Hazelwood's Finance Director Retires After 33 Years of Service

You may recall in December of last year, Hazelwood Patch featured a job posting for a in our weekly .

A few emails and phone calls poured in asking what was going to happen to the then current finance director, Donnie Burns.

Well after 33 years of service in various capacities to the City of Hazelwood, she retired on March 2.

Climb to the Top

Burns started her employment with the City of Hazelwood as a payroll clerk on August 29, 1978. She was soon promoted to finance supervisor on July 9, 1979, according to the Tim Davidson, Hazelwood's communications coordinator. From there she became finance director on July 1, 2000. In 1995, she earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Hazelwood City Manager Edwin Carlstrom said he saw Burns' potential to be a successful finance director when he first stepped on as city manager.

"When I came here 32 years ago, I met Donnie as I walked into the city's finance department," he said. "She was the payroll clerk at the time, but she was the most experienced for possibly being a finance director for the City of Hazelwood."

Carlstrom said Burns and he sat down in his office and discussed the position and the opportunities available to her if she accepted it.

"The enormous impact she has made to our community will be felt many, many years after her retirement," he said. "We've worked together on a lot of projects involving annexations, economic development, and strategic planning."

Job Well Done

Burns leaves behind a long list of accomplishments that includes receiving the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA). GROA has given her this accolade for the past 13 consecutive years. She’s also received Hazelwood's own recognition, the Above and Beyond Award.

Burns' ability to do her job well is display in the number of times GFOA has awarded the finance department for its comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR). Financial advisors and bond rating agencies use the CAFR to analyze a city's financial condition prior to approving the issuance of bonds and other financial transactions.

For Hazelwood, this would include the issuance of:

• General obligation street bonds
• Revenue bonds for Wildlife Museum
• Certificates of participation for the $5.7 million . 

Since Burns began working for Hazelwood, city revenue has increased from $3.7 million to $31.6 million and the city's assessed value has jumped from $69.8 million to $543.6 million, according to city information. In 2010, Standard and Poor' upgraded Hazelwood's bond rating from A+ to AA- based on its evaluation of the CAFR.

What's Next for Hazelwood's Finance Department?

Davidson confirmed there is a replacement for Burns.

"A new finance director has already been hired to replace (Burns)," he said. "Her name is Lori Helle."

Davidson also said that more information would be released about the new director at a later time in an effort to focus on Burns' retirement, something well deserved.

"This is her time in the spotlight," he said.