For the third time in a year-and-a-half, the city of Troy has a new comptroller.
Troy Mayor Carmella Mantello named Michael McNeff, a former Chief Accountant for Albany County, to serve to the post Wednesday.
The move fills a role that’s been vacant since early April, when former City Comptroller Jack Krokos resigned just months into his tenure, citing “family obligations.”
Before that came Dylan Spring, who resigned last July under mounting pressure from the city council to deliver overdue financial reports. Mantello says she’s confident McNeff will stick around.
“Mike [McNeff] possesses the skills, the quality, the background, and just being able to overcome those challenges without a deputy [comptroller],” Mantello said.
McNeff will begin June 16th. His starting salary is $150,000. Last fall, the council voted to raise the base salary for comptroller to between $125,000 and $150,000.
Since Mantello took office in January 2024, the city has been using outside accounting firms to handle its finances and correct requisitions. Since then, it has spent several hundred thousand dollars on consultants.
In this year’s budget, the city planned to keep on BST & Co., an outside accounting firm hired last year, as it catches up on financial reports.
McNeff has more than two decades of experience in the financial industry. Mantello said McNeff, who also served as Director of Finance and CFO for the City of Watervliet, will be an asset.
Troy has a more than $100 million dollar budget and is in the process of implementing a new accounting system through Tyler Technologies. While searching for a new comptroller, Mantello said one of the largest challenges was finding someone willing to work with the city’s outdated accounting system.
Mantello says staff are being trained on the new system now.
Implementation began late last year and could take up to two years to fully implement.
“Mike [McNeff] knows he's going to have to learn some KVS, and at the same time, transition us into Tyler [Technologies], and he feels very, very comfortable,” Mantello said.
At a meeting earlier this year, BST & Co. prepared, submitted to the state, and presented the annual financial report to the council. Brendan Kennedy, an accountant with the firm, said it would be possible, with its books now in shape and new technology being implemented, for the finance office to deliver monthly instead of quarterly financial reports, if needed.
But that would require a change to the city’s charter, something City Council President Sue Steele has been weighing.
The Democrat chairs the finance committee and says it could help the city.
“It's something that I think would help us stay on track and fulfill our fiduciary responsibilities to the citizens of Troy,” Steele said. “We need to have a clear picture, financial picture, and it's pretty difficult to do that when you don't have a regular reporting system.”
But Mantello, a Republican and former council president, contends it’s unnecessary and a political move by the council’s Democratic minority.
“Quarterly reports are adequate, and I can tell you they're sufficient, and a lot of requisitions do not come in on a monthly basis, so the report would not be beneficial,” Mantello said.
The first quarter financial report, which was due in April, was pushed back to June.
A confirmation hearing for McNeff before the city council is expected in July.
