Austin Appoints Ed Van Eenoo As Chief Financial Officer

AUSTIN, TX — The City of Austin has tapped Ed Van Eenoo as the city’s new chief financial officer, officials said Monday.

Van Eenoo will begin his new duties this week in replacing Elaine Hart who retired in June, city officials said in an advisory.

Under the direction of the deputy city manager, city officials explained, the chief financial officer has the fiduciary responsibility for administering all financial proceedings of city government — except for the assessment and collection of taxes — oversees the operations of the city's Financial and Administrative Services Department including Budget, the City's Controller's Office, Purchasing, Capital Contracting and Treasury.

“I am pleased to announce the appointment of Ed Van Eenoo as the city’s new chief financial officer," Deputy City Manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde said in a prepared statement. "His extensive experience and past leadership as deputy chief financial officer will be instrumental in successfully driving operations of the city’s Financial Services Department.

Van Eenoo has worked for the City of Austin for 11 years and spent eight of those years as the deputy chief financial officer, according to a city-provided bio. In his role as deputy chief financial officer, he was responsible for the development, presentation and subsequent monitoring of the city’s $4.2 billion annual operating budget and $1.0 billion annual capital budget.

Under his leadership, officials added, the city’s budget has been a consistent winner of the Government Finance Officers Association’s award for Distinguished Budget Presentation and the International City/County Management Association’s Certificate of Excellence for performance measurement. In addition, he has developed and led many inclusive and innovative community engagement campaigns including the highly successful Budget-in-a-Box, which was awarded a Municipal Excellence Award for communication from the Texas Municipal League.

Other highlights from Van Eenoo’s background include:

• Serving as a member of the board of trustees for the $2.5 billion City of Austin Employees’ Retirement System since 2011. and the $860 million Austin Police Retirement System since 2019.
• Being selected by Bloomberg Philanthropies to be one of thirty financial leaders from cities across the country to participant in the What Works Cities Budgeting for Equity and Recovery Initiative.
• Serving two years with the U.S. Peace Corps as a high school mathematics teacher at Chumani Secondary School in Kilifi, Kenya.

“I’m honored to have been chosen to lead the city’s Financial Services Department as chief financial officer, and look forward to my new responsibilities in managing the city’s financial operations,” Van Eenoo said in a prepared statement.

In making the announcement of Van Eenoo's appointment, city officials took time to recognize and thank Mark Dombroski, interim chief financial officer, for filling in "...during a challenging time, and monitoring the city’s coronavirus spending plan, the emergency purchase of personal protective equipment for the essential employees in our workforce, and for supporting the development of a balanced budget for FY21 while adjusting to evolving fiscal constraints and community needs," city officials said.