The Fullerton City Council voted 5-0 on October 20 to rename the city’s Administrative Services Department as the Finance Department, create new director and deputy director of finance positions, and raise the pay range for the department’s top job. The council also approved Ordinance No. 3361, which amends Section 1.12.217 of the Fullerton Municipal Code to formally change the department’s name.

Under the ordinance, references to the Administrative Services Department and its director in the city code and other official documents will be read as referring to the Finance Department and the director of finance. The ordinance states that the name change does not by itself alter the department’s powers, duties, staff or organizational structure.

Before the presentation, the council thanked the accounting firm Grant Thornton for its recommendation. Council Member Dr. Ahmad Zahra was noted as having advocated for the change for some time.

According to the staff report, the city hired Grant Thornton Advisors to review selected accounting transactions and budget items for consistency with generally accepted accounting principles and city policies. The firm identified opportunities to improve the city’s financial governance, accounting practices and financial reporting. The report said these findings reinforced the need for specialized government accounting expertise and experienced financial leadership.

Returning to its original name, Laura Giannetti-Mercer, Human Resources Manager said the department was called Finance until 1995. That year it was renamed Administrative Services because it also took on risk management and information technology. She said both functions have since moved elsewhere. Risk management now falls under Human Resources, and IT is part of the City Manager’s Office. According to the staff report, the department’s responsibilities now center on traditional municipal finance functions: budgeting, accounting, financial reporting, treasury management and financial planning. Restoring the Finance name, Mercer said, would more accurately reflect the department’s core job and make its role in the organization clearer.

Along with the name change, the council created a Director of Finance classification. The city is preparing to recruit its next finance director, and staff said the changes are intended to attract a candidate with the technical accounting expertise and executive experience the city needs.

A recent staff salary study of finance directors across Orange County found that Fullerton’s pay fell below the median, which Mercer said would make recruitment difficult. The council placed the position in salary range 1070, which tops out at just over $245,000 a year. The range’s salary control point is $204,464, compared with $194,066 under the current range, an increase of about 5.4%. The change puts the finance director on the same salary range as the city’s director of community and economic development. Mercer said no additional funding is needed this fiscal year. The higher salary has been, or will be, offset by savings from the current interim appointment and existing vacancies in the department.
The action also creates a Deputy Director of Finance position, at salary range 1010 (see chart below), to replace the current Deputy Director of Administrative Services. That position is vacant and unfunded, Mercer said, but establishing it now aligns it with the renamed department if funding becomes available in the future.

According to the job descriptions approved with the item, the Director of Finance will report to the city manager and serve as the city’s chief financial officer, overseeing budgeting, accounting, debt financing, investments, payroll, purchasing, internal controls and auditing functions. The position requires a bachelor’s degree and eight years of municipal finance experience, including three at the mid-management level; a graduate degree and a California CPA license are preferred. The director must also file a $100,000 bond with the city clerk before taking office.

The deputy director, who would report to the finance director, would oversee preparation of the city’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and coordinate audits conducted by independent outside auditors. The position requires six years of public-sector finance experience, with a CPA license and a master’s degree preferred. Staff also corrected an error in the executive salary schedule that took effect July 4, 2026. Staff entered the wrong salary control point for range 1010, causing that range to be calculated incorrectly. Because all positions in that range are vacant, no employees were affected.

The city will update its compensation resolution for executive employees to reflect the new titles. Council discussion: During discussion, the council heard that the title Director of Finance is common in California cities. The director will have ultimate responsibility for all of the city’s financial functions, including overseeing the audit process. Council member Dr. Ahmad Zahra, who moved the item, said the change is an important step in reorganizing how the city handles its finances so that “we don’t have any more errors or mishaps.” He added that the city’s audits should still be conducted by independent third parties, saying the change is a step in the right direction.