Log homes chief to lead county finance department

Knoxville News-Sentinel (Tennessee)

BYLINE: Mike Donila

3/28/2012

The president of Tennessee Log and Timber Homes has been tapped to lead Knox County’s Finance Department.

Burton Webb is set to take over when John Troyer steps down April 13. Webb, who is shutting down the family-owned Athens-based business he joined in the 1980s as a sales representative before working his way up, will spend the next few weeks working with the admin-istration and department to ensure a smooth transition, he said.

Troyer, who earned $147,700, plans to stay until the county’s upcoming budget is ready. He’s taken a job as finance director for the city of Alcoa.

Webb will be paid $120,900 a year.

Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett, who hired Webb, said he’s known him since college and that he came with good references.

In January 2010, Webb contributed $500 to Burchett’s campaign for county mayor, records show. Burchett said that wasn’t a factor in his decision to hire him.

“I wanted someone who can manage the people in the department and explain the budget to the (county) commission,” the mayor said. “The department pretty much runs itself. John Troyer did an excellent job of putting people in place, and now I need someone to overlook them.”

Unlike Troyer, Webb is not a certified public accountant.

The county’s senior director of finance is an executive job and serves at the pleasure of the mayor. The director’s primary duties call for managing the office and putting together the county’s annual spending plan, which is expected to be more than $680 million for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1.

“I’m ready for the challenge, for something different,” said Webb, who will move his family to Knox County.

An Athens native, he said he graduated from Baylor High School in Chattanooga before attending the University of Tennessee, where he studied mechanical engineering and business and earned a degree in finance in December 1986.

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper

Copyright 2012 Knoxville News-Sentinel Co.
All Rights Reserved