Robert Pennington, Finance Director(903) 731-8439
Robert Pennington, Finance DirectorCity Budget
The Finance department is dedicated to providing quality financial and information services to achieve internal and external customer satisfaction in a manner that is effective, efficient, equitable, and courteous. This will be accomplished by maintaining a work atmosphere that promotes integrity, accountability, professional staff development, and innovation, while complying with professional standards, city policy, and the law.
The responsibilities of the Finance department are to develop and implement financial accounting policies and procedures that safeguard the City's assets through the recording and reporting of financial transactions in a manner consistent with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. This department further facilitates information to management and the various departments to measure the financial progress of the organization’s goals and budget expectations.
Finance contains six budgetary divisions that are directly supervised by the Finance department: Accounting, Purchasing, Warehouse, Municipal Court, Customer Service, and Management Information Systems. The Finance Department also handles the Internal Service department, but this unit has a limited function and is not considered a conventional staffed department. The City Finance Director is charged with the direct supervision of these budgetary departments.
Accounting
The Accounting Department is responsible for coordinating and maintaining comprehensive management of the City’s financial activities to ensure proper use and investment of City funds. The department also provides financial information to management and the various departments of the City through the additional functions of accounts payable, payroll, and financial reporting. Accounting is responsible for preparation of the City’s annual operating budget and comprehensive annual financial report.
Purchasing
The Purchasing Department is a centralized purchasing office that provides an efficient, economical and effective method of acquiring goods and services to meet the needs of City departments, while insuring a fair and competitive bidding process with equal opportunity for all interested vendors. The Department supervises the bidding process, and ensures that various departments follow the Purchasing Guidelines approved by the City Council. The Purchasing Agent is also responsible for the central warehouse, auctions of surplus materials, vehicle registration, and performs special projects for finance and the City Manager.
Warehouse
This fund is to provide storage and inventory control of supplies the City uses on a continual basis. The funds for payment of these supplies are budgeted in the individual departments and are charged against the department on a monthly basis as supplies are used.
Customer Service
This department records bills and collects for water/wastewater services rendered by the City thereby providing adequate operating funds. Deposits, payments, delinquent notices, customer inquiries, drafts, and transfers of services and adjustments are the responsibility of the customer service representatives.
Municipal Court
The City of Palestine Municipal Court’s primary function is to process all Class “C” Criminal charges filed by the Police Division, Fire Marshals and Code Enforcement Officers. These include charges filed under the Texas Transportation Code, Penal Code, Alcoholic Beverage Code, Health and Safety Code, Education Code and Palestine Code of Ordinances.
Management Information Systems
This department is responsible for all information processing requirements for all City departments. This includes maintenance of hardware and software as well as supporting computer users with training and technical assistance. This department supports all mid-range and PC computer equipment in use by City departments.