;
• Payroll — Supervises payroll department, which handles payroll for the Board of County Commissioners and all Constitutional officers except the Sheriff;
• Purchasing — Serves as purchasing agent for the Clerk's Office with purchasing authority under $20,000.

In order to specify which local government officers or employees are required to file financial disclosure under Section 112.3145(2)(b), Florida Statutes, the term "local officer" is defined in Section 112.3145(1)(a)3, Florida Statutes, as follows:

Any person holding one or more of the following positions: mayor; county or city manager; chief administrative employee of a county, municipality, or other political subdivision; county or municipal attorney; finance director of a county, municipality, or other political subdivision; chief county or municipal building code inspector; county or municipal water resources coordinator; county or municipal pollution control director; county or municipal environmental control director; county or municipal administrator, with power to grant or deny a land development permit; chief of police; fire chief; municipal clerk; district school superintendent; community college president; district medical examiner; or purchasing agent having the authority to make any purchase exceeding the threshold amount provided for in s. 287.017 for CATEGORY ONE, on behalf of any political subdivision of the state or any entity thereof. [Emphasis added.]

In Section 112.3145(1)(a)3, the list of specified local officers includes the "finance director of a county, municipality, or other political subdivision." The statute does not define "finance director" or "political subdivision."

Under facts presented in your letter of inquiry, the responsibilities of the Senior Director of Budget and Finance for Monroe County relate to budgetary matters, grant management, and purchasing for the County government as a whole. Based on these facts, we find that the Senior Director of Budget and Finance is the "finance director of a county," and, therefore, a local officer, as defined in Section 112.3145(1)(a)3, required to file CE Form 1, Statement of Financial Interests.

As to your question regarding the Finance Director position within the Clerk & Comptroller's Office, the Commission on Ethics in CEO 13-17 stated that a finance director within a sheriff's office is not a finance director of a county, municipality, or other political subdivision, and, therefore, is not a public officer within the meaning of Chapter 2013-36, Section 9, Laws of Florida [now Section 112.3145(1)(a)3, Florida Statutes]. In reaching that conclusion, the Commission reasoned that a sheriff's office lacks taxing powers and is not a government entity headed by a collegial body, but, rather, is a unit of government more appropriately seen as an "office" headed by an elected Constitutional officer, and not as a political subdivision.

Under that same reasoning, we find that the person holding the position titled "finance director" within the Monroe County Clerk & Comptroller's Office is not a local officer within the meaning of Section 112.3145(1)(a)3, Florida Statutes.²

Your question is answered accordingly.

ORDERED by the State of Florida Commission on Ethics meeting in public session on October 20, 2017, and RENDERED this 25th day of October, 2017.

____________________________________

Michelle Anchors, Chair

^[1] Prior opinions of the Commission on Ethics can be viewed at www.ethics.state.fl.us.

^[2] Under the facts presented, neither the County's Senior Director of Budget and Finance nor the Clerk & Comptroller's Finance Director would be considered a local officer if the only criterion were that of being a purchasing agent having authority to make a purchases exceeding the threshold amount of $20,000, as specified in Section 112.3145(1)(a)3, Florida Statutes (referencing Section 287.017, Florida Statutes), as neither director's purchasing authority exceeds that threshold.