Short notice proposal to cut 81% of GR Comptroller staff raises transparency, democracy concerns

Updated 12/16/24, 6:50 p.m.*

A $1.3 million budget amendment is set to go before the Grand Rapids Fiscal Committee Tuesday morning. On the chopping block? Most of the staff in the Office of the City Comptroller.

Opponents argue the proposal to cut the Comptroller office’s staff by 81% lacks transparency, undermines voters’ intent, violates the City Charter and lacks evidence to support the proposed changes.

The amendment proposes the transfer of 13 full-time positions and any related non-labor budget from the Comptroller office to the Fiscal Services Department. If approved, the amendment would cut the Comptroller’s staff from 16 to three employees, leaving just a deputy comptroller, an internal auditor and an administrative executive assistant.

“I do not support nor was I as City Comptroller or any Comptroller [Department] personnel at the City of Grand Rapids involved in [City Manager] Mark Washington’s plan,” City Comptroller Max Frantz said in an email to media Sunday, noting that he wasn’t informed of the proposal until Friday, Dec. 13.

A statement from the Grand Rapids City Attorney said upon reviewing the currently vacant deputy comptroller position, it was found that “a number of staff positions were inappropriately assigned to the Comptroller Department contrary to the City Charter” and “that certain positions … would be more appropriately reporting to the City’s chief financial officer or the city treasurer.” 

The action request also suggests that aligning departmental responsibilities with the City Charter “is anticipated to clarify roles and responsibilities for involved managers and staff, which may also help improve focus, morale and retention within the departments.”

Frantz said the changes proposed would remove ”all of our accounting personnel” duties and responsibilities, including all of the Comptroller office employees who issue checks and payments for the City.

Opponents of this change argue that it excludes community input and violates the City Charter, which states the Comptroller has the authority to perform all accounting of city funds for the City and the authority to issue and sign all payments of money from the city treasury.

The Grand Rapids Fiscal Committee will consider this budget amendment at its 8:30 a.m. meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 17. If approved, it will advance to the 2 p.m. City Commission meeting Tuesday. From there, if approved by a vote, this amendment would go into effect on Jan. 6, 2025. 

Washington did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. Third Ward City Commissioner Kelsey Perdue, who sits on the Fiscal Committee, declined to comment. First Ward City Commissioner Jon O’Connor, who also sits on the Fiscal Committee, did not respond to a request for comment. 

‘There is no Charter mandate that the City fund an office’

The city attorney's statement said the Department of Law reviewed the City Charter, legal opinions, State laws and job descriptions to clarify the roles of the comptroller, city manager and treasurer. The review aimed to determine if some positions should support the comptroller or report to the chief financial officer (CFO) or treasurer.

According to the City, the proposed changes won’t limit Frantz’s ability to conduct his Charter-mandated duties.

“He will continue to have access to books and records of the City for [the] purpose of reviewing the City’s finances and reporting on those books to the City Commission,” the city attorney's statement said. “There is no Charter mandate that the City fund an office (in the sense of a group of people working at the direction of the city comptroller). The City Charter does not, in any explicit way, recognize that the comptroller will have a staff other than a deputy.”

Former Grand Rapids Comptroller Stan Malinowski fears that these changes will create significant issues resulting in unpaid bills and late payroll payments. Frantz also shared concerns that without a full staff, the roles of the internal auditor and deputy comptroller would be “nearly impossible.”

Second Ward Commissioner Milinda Ysasi, who sits on the Fiscal Committee, said she plans to vote yes on this proposal Tuesday and believes it will make for a more efficient and transparent process. 

“How do you have the person who is responsible for the oversight of the finances also being part of the downline that is preparing some of those pieces? I think that is a check and balance that maybe hasn’t been brought up as much,” Ysasi said, referencing the internal auditing that the Comptroller office does for City departments. 

“The comptroller will still have the full right of their authority, just like I do as an elected official. We’re not changing that. It’s not gonna obstruct the comptroller from conducting what is truly the charter-mandated duties,” Ysasi added.

Ysasi said discussions around “where [the comptroller's responsibilities] fit” have been happening at City Hall for at least the last three years.

The local Association of Public Administrators (APA) union, which oversees the roles set to be transferred, reviewed and supported the proposal, Ysasi said.  

“That’s another telling thing to me as a member of the Civil Service body,” she said. 

The proposal notes “evaluations” of the Comptroller office as part of the reason for the change. The City has not yet disclosed the full details of these evaluations or their findings.

However, Frantz said the auditor has not issued any audit findings pertaining to the Comptroller office’s staff, duties or internal controls that show “risk” to the City. 

Plante Moran, a Grand Rapids-based independent auditor, handles the auditing for the Comptroller office and other City departments each year. The Rapidian reached out to Plante Moran for insight on related audits or evaluations, but the request was denied because the accounting company does not disclose information on its clients.

According to the agenda action request, City Treasurer John Globensky said keeping the “former comptroller staff under the same department would offer the best efficiency and continuity for those affected.” He also noted that he did not want the additional staff to be added to the Office of the City Treasurer, but would support the staff to go to the Fiscal Services Department. 

The amendment would establish a new accounting services division within the Fiscal Services Department. This division would house the related non-labor budget, as well as the 13 positions transferred from the Comptroller office—organized into an accountants unit, payroll office unit and accounts payable unit. Of these 13 positions, eight are recommended to report to the city treasurer or the city manager through the City’s CFO Molly Clarin. The other five are recommended to report to the city manager through the CFO.

‘A blatant disregard of our democracy and election results made clear by voters’

City leaders have attempted to make changes to the Comptroller office in the recent past, but voters overwhelmingly struck it down. 

In November 2012, 64% of Grand Rapids voters voted down a ballot proposal that would have allowed the City Manager to appoint the City Comptroller – a role that is currently and has historically been elected by voters in Grand Rapids.

“Defunding the City Comptroller [department] is not just an attack on our City’s financial oversight but a blatant disregard of our democracy and election results made clear by voters,” Frantz said in an email. “If our residents rejected the City Manager appointing the Comptroller, they will certainly be opposed to the City Manager directly taking over the Comptroller’s accounting and payment responsibilities and functions.”

Malinowski said he believes this proposed amendment is “illegal.”

“And it would be challenged. And I would have a hard time believing that that would ever come to fruition,” Malinowski said. “We have a City Charter. The city manager is not God; he's far from being God. He's only an appointed official. The elected officials are not God, also. They have to follow the City Charter, and in the City Charter, the duties of the city comptroller are clearly noted.”

Once word got around Monday of the impending vote this week at City Hall, community advocates also chimed in in opposition. 

The Rapidian received a copy of a communication sent to the Fiscal Committee from the Garfield Park Neighborhoods Association (GPNA) on Monday.

“GPNA has been following the situation with the Office of the Comptroller and the proposal to move many of their duties to the oversight of the City Manager’s office. GPNA is joining with other community advocates to express concern about the process to date,” Katy Hoffman, executive director of GPNA, wrote. “First, the Comptroller is an elected position, put in place by the people for the purpose of oversight and accountability. This shouldn’t be changed without due process. Second, the timing of this proposal and the fact that it came as a surprise to the Comptroller is bad optics, to say the least. I don’t like to see the words ‘accountant’ and ‘surprise’ in the same sentence.”

*A statement made by the Grand Rapids City Attorney was updated.