Getting Your
Money's Worth
by Bernie Fratto
October 2003

In keeping with the mantra of City Manager Rick Helwig, and Police Chief Douglas Shaeffer, customer service is first and foremost when it comes to managing taxpayer money for the Citizens of Novi. “Addressing Citizen concerns first, is the most important thing,” Kathy Smith-Roy candidly stated.

Since 1991 Kathy Smith-Roy has been the Finance Director for the City of Novi, and her boss, Rick Helwig was quite emphatic when he mentioned that she has done her job “exceptionally well.”

A Michigan native, Smith-Roy holds an AA Degree in Commerce from Henry Ford Community College, a BA in Accounting from Walsh College, and an MBA from Eastern Michigan University. After spending 4 years at Plante Moran, she joined the City of Novi at the behest of Les Gibson, as the result of a staff vacancy that opened the door for her.

At the time Novi was a client of hers, as she presided over the audit that every City in Michigan is required to undergo. She joined the staff as the City’s controller in August of 1991 and has been a team member ever since.

In her current role as Finance Director, her vast responsibilities are primarily spread over three key areas/departments: Finance, Treasury and Purchasing. “Novi has centralized procedures” Kathy pointed out, so as such, these functions are propagated over all departments in a top-down manner.

Finance encompasses payroll, accounts payable, presiding over the general ledger, debt finance and administration, audits, budgeting, and grants administration once they are processed, just to name a few.

Treasury oversees tax collection, investments, special assessments, district receivables, and processing cash receipts from all departments.

Purchasing involves the process of receiving bids and purchase orders, and assisting all departments in purchasing, as well as capital goods acquisition and the like.

The challenge is to maintain a delicate balance. While each is an independent responsibility, they act in concert and are inextricably linked. Kathy Smith-Roy approaches these multiple tasks with great awareness and command. “We take our roles very seriously,” Smith-Roy added. “We are very sensitive to cash management.” “In addition to looking for ways to reduce taxpayer liability by reducing debt, we want to make sure we have enough funds for a rainy day, without overtaxing the citizens and creating a situation where we have too much money on hand.”

Tax payer concerns are perhaps the greatest area of interest for Kathy Smith-Roy and her department. “We always want to make sure we are very detailed on what special assessments entail, regarding millages, etc.”

The tax collection efforts for the City of Novi are vast. The city collects for all residents of Novi, even though they may attend schools in Northville, Walled Lake, and South Lyon. The taxes are then dispersed to all appropriate parties.

Kathy Smith-Roy’s own version of the “Big Three”… which are Finance, Purchasing, and Treasury, must be handled with great precision and expertise, and they are.

All of this leads to what she believes is the most important thing her department can offer the city and the citizens of Novi, Michigan… ”First rate customer service.”