Joseph M. Hogenkamp

Accountant/Chief Fiscal Officer

SKILLS

Budget Development

Implementation and Management

Accounts Payable

Payroll Processing and Reporting

Deferred Compensation Program Implementation & Administration,

Health Insurance Administration

Debt Financing

Personnel Administration

Tax Collection Administration

Utility Billing Administration

Liability/Property & Casualty Insurance Administration

Workmen’s’ Compensation Administration

Auditing & Financial Reporting, service to Mayor, Common Council, Department Heads and public constituency

Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications including Word and Excel

Experience in implementation and Administration Financial Software Applications, Utility Billing and Property Tax Collection Applications

Online Software Applications

EXPERIENCE

City of Tonawanda, Tonawanda, New York - City Treasurer (Elected)

January 1988 - December 2019

Chief Elected Fiscal Officer of $25 million annual operation, retired from public service effective January 1, 2020.

Chairman City of Tonawanda Deferred Compensation Committee 1994 to 2019; Responsible for coordination of program, reporting responsibilities, committee assignments, and request for proposal process.

Chairperson City of Tonawanda Housing Development Corporation 1988 to 2011. Reporting liaison to United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) relative to Public Housing Administrator designation.

1993-Engineered full-scale transition from manual ledger accounting processes to computerized financial software applications including tax collection, accounts payable and general ledger accounting systems via KVS Information Systems. Improved and modernized reporting capability and standardized reporting functions across all departments.

1994 Establishment of Deferred Compensation program for City employees (Section 457 Internal Revenue Code for State and Local Governments).

Chairman of Deferred Compensation Committee from 1994 through 2019 via Hartford Life Insurance Company from 1994 through 2012, and the Mass Mutual Life Insurance Company from 2012 through 2018.

Managed comprehensive request for proposal process to solicit administrator in 2018, which resulted in the selection of the NYS Deferred Compensation Program via Nationwide Insurance Company effective December 1, 2018. This City of Tonawanda Deferred Compensation program has grown from its inception in 1994 to a fund in excess of $11 million as a value added benefit to all City employees and retirees to supplement their post-employment income.

1996 Implementation of comprehensive In House City Payroll System via KVS Information Systems takeover from ADP Payroll Processing Services, saving City in excess of $10,000 annually.

1997 Transitioned City’s Worker Compensation Insurance Program from Self Insured/Stop Loss Retention Model to Deductible Alternative Contribution Model via Public Employer Risk Management Association (PERMA) saving City in excess of $100,000 annually, improvement in claims management and closure, and additional expertise in claim management.

1998 Managed the Refinancing of the Tonawanda Towers/ United States Department of HUD Section 8 Public Housing Agreement. Refunded approximately $6 million in federally guaranteed construction loan funds, saving approximately $800,000 over 10 years via the McKinney Act of 1987. The savings in their entirety were redirected into public housing initiatives.

2001 Incorporated all City of Tonawanda Fixed Assets into the annual financial statement per Government Accounting Standards Board pronouncement number 34. Involved establishment of value thresholds, periods of probable usefulness, and collection of existing data to be incorporated into excel spreadsheet to include land, buildings and equipment, streets, sidewalks, bridges, water lines, sanitary sewer lines, and storm sewer lines. Updated annually to include additions, deletions, current year depreciation, accumulated depreciation, and net book value.

2002 through 2004 managed the utility billing systems and capital asset transitions from the City of Tonawanda Water Department to the Erie County Water Authority. Involved the transition of information, in working directly with ECWA personnel, of approximately 6,300 utility billing accounts from the City of Tonawanda to the Erie County Water Authority in anticipation of the comprehensive takeover of the City’s entire water system and infrastructure in August of 2004. Additionally involved the development and implementation of the City’s Sewer Billing Utility system effective in August 2004 via KVS Utility Billing Software. The transition of water system assets and infrastructure has conservatively saved the City of Tonawanda in excess of $200,000 annually strictly in terms of capital investment avoidance.

2004 through 2005 managed the consolidation of City Treasurer, City Clerk and City Assessor office staff into a one-stop office destination at City Hall for the convenience of City residents and those wishing to conduct business in the City. Additionally office staff was cross-trained into multiple functions and positions were consolidated and eliminated through attrition with a conservative annual estimated savings of $40,000.

2012 to 2019 Established as Ex-officio Board Member Representative and Vice Chairman Buffalo Erie Niagara Land Improvement Corporation (BENLIC). Designated representative Board member to Public Authority established in 2012 seeking to confront and alleviate problems caused in communities by distressed, vacant, abandoned and/or tax delinquent properties and supporting municipal and regional revitalization efforts to address these concerns. From its inception in 2012, BENLIC has grown to an organization with assets of approximately $2 million. Worked to secure rehabilitation of approximately eight properties in the City of Tonawanda including the construction of one new single-family residence. Assisted in hiring executive director and supporting staff personnel.

2007 to 2019 transitioned the City from a fully funded Health Insurance Program to a hybrid self-funded/fully insured model via Premier Consulting Associates LLC. This involved the establishment of a Self-Funded City of Tonawanda Health Insurance Program administered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Western New York for all active employees and pre-65 retirees across four collective bargaining units and nonunion personnel, involving approximately 175 total policies and 435 total subscribers. Additionally involved the management of approximately 175 fully insured Medicare eligible subscribers under Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Western New York and Independent Health. Over the course of eleven years between 2008 and 2019 the annual health insurance spend of the City of Tonawanda increased on average by less than 4%. In October of 2019, at the direction of the Mayor and with the assistance of Premier Consulting Associates the transition of all Medicare eligible retirees from Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Western New York and Independent Health to United Healthcare was implemented with an annual estimated savings conservatively estimated in excess of $500,000.

2015 through 2016 established the implementation of online and credit/debit card payment services for Property Tax Bills, Sewer Bills and Rentals for Park Shelter Rental Permits, Pavilion Rental Permits, Boat Dock Permits, Parking Tag Payments, Park and Recreation Fees and all other City Fees paid to various departments. This was established via relationships between the City and Systems East, GovPayNet, and Hamer Enterprises with a recognition and understanding that the City needed to bring its services up to date with existing technology for those services our constituency is accustomed to operating within.

2019 Reviewed proposals and qualifications to determine updated comprehensive software programs for the City of Tonawanda including payroll/personnel, utility and tax collection, general ledger and accounts payable modules. Signed agreement with Edmunds GovTech in December of 2019 for full-scale implementation between January and July of 2020. This project was contemplated in recognition of furthering the technologies our constituency is familiar operating within, streamlining our accounting processes, and upgrading our accounting software completely to windows based technology, all with the goal of making our employee resources more efficient and increasing public access to information they can utilize.

Public Employer Risk Management Association (PERMA), Latham, New York - Board Member, Treasurer

April 2013 - Present

The largest self-insured provider of workers compensation insurance for New York State Public Entities with assets of approximately $200 million

Surplus recovery program from deficit in 2013 to respectable financial position today

Peter J. Schmitt Company, West Seneca New York - Senior Staff Accountant

August 1985 - December 1987

EDUCATION

Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, August 1981 - May 1985

Bachelor of Science in Accountancy, Minor concentration in Political Science

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

Member, St. Francis of Assisi Parish School Board, 2000-2006

Chairman, St. Francis of Assisi Parish Finance Committee, 2003-present

Member, United Way of the Tonawanda’s Allocation Committee, 1992-2010

Member, Familial Cancer Foundation of Western New York, 2016-present

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