Springfield Ohio Finance Department

Not So Fun Facts about Katie Eviston's Finance Department

How many Finance Directors, Assistant Directors, Managers, Analysts, Coordinators, does it take for a town of 58,000 citizens and 4 pie slices in Katie's pie chart she uses in her annual Commission meeting presentations. I believe it's 60%, maybe 80% of all the money goes in a "public safety"/"general" fund. They use these words interchangeably, depending on their need.

They just hired an Assistant to the City Treasurer, created Financial Analyst and Financial Analyst Supervisor positions.

For salary details that include 2024

And Episodes 3 and 4

Finance Director Katie Eviston

Katie Eviston:
From 2019 - 2023, she got 4 promotions and her salary increased $70,818, a 93% increase.
2019: Acctg Budget Mgr, $76,277
2020: Budget Mgr, $91,791
2021: Asst Dir of Finance, $101,116 (maybe replaced Tiffany Ross who left in 2021, was making $110,527 in 2020 (started as Asst Finance Director in 2016 at $71,513 - $39,014 increase in 4 years - so this isn't new for Heck)
2022: Asst Dir of Finance, $114,504
2023: Dir of Finance. $147,095

4 promotions in 4 years, (I assume grooming her for the job as Mark Beckdahl, who'd had the job for 16 years, was retiring), her salary increased $70,818, a 93% increase.

Mark Beckdahl (retired in Jan 2023, and yet still paid, so we had TWO Finance Directors in 2023 to the tune of :
From 2019-2022, in same job as Director of Finance, his salary increased from $111,393 to $142,130, a $30,737 or 30% increase.
2019: $111,393
2020: $126, 567
2021: $135, 451
2022: $142, 130
2023: $116,094 (Katie's new appointment and his retirement were announced in January 2023, so I don't know why he was paid a salary.)

Since taking over in January 2023, Katie Eviston:

Hired TWO new Assistant Finance Directors
Created another (there was already a Budget Manager role - she was in it in 2020) Accounting and Budget Manager job (in October 2024 at $102K)
Created a Finance Analyst Supervisor job (in 2022/3 at $121K)
Created a Finance Analyst job (in September 2025 at $75K)

That alone adds up to (in 2023 dollars):
Finance Director = $147,000
Asst Finance Director (2) = $270,000
Budget Manager = $102,000
Finance Analyst Supervisor = $121,308
Finance Analyst (2025) = $72,000
City Treasurer = $83,000

Grand total: 795,308 in base salary alone. For Katie's Finance department. Four pie slices in a town of 58K.

Tiffany Smith:
Hired mid-2023 as Utility Billing Manager, at $90,000 (if full year).
In April 2025, promoted to Assistant Finance Director, at ~$140,000 (per job posting - data not out)

In 2 years, she was promoted from Billing Manager for the utilities to Assistant Director, and her salary increased $50,000.

Nikki Weber:
From 2019 - 2023, her salary increased $63,450 - almost double where she started in 2019.
City Treasurer 2019 $69,991
City Treasurer 2020 $86,193
Finance Consultant 2021 $57,711 (did she quit and freelance?)
Assistant Finance Director 2022 $108,649
Assistant Finance Director 2023 $133, 441

Juanita Downing:
Finance Analyst Supervisor job created in 2022/3 at $121,308

Other job positions under Katie:
Staff Accountant Emily Ogden hired late 2022/3 at $54,192 (2023) - replaced previous person
Grants Accountant Kathleen Vest hired 2022 at $69,065 - replaced previous person
Senior Accountant Matthew Welbaun hired 2023 at $47,039


Senior Accountants who have left within a year - Mark Young, mid 2021, Nicole Billetter early 2023, Erica Stanley came and went 2022, Andrea Smith came and went in 2022

The Springfield News-Sun Jan 2023 article, titled, "The new finance director truly has a servant's heart".

First, that's not really a news headline or article.

Second, it wouldn't be a new day without a new SNS lie.

The numbers above don't scream servant, do they?