January 24, 2011 in News, City

Ex-county treasurer will be sheriff’s budget director

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Chilberg
(Full-size photo)

Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich hopes to profit from former Spokane County Treasurer Skip Chilberg’s recent re-election defeat.

Knezovich had been wishing for a budget director when voters gave Chilberg his pink slip in November, and now he plans to hire the longtime public official.

“There’s nothing nefarious about it,” Knezovich said. “It’s just that opportunity knocked. He knows the county, he knows the county financial system, he knows budgets.”

Currently, the Sheriff’s Office has no central financial office or director. Budget management is divided between the jail and law enforcement divisions.

Undersheriff Jeff Tower said the office has no one “with intimate knowledge of both budgets,” and no one with Chilberg’s expertise.

“It has always baffled me that an agency with a $65 million budget doesn’t have somebody with those skills,” Knezovich said.

In addition to serving 14 years as treasurer in two stints, Chilberg has been a county commissioner. He also was the Idaho state budget director for 2½ of the six years he worked for then-Gov. Cecil Andrus.

“Skip is someone that I can trust concerning financial matters,” Knezovich said.

He plans to use one of 10 exemptions that allow him to choose whoever he wants for a job without competitive civil service testing.

Knezovich hopes creation of a unified budget will bring stability as well as efficiency. His goal is to develop a capital fund that can bridge over lean years and the vagaries of state and federal grants.

The soonest Chilberg can be hired is Feb. 14, when the county Civil Service Commission has its next monthly meeting. The commission must approve a job description and salary range that are yet to be developed by its staff.

Chilberg and Knezovich both said they would prefer the job to be contractual instead of payroll, but state pension rules won’t allow that.

Knezovich had intended to pay Chilberg about $90,000 a year under a contract he said would have saved the county about $40,000.

Chilberg, 66, said a contract also would have allowed his ex-wife to continue collecting her share of his pension. Under state regulations, the pension isn’t paid in any year Chilberg goes back to public employment.

Chilberg’s pay will come from a vacant undersheriff position. Previously, Knezovich had planned to use the money for a new captain in charge of special projects.

“I think the budget is more important,” Knezovich said. “In the economic crisis that we’re in, I need to find a way to maximize our resources.”

Three comments on this story so far. Add yours!

• 

  Al_Loysius on January 24 at 9:16 p.m.

  Dear John,

  It puzzled me how Skip handled his latest re-election campaign. He did no visible campaigning. He ended up losing to a guy that qualified for the general election by a write-in campaign in the primary.

  It almost seemed like Skip really did not care if he got re-elected or not. The first thought that came to mind is that maybe there is a health issue that would have prevented him from serving a four year term. That would explain a lot of things.

• 

  zelda on January 24 at 9:38 p.m.

  Smart move on Ozzie’s part. Glad he brought Skip aboard.

• 

  D Statler on January 24 at 10:01 p.m.

  We need another desk jockey when we are about to cut the forces on the streets. Ozzie may be trying to do a good job.I have to question his reasoning.I hope he intends to put two other bean counters back on patrol.It seems the more officers on patrol.The better chances we have of being in the right place at the right time.Lets see if Ozzie has the courage and leadership skills to get his officers back on the streets where they belong.Cutting some of the old programs and positions that are no longer critical to public safety is in order.There are several task forces that need to be seriously re-evaluated.Transparency while making the needed cuts will shore up public support.Ozzie, please take two steps back and look at the whole picture. The answers you need are right in front of you. ThankYou :^)