| 12/04/2012 |
| Heinemeyer ends finance officer duties |
| By CHUCK CLEMENT, Staff Reporter |
Heinemeyer, who has held the position for the last 18 years, had announced his retirement earlier this year. He had submitted his retirement papers on June 15, but the commissioners and Heinemeyer had agreed to him serving the city during the last half of 2012 as a contractor. They had agreed to a six-month contract for Heinemeyer to discharge finance officer duties from June 17 to Dec. 15.
Heinemeyer's retirement won't end his work on behalf of the city. On Monday, the commissioners approved a new contract for him to serve as an adviser providing administrative services on an ongoing basis. The contract included a listing of the services that Heinemeyer is expected to provide, starting with being available to provide financial services on an as-needed basis. The remainder of the list (another eight items) outlined services related to the operation of Madison's municipal electric utility. For example, Heinemeyer was assigned to monitor long-term service agreements and represent the city for meetings with agencies that include the Western Area Power Administration, Heartland Consumers Power District and East River Electric Power Cooperative. He is expected to serve as an assistant to the city's electric advisory committee and to review technology and financial operations such as load management and rate making. City officials may ask Heinemeyer to make recommendations regarding the reserves of the electric fund. The contract also states that Heinemeyer will "Serve as person receiving the support of the City Commission for candidacy on the Board of South Dakota Public Assurance Alliance at no City compensation." Commissioner Scott Delzer spoke in favor of approving the professional services contract, saying the municipal electric utility operated with finances that are "over half of the city's budget." Delzer said the commissioners had decided to separate the duties related to the electric utility from Eimer's duties as city finance officer while, "We re-evaluate the position." He said the commission might, in the future, keep those duties with the Finance Office, turn them over to the Electric Department, or make other changes. Delzer added that Heinemeyer had "experience to take over that position for a short period of time." "We feel this is an important step for Madison," he said. Commissioner Dick Ericsson said that Heinemeyer's contract was "not a retire-rehire situation" and that the adviser job was a new position. Heinemeyer's fee for providing the administrative services was set at $58 per hour. The contract outlines that the electric utility-related work is expected to take about 10 hours each week. It also states that the adviser hours are not to exceed 195 hours per business quarter without written authorization from the mayor, finance commissioner or utilities commissioner.
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