In the public eye: Windham’s Assistant Finance Director crucial to town’s public fund accountability

Editor’s Note: This is another in an ongoing series of Windham and Raymond town employee profiles.

By Ed Pierce

Levi Robinson sees his role as Assistant Finance Director and Deputy Tax Collector for the Town of Windham as pivotal in securing the effective use and accountability of public funds, ultimately supporting community development and ensuring compliance with pre-determined governmental financial regulations.

Levi Robinson serves as Assistant
Finance Director for the Town of
Windham and also supervises the
day-to-day operations within the
Tax Collection Department as the
Town's Deputy Tax Collector.
SUBMITTED PHOTO  

As the town’s Assistant Finance Director, Robinson’s primary job responsibilities are to support the Finance Director in the stewardship of taxpayer funds. He also handles various account reconciliations, grant administration and reporting, maintenance of Windham’s capital planning database, and management of the lease process.

“We process accounts payable invoices weekly as well, so a review of every invoice submitted is required by me or the Finance Director before they are approved for payment,” Robinson said. As of July 2025, I also supervise the day-to-day operations within the Tax Collection department as the Deputy Tax Collector, but the overall department is still overseen by our Finance Director.”

Having worked for the Town of Windham since December 2023, he says the most challenging aspect of his job is also one of his strongest individual attributes – attention to detail.

“From the review of accounts payable invoices to the reconciliation process, attention to detail is critical to ensure that transactions are all properly recorded and checks are sent to the correct vendors for the correct amounts,” Robinson said. “So, while it is the most challenging, it is also one of the most important aspects of the job. For me personally, one of my favorite tasks is account reconciliation because it is effectively like solving a puzzle that you may or may not have all the pieces for currently. Eventually solving that puzzle is a very fulfilling experience for me and it gives us the assurance that everything has been properly accounted for.”

He’s lived in Maine his entire life, primarily in South Portland, Gorham, and most recently in Gray. Robinson earned a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics with a concentration in Statistics and in Economics from University of Southern Maine. 

When he accepted the job in Windham, Robinson was encouraged to go through a two-year certification program through the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) to become a Certified Public Finance Officer (CPFO). The program has seven areas that cover all aspects of financial management and is designed to prepare individuals for leadership positions in state and local governments by enhancing fundamental skills and increasing knowledge of best practices and standards in public finance.

“While the knowledge I gained through auditing aided in my completion of the program, the program was tremendously helpful in teaching me new things specifically within the debt, payroll, and budgeting areas from the Town/City perspective, rather than the auditor lens I was accustomed to,” Robinson said. “Beyond that, the most important thing I’ve learned at the town so far is an understanding of how our financial software (Enterprise ERP, formerly known as MUNIS) functions and processes transactions. This knowledge is critical for being able to investigate and solve any unexpected variances or problems that occur during the processing of transactions at an account level. I’m sure I have much more to learn about our software, but the progress I’ve made so far has been integral to my success in my role at the town and I look forward to advancing that knowledge even further in the future. 

Prior to coming to work for the Town of Windham, Robinson served as an Audit Manager for a Certified Public Accounting firm for more than six years where his job was to manage and conduct audits of local governments including towns, schools, and tribal governments. In the audit process, he worked with Town Managers, Finance Directors, and others to review and verify the accuracy of their work and ensure that the final product of an audit, the financial statements, were “fairly stated.”

He said he always knew that he could eventually see himself working on the “other side of the desk” in a finance office where I would be the one doing the work to eventually be reviewed by an auditor instead of being the reviewer, but the impetus for that change came with the birth of his son.

“Audit fieldwork often entailed overnight travel and being away from home for an extended period wasn’t something I felt like I could do anymore as a new father,” Robinson said. “The opportunity as Assistant Finance Director in Windham was the perfect fit for me to stay close to home, while learning the internal nuances of town government in a complementary role within the Finance Department.” <