6/25/09
Rio Arriba County will not replace County Comptroller Mary Louise Martinez when she retires June 30, County Manager Lorenzo Valdez said.
“The comptroller’s position will go away,” Valdez said. “We have a chief Financial Officer. We’ve been training Christine (Montaño).”
As comptroller, Martinez has overseen budgets, spending and County audits, County Commissioner Alfredo Montoya said. She makes an $84,940 annual salary.
Martinez managed finances at a gamut of public agencies in Rio Arriba before landing at the County in 1995, where she was tasked with bringing order to chaos.
“I was brought in to reconcile County records,” Martinez said. “I found there had really been no records kept from 1992 through 1994. There was no general ledger, no check registry, nothing. I started reconstructing records starting with 1992, when the County had had its last good audit.”
Martinez discovered $1 million in miscellaneous revenues, she said.
“I didn’t find any fraud or money missing,” Martinez said. “It had just never been budgeted. Nobody knew it was there.”
That money helped build the County building in Tierra Amarilla, Martinez said.
“I said we need to show the people the County seat is still up here in Tierra Amarilla,” Martinez said. “We had no space (before). The Finance Department had been behind bars in the old jail, below the courthouse. We had these big old keys to lock up with at night.”
Martinez retired in 2001 but was brought back in September 2003 to help prepare a 10-year tax report for the County treasurer. She stayed and was named comptroller in 2006.
“We couldn’t have done it without her,” Valdez said. “(Martinez) is ethical, experienced, knowledgeable — a very intelligent lady. She cares a lot about this County. She’s a tough lady, very firm.”
Montoya said Martinez’s conservative financial practices have created healthy cash balances and helped fuel capital projects. He is not entirely convinced the County should let the comptroller position lapse with Martinez’s retirement, Montoya said.
“We have not had a whole lot of discussions about that,” Montoya said. “I do know there are very capable staff who can run the County’s finances. We still need to assess whether we need another comptroller.”
Montaño, the County’s financial director, confessed to being a little uneasy about taking over Martinez’s duties, especially in the midst of a state audit of the County’s finances.
“I’m nervous,” Montaño said, laughing. “It’s going to be a lot of work. But it will be okay.”
Montoya said it is not unusual for counties to make do without a comptroller, and New Mexico Association of Counties Finance Manager Carol Stodgel confirmed that Martinez may be the state’s last county comptroller.
“Usually I see the title (of) financial director,” Stodgel said. “Some small counties just have an accountant on the payroll. Looking through our membership lists, I don’t see any other comptrollers.”
Martinez has “fallen into” jobs throughout her career, she said.
She became business manager for the Chama School District when it became independent of the County school system in 1965, and she stayed in that position until 1977, she said.
“I was business manager but I was doing purchasing, payroll, inventory,” Martinez said. “I asked for help. When they said no, I resigned.”
Martinez then served as business manager for the Jemez Mountain School District and worked in the County clerk’s and assessor’s offices, before moving on to Northern New Mexico Community College, where she retired in 1992.
Martinez was hired by the Española School District and then, in 1995, was brought back to the County on a contract basis, she said.