John Richbourg has spent more than three decades crunching numbers for Cape Girardeau city government, largely operating out of public view in the basement of city hall.

For most of that time, he has served as the city’s finance director, crafting everything from the city budget to bond issues.

Richbourg will step down Friday, turning over control of finances to deputy finance director Victor Brownlees, who has been groomed for the past year to replace him.

But while the 63-year-old Richbourg will be leaving his role as finance director, he won’t be leaving the basement, at least not for now.

Richbourg said he plans to continue working with city finances, but in a part-time role that will keep him in the office two to three days a week for the next year.

“This year will probably be beneficial to me in that it will help me wind down a little bit,” he said of staying on in a part-time capacity.

“There are still things I can do at city hall,” he said, adding he feels his knowledge of city finances will be of help to the new director.

At this point, he has no definite plans for retirement other than spending time with his grandchildren.

He and his wife, Barbara, live in the Gordonville area.

“My wife is a country girl,” he explained.

Richbourg has worked at city hall for more than 31 years. He began working for the city as comptroller in January 1988.

He’s moved around in city hall.

“I have been on all three floors,” he said. “I started on the top floor,” he recalled, adding he’s spent the most time in the basement.

That location suits Richbourg well. He likes to work behind the scenes.

“If the citizens never knew who I was, I would be happy,” the soft-spoken Richbourg said.

“Ask me about the numbers, but don’t ask me who I talked to yesterday. I can’t remember names at all,” he said.

Before joining the city staff, Richbourg, who grew up in Chaffee, Missouri, worked as a private accountant. Doing other people’s taxes, however, “wasn’t my cup of tea,” he said.

He spent time as comptroller for a savings and loan company before coming to city hall.

A lot has changed with city financial operations since Richbourg came on board.

The city at the time had a mainframe computer.

“When I came, I brought my own PC,” he said, adding it was the first such computer in the accounting office.

“The proliferation of PCs and the internet has been a big change,” he said.

City council members, department heads and city managers have changed over the years, but Richbourg’s role has remained constant.

City officials frequently have talked about Richbourg’s conservative budgeting.

“I have always basically managed the (city) budget like I would manage my (family) budget. You can ask my wife,” he said.

“The biggest way cities can get themselves in trouble is planning for revenue that they never get,” Richbourg said.

When Richbourg first came to city hall, city government was much smaller.

“Really, at that time, all you had to focus on was the operating of the city departments. You didn’t have to make sure you had money available for construction projects,” he said.

“You didn’t spend nearly as much time with investments because you didn’t have the money to invest,” he added.

The city government also did not have an emergency reserve fund.

Over the decades, voters have approved new sales taxes, with much of the revenue spent on “building things,” Richbourg said.

During his tenure, the city built a softball complex, the Osage Centre, Cape Splash water park, the Shawnee Park Center, the SportsPlex, two fire stations, a public works building, sewer treatment plant and a new police station. The city also purchased the water system from AmerenUE.

City manager Scott Meyer said Richbourg has put city finances “in a good position.”

As city finance director, Richbourg deals with the city budget, audit, investments and debt management.

Richbourg said much of his job centers around the annual budget.

“We start in January and end in June basically,” he said of drafting the budget.

In the fall, he works on the annual audit. While the city council hires an outside accounting firm to do the audit, much of the work involves finance department staff.

Richbourg said he also invests city funds in certificates of deposit and government securities.

“It is strictly safe stuff,” he said of the city’s investments.

As finance director, he also is involved with managing the issuance of city bonds.

Over the years, Richbourg’s desk often was covered in financial paperwork. On Tuesday, he acknowledged his desk looked unusually bare. He confided he was tidying up his office in preparation for his moving out.

“I think the finance department will move on just as it always has,” he said. “It just will have a new leader that will hopefully be better than I was.”

Do you like stories about government and courts? Keep up with the latest news by signing up for our daily morning headline email. Go to www.semissourian.com/newsletters to find out more.