County finally gets budget officer

Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.

The hiring of a budget officer, a longtime goal of county commissioners in terms of assuring financial accountability, has finally been realized.
County Manager Shannon Metty informed the commission of the hire on Thursday evening, April 6. Gus Rojas then began his new duties on Monday, April 10.
A Waukeenah area resident, Rojas was formerly an employee of the Florida Department of Revenue (FDOR), where he worked a little more than nine years.
On his LinkedIn account, Rojas is described as a revenue program administrator with the FDOR since early 2019. Prior to this, he was a tax auditor and tax auditor supervisor in the same agency.
Other of his experiences, as cited on LinkedIn, include being a financial analyst for Systemax, a self-described forms management company with a specialized focus in the financial industry, and transportation claims coordinator/financial analyst for Del Monte Fresh Produce NA, Inc.
Rojas earned a bachelors degree in business administration and finance from Florida International University in Miami.
As budget officer, he has already been introduced to the Clerk of Court staff and others of the county employees he will be working with. He is presently occupying an office in the planning department, until a more permanent office is prepared for him.
Commissioners began talking about the need for a budget officer almost a year ago in the midst of the problems involving mostly the clerk of court’s office, including allegations of unauthorized expenditures, questionable purchases, and misuse of the county-issued credit card.
An outgrowth of the turmoil was that commissioners decided the board needed to have its own financial expert to review accounts, monitor statements and ensure that expenditures were within the budget and justified.
Since those initial discussions, however, the board experienced its own upheaval, having to replace the key positions of county manager and county attorney. Finally, after nearly a year of back and forth on the hiring of a budget officer, the board acted in March, putting out a Request for Proposal (RFP).
During the latter discussion, Commission Chairman Chris Tuten reiterated the board’s concerns and need for a budget officer, noting that “things were very complicated and complex” on the clerk of court’s side of the budget.
“With everything that we have going on with our budget, I think it would be wise if the board were to hire a budget officer to help us on our side of things,” Tuten said. “I just think that with everything that’s going on, we need another set of eyes to help the clerk and to keep the budget straight. That way, we don’t keep missing things. I’m tired of surprises. ”
Commissioner Stephen Walker agreed.
“Basically, we need to know where our tax money is going,” Walker said. “When the taxpayers see what they consider to be frivolous spending, whether or not we had anything to do with it, it’s still a reflection on us. And it needs to apply to all the constitutional officers, not specifically to one. Any of our public money that goes out, we need to know where it’s going.”