Sheila Reed was named the state’s new director of local government finance, Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury Jason Mumpower announced in a press release Tuesday. Reed replaces Director Betsy Knotts, who left the role to serve as a public finance attorney, the press release notes.
NEW: Comptroller Mumpower Names New Director of Local Government Finance. Read more: https://t.co/P6MZIGEd4l pic.twitter.com/RV2JVQXc4Q
— TN Comptroller (@TNCOT) November 1, 2022
Assuring that Tennessee’s counties, metropolitan governments, municipalities, utility districts, and other governmental water and wastewater systems are financially healthy is a critical function of local government finance, according to the comptroller’s office. Reed’s role also consists of assisting in developing presentations and materials that educate local officials about fiscal health.
As such, during her 34 years at the comptroller’s office, Reed has held key positions in local government audit, state and local finance, and, most recently, assistant director of local government finance. She is a graduate of Austin Peay State University, where she majored in accounting and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
Along with Reed’s appointment, the comptroller’s office also announced that Steve Osborne and Ross Colona have been named assistant directors to serve as the division of local government finance. Colona will supervise the division’s utilities oversight, while Osborne will primarily oversee the division’s responsibilities related to the fiscal operations of cities and counties, the comptroller’s office notes.
Colona is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He received a master’s in public administration from American University and a master’s in business administration from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and is currently working to complete his Master of Science in financial technology from Kennesaw State University.
Osbourne holds undergraduate degrees from Austin Peay State University and Belmont University as well as an MBA from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University.
“The division of Local Government Finance is focused on making government work better for the people of Tennessee,” Comptroller Jason Mumpower said in a statement. “I’m confident that Sheila and her team will help ensure our cities, counties, and public utilities are fiscally strong and accountable.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Sheila Reed” by Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury. Photo “Jason Mumpower” by Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury. Background Photo “Tennessee Capitol” by Kayfishup. CC BY-SA 3.0.
Maybe she should have been assigned to clean up the ongoing mess at Tennessee State University. They need more help than most of the local governmental operations.