The newest face at Sumpter Township Hall is a familiar one to residents and officials.
During the Jan. 11 meeting of the board of trustees, Scott Holtz was confirmed as the finance director for the township, a job he previously held for about two years. Holtz left the finance director position in the township for in 2019 for a job with Lenawee County.
Township officials have been aggressively attempting to fill the position for about 3 months, according to Interim Township Deputy Supervisor/Trustee Tim Rush. Holtz' employment contract was approved by a 6-1 vote of the board members with Trustee Peggy Morgan casting the lone no vote.
Holtz, who served as finance director for Sumpter Township from October of 2017 until April of 2019, accepted a one-year, at-will employment contract at a base annual pay of $80,000, according to Rush. He said the salary and benefits offered to Holtz were exactly those the township had been included in advertisements seeking to fill the position. In the absence of a financial director, several duties had been transferred to other departments, so Holtz' ability to begin the new job immediately was another asset to his hiring, Rush noted.
Trustee Matt Oddy was also strongly in favor of Holtz' return. He said that during his tenure, Holtz had done a good job and that having him return to the financial director's job would be an asset.
Rush agreed, noting, “This is a blessing for the township.” He explained that both he and Township Clerk Esther Hurst had learned through social media that Holtz had left Lenawee County where he was the director of finance. Both he and Hurst were independently attempting to contact Holtz about the Sumpter Township position at the same time, he said.
When they discovered their mutual efforts, Rush said, he and Hurst joined forces to recruit Holtz.
“We called from township hall and put him on speaker,” Rush said, and worked out the terms of his employment very quickly. Rush added that a formal interview with Holtz was “really unnecessary” because township officials are aware of his capabilities and experience.
Holtz served as Director of Finance for Lenawee County starting in May of 2019 and has also previously worked in municipal finance in Calhoun County and the City of Adrian. He also has previous financial management and reporting experience with several colleges and universities. He earned his degree in accounting in 1998 at Adrian College.
