2023 Treasurers Professional Development Retreat

Cindy Dodge joined MTA in 2006 as a Member Information Liaison, hailing from Williamstown Township in Ingham County where she served as Clerk since 2005. She had been involved with the township since 2003 in other roles, including assistant to the supervisor, planning commissioner, and assistant to the planning commission. She is currently a Michigan Certified Assessing Officer. Now an MTA Consultant, Cindy provides township officials and employees with information and resources via phone and email regarding the day-to-day functions of township government. She also assist in developing resource materials, and presents workshop and Conference sessions as well as teaching live and recorded webinar courses.

Sarah is a principal at Maner Costerisan and leads the firm’s Consulting services division. With over 20 years of experience, Sarah is widely regarded as a visionary leader within the firm, always offering new ideas to help Maner better support its clients. In addition to her leadership role providing expert consulting services to Maner’s clients, she spearheads the firm’s nonprofit team, where she’s able to align her work with her passion for advocacy and philanthropy. She also holds the distinction of being its first female board member.

Mike has multiple years of experience working with the Michigan Legislature and state departments, most recently serving as senior policy advisor for the House Republican Policy Office. He also served seven years as the director of the Office of Government Affairs with the Michigan Department of State. Mike also has association experience having worked with the National Federation of Independent Business and Small Business Association of Michigan.

Jeff serves as Director of Investment Services for Michigan CLASS. Prior to joining Michigan CLASS, Jeff most recently served as the Finance Director and Deputy Treasurer for Delta Charter Township where his responsibilities included accounting, auditing, annual budget preparation, purchasing, portfolio management, and many other finance related duties for the last 15 years. He additionally served as the Accounting Manager for Neogen Corporations, a publicly traded bio-tech company in the Lansing area. Jeff received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Western Michigan University.

Jeff is an active member of the Michigan Municipal Treasurers’ Association, the Michigan Governmental Finance Officers Association, and the Knights of Columbus. Jeff has enjoyed teaching municipal budgeting classes for the MMTA and other municipal organizations over the last several years. He previously served on the Michigan CLASS Board of Trustees for six years.

Seth Koches is an attorney and Partner at Bauckham, Thall, Seeber, Kaufman & Koches, P.C. Prior to joining the firm, Seth worked as an assistant prosecuting attorney for 7 years in the Oakland County and Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s office prosecuting cases from simple retail fraud to criminal sexual conduct and assault with intent to murder. Seth’s primary practice encompasses nearly every aspect of municipal law including annexation, ordinance enforcement, planning and zoning, and amicus writing. 

After receiving his law degree from Cooley Law School, Robert Thall joined the law firm of Bauckham, Thall, Seeber, Kaufman & Koches, PC, in which he is now partner. With extensive experience in municipal law, Rob serves as general or special counsel to many general townships, charter townships, as well as sewer and water authorities throughout the state. Rob is also lead counsel for MTA and is a frequent author and speaker for MTA and other municipal groups around the state.