Hiller To Resign As Fairfield's Fiscal Officer

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield Chief Fiscal Officer Paul Hiller will resign from his post effective Sept. 15, according to the first selectman’s office.

Hiller had previously been on an unexplained absence for more than a week. Republican leaders at the Representative Town Meeting and Board of Finance session the next week asked First Selectman Michael Tetreau to explain the situation, but Tetreau refused to comment on what he called a “personnel matter.”

Hiller “offered his resignation” Wednesday, Tetreau said in a statement.

“The town is very fortunate to have had such a dedicated and hardworking CFO who always had the best interests of the town at hand,” Tetreau said in the statement. “Mr. Hiller’s financial experience helped deliver a clean audit of the town’s balance sheet at the end of every year.”

When asked about the situation by Republican Selectman Kevin Kiley at Wednesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting, Tetreau again declined to comment beyond the statement sent Wednesday afternoon.

The move would have some cost to the town, Tetreau said, but he did not specify how much. Documents would be distributed to town leaders Thursday morning with more information, he said.

“A good number people have been asking a lot of striking questions, and other people have been more patient in trying to allow that process to work through, and I would put myself in that category,” Kiley said. “But we are at the point that there is a settlement, and I believe in the spirit of an open and transparent government.”

Hiller, a former three-term member of the Board of Finance, had been CFO for the last 13 years. As chief fiscal officer, he is responsible for managing the town’s finances on a day-to-day basis under the guidance of the town’s elected boards. Under the Town Charter, the position is filled solely by the first selectman.

Chief of Staff Robert Mayer, also a former member of the Board of Finance, will act as CFO after Hiller steps down. He is a certified public accountant and has previously worked as the CEO of Health America and chief financial officer of Sierra Health Services.

Hiller will stay on as manager of financial services through June 30 to ease the transition. The Fairfield Daily Voice was unable to reach Hiller for comment Wednesday. 

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