Respected statewide, Fort Smith’s longtime finance director is planning what her peers call a well-deserved retirement this fall.

City Finance Director Kara Bushkuhl announced recently she will retire on Oct. 6, exactly 35 years from the day she was hired.

“Hallmarks of Kara’s work are her tremendous passion and attention to detail,” City Administrator Ray Gosack said. “Kara’s legacy will be her insistence on full disclosure, upholding the highest standards of integrity, implementing financial controls to safeguard the public’s resources and encouraging staff development.”

Born in Little Rock, Bushkuhl, 58, moved with her family to Fort Smith when she was 7 years old. She’s a Grizzly, having graduated from Northside High School in 1975, then later from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville with an accounting-focused business degree.

“I actually started in chemical engineering,” she said. “That was before they had the computers to do the drafting, and I couldn’t draw a straight line. I had the rulers, protractors, all those kinds of things. But I couldn’t do it. So I changed to math because it’s my favorite.”

Bushkuhl became an accountant in the private sector in Tulsa before applying for the Fort Smith job, she said.

“I thought, well I can come home,” she added. “I went and interviewed but really didn’t know what I was getting into. I was awfully young. They had like 13 directors of finance in 11 years before I got here.”

Today, the longtime finance boss serves as the city’s treasurer and chief accountant, overseeing more than 30 city employees in utility billing, purchasing, collections and general accounting.

“I’m a real detail-oriented person,” Bushkuhl said. “A lot of the numbers and everything are my favorite part of it because it comes so naturally to me. But I will say that the management of the people, even though that was the scariest part when I took the job, has become the best part of it. I have such a great team and support system.”

Others in the Finance Department, she said, also have longevity with the city.

“We tend to stay,” Bushkuhl said. “They’re very dedicated people and they love the city. I think we try our very best to report things accurately and watch over the city’s money.”

According to the city, Bushkuhl led a policy change that holds every city employee, elected official and board or commission appointee accountable for maintaining high ethical standards in doing the public’s business.

From a by-the-numbers perspective, Bushkuhl worked with seven city administrators, four mayors and nearly 40 city board members over the decades. She also prepared 35 audits and comprehensive annual financial reports, 35 budgets, dozens of bond offerings, saw nearly 13 million water bills sent to customers, 700,000 payroll checks issued to employees and “made a gazillion journal entries,” Gosack said.

By way of her involvement with the Arkansas Government Finance Officers’ Association, Bushkuhl’s impact on municipal finance extends beyond Fort Smith’s city limits.

“Kara will certainly be missed by her peers across Arkansas,” Little Rock Finance Director Sara Lenehan said. “Over my last 10 years with the city of Little Rock, I could depend on Kara to be a resource for discussion of the impact and implementation of new governmental accounting standards and pronouncements, issues before the state legislature and matters impacting municipal revenues.

“I have always appreciated Kara’s willingness to voice her strong opinions.”

Jacinta Winstead, president of the Government Finance Officers Association’s Arkansas chapter, described Bushkuhl as “one of the hardest workers I have ever known.” Bentonville Assistant Finance Director Jake Harper called Bushkuhl “a respected voice.”

“Her knowledge, experience and helpfulness have been a staple in Arkansas municipal government finance during the decade that I have been involved,” Harper said.

Springdale Finance Director Laura Favorite referred to Bushkuhl as her “go-to” finance director “whenever I have questions or issues here at the city.”

“She is highly respected among her peers, and she will be greatly missed by all of us,” Favorite said.

Reflecting on her time in Fort Smith, Bushkuhl notes as a high point being involved in the city’s first voter-approved sales tax used for bonds in 1988. The funds supported a Lee Creek water project.

“That was interesting because we were one of the first cities in Arkansas to do a sales-tax bond issue for a water and sewer project,” she said. “The tax went into place in 1988, and I believe the bonds were paid off in 1992. It was really fast.”

Once the bonds were paid off, the 1 percent sales tax was repealed, Bushkuhl said.

“I think the citizens were very shocked that we actually stopped the sales tax when we’d paid off all the bonds,” she said. “I think that was the precursor for us being able to get voter approval for using other sales and use tax bonds.”

Another highlight, Bushkuhl said, was the “huge undertaking” of publishing a comprehensive financial report annually “instead of just an audit” for increased transparency.

“I just think now people are more involved and want to know what’s going on,” she said. “With the advent of technology it’s so much easier to have that information and being able to publish it. That’s been a great stride.”

During Bushkuhl’s career, she served as co-chair for the Women’s Public Finance Network, which is part of the Government Finance Officers Association. She attained the certified public finance officer designation in the organization’s first class in 2001. She also served as president of the GFOA’s Arkansas chapter in 1988-89, later earning the Arkansas Finance Officer of the Year award.

Bushkuhl and her staff earned 29 consecutive certificates for excellence in financial reporting and 26 consecutive distinguished budget presentations.

Bushkuhl’s sister and three brothers, several in-laws and numerous nieces and nephews have all offered support throughout her career. She has no retirement plans in mind other than to “enjoy some of my time before I get to the point I can’t enjoy it.”

“I already spend time with my family so I’ll just continue to do that,” she said.

Bushkuhl’s replacement will be Deputy Finance Director Jennifer Walker, who was hired a year ago as part of the Finance Department’s succession plan.

article source