When you sit down with Rome Finance Director Toni Rhinehart, one of the first things the 23-year veteran will tell you about keeping track of the city’s books is that it is very complicated. The city does not just have one budget; it’s more like 32 different budgets that she and her staff have to keep a close eye on, and they’ve done it well for decades.
Rhinehart and her team have been awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada. The bar for that recognition is very high; however, the city has been recognized with that certificate for more than 30 consecutive years. The honor is the highest form of recognition for excellence in state and local government financial reporting, and Rhinehart and city officials are extremely proud of it.
Mayor Craig McDaniel explained during a recent commission meeting that getting recognition like that from an outside agency reflects very well on the entire finance office. “I know that’s not an easy job to manage as many departments and employees,” McDaniel said. Sometimes you get questioned, and that’s part of it, but you always seem to have answers. Thank you for what you and your people do.”
Rhinehart is just the city’s third Finance Director in the last 40 years, following in the shoes of Gary Burkhalter and Sheree Shore.
The stability in the finance office has helped maintain Rome’s positive financial status through the economy’s ups and downs. Suppose you want to know something about the city’s financial condition. In that case, Rhinehart has the answer or can quickly get it from one of the staff.
Her team includes Assistant Director Kraig Ingalsbe Tracy Morris, Rhonda Boyer, and Dylan Nelson. Carol Scott, Kim Hernandez, and Vickie Blair. The Purchasing Department, led by Becky Smyth and Jackson Abercrombie, also falls under Rhinehart’s supervision.
“I’ve got a good group and everybody gets along,” Rhinehart said.
Rhinehart was hired on as a staff accountant and did that for one year before Gary Burkhalter retired. Sheree Shore was promoted to director, and Rhinehart moved up to assistant.
She served under Shore for almost 18 years before being named director.
As the director, Rhinehart has her finger on the pulse of more than 30 different budgets. The general fund budget is the most complex because it touches many other budgets. There are also enterprise funds like water and sewer, building inspection, solid waste and then there are functions like Stonebridge golf course, the Rome Tennis Center, Rome Transit Department, the Rome-Floyd County Fire Department and most recently, the city took on ownership and oversight of The Forum River Center.
“We are very diverse,” Rhinehart said. She loves working with all of the different departments in city government but admits it can be a very challenging part of her job.
Government regulations in accounting can be a big challenge. Take the recent influx of federal money from the American Rescue Plan Act. The money that the federal government distributed to help cities counter the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic came with all kinds of strings attached and required an audit of its own. The Rome Transit Department is largely funded by state and federal dollars, and accounting for the way those funds are matched and spent is also tedious at best.
“We pride ourselves on having a clean audit every year,” Rhinehart said. She credits continuity among staff as a large part of the reason for the clean books.” It’s a complicated government and it takes a long time to wrap your hands around the operations of a government like Rome,” Rhinehart added.
A considerable part of Rhinehart’s responsibilities come when the annual budgets are prepared during the second half of the year. Since the Local Option Sales Tax has become such a large part of the city’s revenues, Rhinehart must make an educated guess on projecting the economy’s direction to forecast the revenue. She pointed out that for the calendar year 2024, revenue from the sales tax has been right on target.
Getting the sales tax numbers right cannot be understated. The city lost its number one property taxpayer when HCA spun off all Redmond Hospital-related properties to AdventHealth. The same can be true for the Atrium Floyd acquisition Harbin Clinic which was approved this Spring by the FTC.
“We’re complicated. I don’t think people really understand the complexity down here,” Rhinehart said. It all happens behind the scenes; we’re the silent warriors. If we stopped what we were doing, it would become very evident, but if we just keep on doing what we do, no one really notices.”
