Carter County Finance Director Christa Byrd formally announced her resignation from her position with the county during a meeting of the Financial Management Committee on Wednesday.

“I hate to leave, but it will give me more time with my child, which is the most important thing to me,” Byrd told the committee members on Wednesday morning.

Byrd has accepted another position and her last day as Finance Director for Carter County will be March 28. She was selected to serve as finance director in October 2015 following the resignation of previous finance director Ingrid Deloach. Prior to stepping into the director’s role, Byrd served as the deputy director under Deloach.

With Byrd’s resignation, the Financial Management Committee must now begin the search for her replacement as well as taking steps to ensure operations continue smoothly until the new director comes onboard.

“We will need to start the process of getting my name off of all the accounts, credit cards, and everything,” Byrd said.

Byrd requested the committee to appoint an interim finance director to serve from the effective date of her resignation until a new director is selected and takes over the position. She asked the committee to proceed with the naming of an interim so that individual could be added to the county’s accounts so financial operations would not be interrupted.

Carter County Mayor Leon Humphrey made a motion to name Deputy Finance Director Michael Kennedy as the Interim Finance Director once Byrd’s term has ended. The motion received a second from Commissioner Charles VonCannon and passed unanimously on a vote by the committee.

Byrd also requested that Kennedy be compensated at the director’s salary rate while serving as interim because of the increase in his workload and responsibilities during that time.

“Michael will not be doing just my job, but his job as well,” Byrd said.

The committee then voted to approve Kennedy be paid the director’s salary rate while serving as interim.

As the search begins for a new finance director, Byrd offered some advice regarding the salary for the position and asked the committee to consider it.

“The reason I am leaving is not because of money. I want time with my child. The money was not a factor for my decision in any way, shape, or form,” Byrd said. “However, I would want you all to strongly consider when you hire the new person setting the salary to that of the Trustee and leaving it there every year. If the elected officials get a raise, this salary needs to go with it.”

In recent years, the Financial Management Committee set a goal of raising the finance director’s salary to equal that of the County Trustee due to the responsibilities and requirements of the finance director position. However, while the director salary was increased, it has not yet reached the salary of the County Trustee.

Currently, the approved salary for the finance director is $67,107, which is set by the Financial Management Committee. The current salary for the County Trustee, which is set by the state, is $81,756.

“This is a very demanding job, and it has a lot of requirements,” Byrd said. “To get someone good, who is qualified, and for them to stay, I think you do need to raise that pay.”

The committee unanimously voted to set the salary for the finance director to be equal to that of the County Trustee.