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After less than a year on the job, Tabatha Miller, Humboldt County’s assistant county administrative officer and chief financial officer, is resigning to become finance director with the City of Arcata.

Miller came to the county from Fort Bragg, where she was city manager for nearly four years, and she has earned plaudits from county supervisors and others for her work organizing the county’s messy finances during her brief tenure.

“I think it’s a great loss for the county and a great win for the City of Arcata,” said First District Supervisor Rex Bohn. He credited Miller with putting the county back on solid ground financially and added that he often saw Miller working on the weekends. He suspects that Miller took the Arcata job because it has a much smaller budget, which will allow her to settle down a bit.

“She rolled up her sleeves and got us in a great place … ,” Bohn said. “She’s put us in a great position where she feels comfortable leaving us.”

When former Auditor-Controller Karen Paz Dominguez resigned at the end of June, per the terms of a separation agreement with the county, Miller stepped in as interim assistant auditor-controller under Paz Dominguez’s successor, Cheryl Dillingham.

At its regular meeting last night the Arcata City Council unanimously ratified a five-year contract with Miller, with her employment set to begin this next Monday, Jan. 23. Her initial annual base salary will be $125,361. With the county, Miller was a non-contract employee who earned $84.45 per hour when she started and $90.56 per hour after the latest round of wage increases.

“I’m going to miss her terribly,” Bohn said. “Aside from being a great asset, she’s just a really nice person. She’s so smart. Just wicked smart.”

Asked for a statement, Deputy County Administrative Officer Sean Quincey sent the following on behalf of his boss, Alishia Hayes:

Tabatha has been a wonderful partner and member of the county team, and we wish her and her family nothing but the best.

She did great work with other departments, including our Auditor-Controller, to help put us into a better position to close our books on prior years and have better vision into future years. And her leadership, experience and skill have helped our staff grow.

Chief Financial Officer is an important role at the county, helping to coordinate and oversee our overall budget, and she met those responsibilities and more. Our community will still get to benefit from having her in Humboldt County, she’ll just be in a new role with the City of Arcata.

Tabatha helped lay a stronger foundation for the county and we will continue to build on her successes as we move forward.

An email seeking comment from Miller was not returned by the time this post was published.