After a rocky budget season that involved a more than $5 million shortfall, Wise County leaders will consider hiring a consulting firm to find a new county administrator who has a strong financial background, said interim County Administrator Karen Mullins.
The open position has drawn the interest of 10 applicants as of last week. The board will consider hiring the Berkley Group, which is based in Virginia, to help turn the “slow” search around, Board of Supervisors Chairman J.H. Rivers said during an Aug. 6 meeting.
During a called meeting at 10 a.m. on Thursday, the board will meet virtually with Berkley CEO Andrew Williams. It will be open to the public, but the board may go into closed session if the conversation moves into discussion of specific candidates, Mullins said.
Mullins, who has filled the role since former County Administrator Mike Hatfield departed in December, said the board wants someone who will be more hands-on in the budget process and will also keep county officials more informed and involved. Hatfield, an engineer by trade, said earlier that he resigned due to personal plans, not budget woes.
Late last year, Wise officials learned that the county had for several years relied on emergency pandemic funding and dipping into the county’s unbudgeted reserve funds. Treasurer Delores Smith told supervisors in November that the county was about $6 million short of its budgeted spending for the fiscal year.
Over more than six months, the board made painful cuts to the budget, slashed personnel and raised personal property and real estate taxes to address the shortfall and balance the 2026-27 spending plan, which took effect July 1.
Smith also told the board that the county had been spending about $4 million more than it took in for several years, and was at least $5 million short of where it needed to be.
“I think the board realizes they need to be more involved to know what they need to do as the governing body,” Mullins said. “They want more of the information because of what we have dug into over the last six, eight months or so.”
Smith will provide monthly updates on the budget to the county and present quarterly reports to the board of supervisors. Administrative staff will also work with department heads regularly to review spending and cost-saving measures, Mullins wrote in an email.
The county is focused on building back its reserve, and Mullins said they anticipate continuing the effort into the next budget process, but it will take several years to rebuild.
The search for the new administrator started at the beginning of this year, but the county government was focused on the budget, she said. Budget difficulties also might have been a deterrent to some of those interested in the position, she added.
The board decided the first step would be to meet with Williams, whose group has assisted other county boards in finding administrators, to see if it’s a good fit. Mullins said the fee has yet to be determined.
Berkley Group is based out of Bridgewater in the Shenandoah Valley. Williams said his group has assisted communities across the state with finding top executives, from schools to local governments. They’ve worked in Richlands and Abingdon, and at localities along the Interstate 81 corridor, but haven’t done much work yet in the far Southwest, he said.
“It’s a challenging time for county administrators in local government,” he added.
If hired, he said the firm would look for someone who can weather the financial challenges, including being in the spotlight and meeting the high demand of services during a time with higher costs.
Now that the budget for the current year has been balanced, Mullins hopes more people will be attracted to the position after fresh rounds of advertising — in Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. They hope to find someone familiar with the region.
Mullins said she is not interested in the permanent role and is hoping to return fully to her longtime position as county attorney once a hire is made. She agreed to fill in as administrator until December.
Mullins anticipates the board will decide whether to hire the Berkley Group by its regular Sept. 10 meeting. At the same meeting, Smith said she will provide a full report on the current cash flow and the budget.
The board of supervisors will ultimately make a decision on a new administrator by a majority vote. Mullins said they do not have a hiring timeline, but hope to find someone as soon as possible.
