DEERFIELD TWP. — Clerk Kristin Spiekerman is receiving some help she has long sought from trustees, a sign of improvement in their often-contentious relations.

        Township trustees have agreed to hire a budget coordinator and assistant to the administrator. Both positions will be advertised in the coming weeks, but a hiring date has not been set.

        Mrs. Spiekerman, Deerfield's chief financial officer, hassaid in the past that trustees failed to give her clerical help to do her job. But she's applauding their decision to hire a budget coordinator.

        “It's a significant step,” she said. “What I'm pleased with is we're taking one step at a time. We just couldn't continue the way we had been. We needed to staff the office.”

        Administrator Gregory Horwedel said the township plans to install a new financial management system this month, and the budget coordinator will be responsible for putting data into the system.

        “It's really geared to move the township forward,” Mr. Horwedel said.

        The clerk and trustees have been at odds since she took office over such things as paying bills and delivering payroll on time.

        Mrs. Spiekerman, who estimates she spends about 70 to 80 hours a week working on the township's finances, had been pleading for a clerical assistant since the last one quit in July 2000. Trustees say they have provided Mrs. Spiekerman with help, including paying for state auditors to help balance township books.

        Among the budget coordinator's responsibilities will be tracking and expenditures related to the operating budget, reviewing purchase orders and invoices and forecasting monthly, quarterly and annual revenues and expenses. The position will be full time and will pay between $28,000 and $35,000 annually.

        The assistant to the administrator, also a full-time position, will pay between $28,000 and $40,000.

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