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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAricola, Michael - Resume - Executive Summary ● City Wide Operations ● Budgeting & Financial Management ● Strategic Planning I am an accomplished financial professional with extensive city and county government experience. A result oriented, decisive leader with a proven track record of identifying and fixing troubled operations involving city operations resulting in cost reduction, increased productivity and streamlined operations. A visionary individual who developed, implemented and supervised successful programs that were years ahead of their time and saved millions of dollars for the respective governments. Core Competencies ● Turnaround Specialist ● Budget Development ● Debt Management ● Visionary Leadership ● Accounting ● Organizational Skills ● Financial Planning ● Risk Management ● Team Building PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Financial Consultant to Government & Private Industry May 2003 to Present Provide accounting and financial services to governments and small businesses, including but not limited to design and implementation of strategic plans and budgets: assist in computer software selection, business financial planning, accounting, tax services and real estate investments. Current Client: Town of Haverhill – Assist the Town Administrator with accounting and budgeting matters. Reconcile the general ledger accounts, prepare year-end journal entries and prepare the books for the annual audit. Start date was November 2006. Past Clients: New Community Strategies, Inc., Governmental Consultants, Davie, Florida - Senior Consultant in charge of operations for: City of Lauderdale Lakes, Florida – Charged with the responsibility of supervising the Finance and Accounting Department from November 2004 to March 2007. Responsible for accounting, financial reporting, annual audit and assisted in the preparation of the annual budget. Functioned as the Interim Finance Director twice in 2 ½ years. Indian Trail Improvement District – In charge of closing the fiscal year, debt reconciliation and preparation of adjusting and closing entries. The Family (100 bed drug and alcohol rehab hospital) Sunrise, Florida – Accounting and finance services. Served as the company’s Controller. Palm Beach Institute, West Palm Beach, Florida – Accounting, budgeting, financial services and IT services as needed. New Dawn Recovery Programs, Inc., Boynton Beach, Florida Sept 2008 to July 2009 President, CEO, CFO I was the President, CEO and CFO of a drug and alcohol treatment facility licensed for 30 beds by the Department of Children and Families. I handled all administrative functions, strategic planning, budgeting, accounting, human resources and hiring. The company had a five million dollar budget with fifteen employees. Town of Lake Park, Lake Park, Florida April 2001 to May 2003 Finance Director Chief Financial Officer of a small full service town (pop 7,000) with a total budget of approximately 12 million dollars and 100 full time employees. Supervise a staff of four. Responsible for accounting and financial reporting, accounts payable, accounts receivable, insurance services program, investments, payroll, general ledger reconciliation, marina billing, garbage & trash billing, utility billing and rate studies. Prepare and administer the Annual Budget and the development of the Annual Financial Report. Cleaned up a very troubled department. Internal Controls - Recovered over $ 200,000 in insurance overpayments discovered as a result of implementation of internal controls. Budgets - Prepared the Town’s new fiscal year budget in three months after being hired while concurrently working on the audit to close the fiscal year ended September 30, 2000. Proposed various programs to reorganize Town operations. One program that was adopted saved the Town approximately $ 500,000. Insurance - Saved approximately $ 100,000 in insurance policy renewals. Audits - Completed two financial audits and one State Auditor General Audit, while starting a third financial audit in a period of two years. Direct Deposit - Implemented direct deposit of payroll. Four-Day Work Week - Implemented a four-day workweek, saving approximately $ 5,000 in overtime while increasing employee morale and efficiency. Pathways to Recovery, Delray Beach, Florida April 2000 to 2001 Chief Financial Officer Chief Financial Officer and Controller of a private for profit drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility with a total budget of approximately 7 million dollars and 95 employees. Handled accounting and financial reporting for six affiliated companies. Supervised a staff of two. Prepared and administered the Annual Budget and assisted in the preparation of annual partnership and corporate tax returns. Handled all accounting and financial reporting, including payroll, accounts receivable, accounts payable and general ledger accounting. CARP, Inc. West Palm Beach, Florida April 1998 to April 2000 Director of Budget and Accounting A non-profit drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility with a total budget of approximately 13 million dollars and 155 employees. Supervised a staff of four. Prepared and administered the Annual Budget and assisted in the preparation of the Annual Financial Report. Handled all accounting and financial reporting, including payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable and general ledger accounting. Saved approximately $ 100,000 on insurance renewal premiums in two years. Organized and modernized an accounting department that was a mess from a bad computer conversion, while simultaneously auditing and closing the previous fiscal year. Developed and implemented internal control policies and procedures that resulted in uncovering employee theft. Implemented procedures that resulted in 100% monthly on time billing for sixteen contracts that were previously always one to two months late. The Royal Companies, South Bay, Florida Dec 1996 to April 1998 Accounting Manager Accounting Manager for a family that owned fourteen companies including shopping centers, charter airline, charter luxury yacht, fast food franchises and hotel operations with a total budget of over 60 million dollars, employing over 300 employees. Supervised a staff of four. Prepared and administered the Annual Budget for each company. Handled all accounting and monthly financial reporting including payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable and general ledger accounting. Within three days of my employment uncovered employee theft that totaled over $ 100,000. Organized and modernized an accounting department that was a mess from a bad computer conversion, while simultaneously auditing and closing the previous fiscal year. City of Gainesville, Gainesville, Florida July 1995 to Dec 1996 Accountant III Accountant III in charge of all grant accounting and reporting, payroll journal entry processing and all accounting and reporting for the Garage Fund. Handled the budgeting and reporting for over 90 grants. I was responsible for the preparation and processing of the biweekly payroll journal entry for a payroll that covered 2,000 employees. Supervised one person. Recovered over $ 250,000 in overpayments on fuel taxes. Revised payroll processing which resulted in a savings of twenty-four hours of processing time for every biweekly payroll for a total of 624 hours saved per year. Clerk of the Court, Okaloosa County, Crestview, Florida Mar 1991 to Feb 1995 Contracts and Grants Manager Was hired to plan, develop and start-up the Contracts and Grants Department. This was a new position and a new department. I developed operating policies and procedures for the handling of all contracts, grants and leases for the Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners. Prepared grant applications and administered the grants when they were awarded. Wrote and negotiated contracts, grants and leases. Handled health insurance renewals that resulted in a saving of over $ 1,000,000 while increasing benefits to the county employees. Recommended privatization of various county programs that would have saved over $ 1,450,000 if the programs were implemented. Maintained a 100% compliance on all grant financial reporting. City of South Bay, South Bay Florida Dec 1989 to Nov 1990 City Manager & Finance Director City Manager and Finance Director for a small full service city with an annual budget of approximately 2.5 million dollars and 30 employees. As Finance Director, I was responsible for the preparation of the Annual Budget and Annual Financial Report. I supervised two clerical staff members that handled accounts payable, accounts receivable, utility billing, payroll and general ledger accounting. As City Manager, I supervised Police, Fire, and Water and Sewer Utility. I directly handled Public Works and Code Enforcement. Cleaned up a very troubled City that was on the verge of financial collapse. Restructured the Police Department after all but 3 of 12 officers quit because of department problems. All the officers that quit returned to work after the restructuring was implemented. Budget - Balanced a one million dollar general fund budget that would have had a shortfall of $ 250,000 if it were not adjusted. The budget actually ended the year with a small surplus, the first surplus in the past five years of operations. City of South Bay - Continued Began work on four public works projects that were stalled for years. Two projects were completed that year and the other two were started. The results were a beautiful library, boat launching facility, RV Park, new drainage with water and sewer improvements. Water & Sewer Billing - Recovered approximately $ 100,000 in additional water utility revenues that were not billed. Successfully handled two sexual harassment complaints that resulted in no harm to the City. City of Lauderhill, Lauderhill, Florida Mar 1981 to Dec 1989 Finance Director Finance Director in a city of 55,000 people with an 85 million dollar budget. Responsible for the preparation and administration of the Annual Budget and Annual Financial Report. Total budget was approximately 100 million dollars for all funds and included 450 employees. Directly supervised the Accounting Department, Data Processing Department, Water and Sewer Utility Billing & Rate Studies, Cashiers, Purchasing Department, and Central Stores. Total employees supervised were 31 people. Insurance - Designed, developed and implemented the Self Insurance / Private Insurance Program. Pay Plans - Designed, developed and implemented the city’s Pay Plan and Benefits Program. IT - Designed, developed and implemented the Data Processing operations that used an on line, real time system that was available to every department in the City. Bond Issues - Refinanced 2 bond issues saving the City approximately 2 million dollars. Pension Boards - Mayor’s representative on three Pension Boards Member of the three-person union contract negotiating team that negotiated contracts with Police, Fire and General Employee Unions. GFOA Award for Financial Reporting – Received the first ever Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the GFOA. The city has received this award every year since. Utility Billing – Implemented an electronic meter reading system for water and sewer that ultimately save the city over $ 160,000 per year. City of Pembroke Pines, Pembroke Pines, Florida Dec 1979 to Oct 1980 Finance Director Finance Director in a city of 32,000 people with a 58 million dollar budget. Responsible for all accounting and finance functions in a City with a budget of approximately 65 million dollars and 350 employees. Responsible for supervision of accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, general ledger, water and sewer utility billing and data processing. City of Pembroke Pines - Continued IT - Cleaned up the City’s data processing operational problems. Capital Improvements - City Commission’s appointment to the Blue Ribbon Capital Improvements Committee. Investments - Tripled the interest earned on investments with no risk to the city. City of Pompano Beach, Pompano Beach, Florida Sep 1975 to Nov 1979 Assistant Finance Director Began my employment as the Assistant to the Finance Director and was promoted two years later to the Assistant Finance Director’s position. Responsible for the supervision of Accounting, Data Processing, Cashiering, Microfilm, Records Retention, Purchasing, Central Stores and Self Insurance. Responsible for assisting in the preparation of the Annual Budget and Annual Financial Reports. The total budget was approximately 120 million dollars with 650 employees. Insurance - Designed, developed and implemented the Self Insurance Program. This program saved the city over one million dollars in the first year. The city is still self-insured today. Central Stores - Designed, developed, implemented and supervised the Central Stores operation. Designed, developed and implemented the microfilm and records retention program that resulted in income of approximately $ 20,000 per year from sale of scrap paper. Budgeting - Designed, developed and implemented zero-based budgeting in addition to the preparation of the traditional line item budget. Policies and Procedures Manual - Wrote and implemented the Finance Department Policy and Procedures Manual. Excellence in Financial Reporting – The city received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the four years of my employment. Audits – Responsible for assisting the Finance Director in the preparation of the Annual Audit and Annual Financial Report. EDUCATION: Bachelor of Business Administration, Accounting Major Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida Supplemental Coursework in the Master’s Program; Public Administration and Urban Planning Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida Currently enrolled in the Master’s Degree Program with Jones International University. SPECIAL RECOGNITION and ORGANIZATION AFFILIATIONS: Member of the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada; and the Florida Government Finance Officers Association Awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers’ Association of the United States and Canada for the years 1988 and 1989. Past President of the Kiwanis Club of Lauderhill, Florida Life Member of the Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity Florida Licensed Real Estate Associate SPECIAL TRAINING: Grant Writing – How to Write Proposals That Get Funded Local Government Debt Administration Municipal Bond Administration Code Enforcement Certification Courses Disaster Incident Command Training Treasury Management Risk Management and Self Insurance Health and Life Insurance The Art of Negotiating SOFTWARE: MUNIS Local Government Financial Systems (LGFS) Interactive Financial Management Systems (IFMS) YARDI Property Management Systems American Data Group (ADG) Excel Word References Mr. Howard Berger, Vice Mayor (954) 572 - 1922 City of Lauderhill 5581 W. Oakland Park Blvd. Lauderhill, FL 33313 Ms. Janice Rutan, Town Administrator (561) 689 - 0370 Town of Haverhill 4585 Charlotte Street Haverhill, FL 33417 Mr. Joseph Kroll, Public Works Director (561) 586 - 1720 (Former Mayor for the Town of Haverhill) City of Lake Worth Lake Worth, FL Latoya Cason, Assistant, Finance Director (954) 535 - 2700 City of Lauderdale Lakes 4300 NW 36th Street Lauderdale Lakes, FL 33319 Mr. Irv Rosenbaum, PhD, President (954) 695 - 8146 New Community Strategies, Inc. 4801 S. University Drive, Suite 253 Davie, FL 33328-3839