Borough Hires Temporary CFO

After scrapping plans for hiring a part-time chief financial officer, the Borough Council voted to hire a temporary CFO while they search for a full-time replacement to Joseph Citro, who retired effective Sept. 1.

Thomas F. Kane was appointed Temporary Acting CFO on Oct. 11.

Kane is a senior manager with Jersey Professional Management, a Cranford-based company that hires out professional managers to work for municipalities around the state. Kane has more than 27 years of experience as a certified municipal CFO in New Jersey, said Borough Administrator Joseph D'Arco, and 5 years as a temporary CFO with Jersey Professional management.

Kane's agreement with the Borough stipulates that he won't work for Paramus more than 90 days.

"It is temporary while we do search for a permanent CFO," D'Arco said of Kane's hiring. "He has no interest in a full-time position."

The Borough attempted to hire Shauib Firozvi as a part-time CFO after Citro retired, but the Mayor and Council in Kearny, where Firozvi is employed full-time, voted against allowing him to work in Paramus. The Borough is currently conducting interviews with full-time CFO candidates, said Councilman Alan Brundage, chairman of the Borough budget committee.

Kane won't earn more than $40,000 during his tenure, according to the resolution appointing him Temporary Acting CFO. He will be paid an hourly rate through Jersey Professional Management, D'Arco said.

Municipal CFOs typically make a minimum six-figure salary, but Brundage said it was difficult to find someone qualified for the job.

"There's a limited gene pool for the CFOs that can handle it," he said.

There had only been a minor impact on the regular operations of the Borough without a permanent CFO, D'Arco said, but it would become "increasingly difficult" long-range. The municipal CFO oversees revenue collection, purchasing, payroll, pensions and benefits, as well as administering each department's budget.

Brundage and the budget committee are pressing on with the budget process anyway, and have requestedma 2012 budget from each department head. A temporary CFO will have "no part" of any major planning for the Borough's 2012 spending plan, Brundage said.

"We've been conducting interviews and I'm optimistic that this will be an extremely, extremely short temporary fix," he said.