Beaufort County’s top finance officer resigns during budget season. Here’s what we know
Beaufort County Chief Financial Officer Alicia Holland resigned from the county Monday evening, County Administrator Ashley Jacobs confirmed Tuesday.
Holland’s resignation comes as officials are in the middle of preparing the budget for next year — leaving the county without its top financial manager during one of the largest expected revenue shortfalls in recent years due to the coronavirus pandemic.
She resigned just hours after updating the county’s finance committee on the budget process.
“This has been a long time coming,” Holland said on Tuesday. “When Ashley came in the door a year ago, I was very open with her about the stress and the toll [the job] took on me. I did my best to hang in there the best I could.”
Holland had worked for the county for just over 10 years. She served as finance controller for three years before becoming CFO in 2013. In 2014, she also became assistant county administrator for finance. Her last day will be May 1.
“I’ve given a decade of my life to Beaufort County and its citizens,” she said. “I feel like I need a recovery period from the fatigue and to focus on my personal life.”
Jacobs said Holland told her she decided to step down to “reevaluate” her priorities.
“I think all employees have to make decisions about what’s more important to them personally, like their family and how they spend their time,” Jacobs said. “I want to be a family-friendly employer. I was a little surprised, but I respect her decision.”
Last week, The Island Packet reported that the county was expecting up to a 20% revenue decline in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier in the week, Holland provided the newspaper financial documents projecting the county’s total revenue at $194 million for fiscal year 2021 compared to $335.6 million in fiscal year 2020 — a 42% decline.
Before The Island Packet reported the numbers, the newspaper asked Holland to clarify that revenue was projected to decline by 42% in 2021. In an email, Holland confirmed that “for now, that is our picture of revenue,” though she said it was a preliminary number.
After the story published Wednesday, Holland said the two figures actually could not be compared because the data for 2021 was still incomplete and did not include revenue from the 2018 penny sales tax, grants from the Federal Aviation Administration and transfers from other funds.
Despite the timing of Holland’s resignation and the story publishing, Jacobs was adamant that the two situations were not related and that Holland was not asked to resign.
In an email to the newspaper later Tuesday, Holland wrote, “Regarding the timing of my decision, there is never a good time to leave a position. There will always be the next project as soon as the current project wraps up. The heavy lifting of the budget started in December and January. It is my goal to support the County Administrator so that she has a recommended budget to present to council. I believe we will be able to obtain that goal by May 1st, my last day with the County.”
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Beaufort County has suspended responding to new public records requests, effective March 15. Instead, The Island Packet asked Jacobs for copies of Holland’s personnel file and resignation letter. She declined.
Jacobs said Holland’s resignation makes the budget process more difficult without a chief financial officer. She said she’s probably going to reach out to some her resources in the state for guidance, but that the county has “talented people on staff.”
At a coffee talk hosted by the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce last July, Jacobs spoke candidly about how tough the budget process was when she first arrived at the county in April 2019. The county had never used an itemized budget book before.
During the talk, Jacobs told a story about asking Holland how far along officials were on the budget, thinking they’d be nearly finished. They hadn’t even started, she was told. Jacobs and County Council scrambled to complete the budget — calculating expenditures and approving appropriations — in just two months.
Hayes Williams, the county’s finance director, will likely assume some of Holland’s responsibilities in the finance department before the county is able to hire a new chief financial officer.
Despite Holland’s departure, Jacobs said she expects to present a recommended budget to council in May.
This story was originally published April 22, 2020 at 4:45 AM.
