A new position has been added to the Tooele County Clerk/Auditor’s office to help cover responsibilities the office inherited when the county clerk and auditor jobs were combined at the beginning of this year.
After 90 days of combined operation, it became evident that a new person was needed in the office, according to Tooele County Clerk/Auditor Marilyn Gillette,
To fill the new position, she hired Tenille Tingey. Tingey started work as a deputy clerk/auditor last week.
“We needed somebody to help with the day-to-day work of accounting entries and to help out with the budget process,” Gillette said.
Tingey is no stranger to Tooele County’s financial books.
As a financial analyst for Zions Bank Public Finance, she was part of the team that completed the municipal services fund study for Tooele County and the Lake Point incorporation feasibility study.
Tingey is a Stansbury Park resident who has worked for four years for Zions Bank. She earned a master’s degree in business in administration from the University of Phoenix in 2008.
A total of eight people applied for the new position in the clerk/auditor’s office. Four finalists were selected for interviews, according to Gillette.
“While we were familiar with Tenille because she has worked with us before,” said Gillette, “Tenille was selected because she is detail oriented and very thorough.”
In her post as a deputy clerk/auditor, Tingey’s primary duties will be to make entries in the county’s accounting system and assist in the annual budget process.
Tingey has also been cross-trained in other clerk/auditor duties and is capable of issuing business and marriage licenses, according to Gillette.
Her annual salary is $59,446.
“I thought this job would be a good opportunity to work in the community where I live,” Tingey said.
In January 2014 the Tooele County Commission voted to merge the county auditor’s office with the county clerk’s office, creating the new office of county clerk/auditor.
Candidates ran for the clerk/auditor office in the 2014 elections. The merger went into effect in January 2015 when county elected officials were sworn in.
The county commissioners expected the consolidation of the county clerk with the county auditor would produce a gross savings of $180,500 per year as the result of eliminating the salary and benefits of one elected official and one chief deputy.
Mike Jensen, the former Tooele County auditor, ran for and was elected as county treasurer in 2014.
The chief deputy auditor position was vacant at the time the county commissioners voted to consolidate the offices.
Kathy Clark, former deputy auditor, moved into the clerk/auditor’s office as a deputy clerk/auditor. Clark’s primary duties include handling the county’s accounts payable.
On October 2, 2014 Tooele County commissioners announced a plan to take advantage of a new state law and strip the budget, accounting, and accounts payable functions from the Tooele County Clerk/Auditor office and give those tasks to a newly created appointed director of finance.
Three weeks later, the commissioners reversed their decision on the new position after all six county candidates for the two open seats on the county commission said they did not favor the creation or hiring of a financial director.