FGFOA’s mission statement is to be your professional source of education, networking, leadership and information. We hope that you will learn, participate and network at this year’s conference. Our theme this year is “Let The Sun Shine In.” Early registration for the FGFOA Conference closes on April 16, 2010, make sure you register early to receive the discounted conference rate.
President's Message
Rick G. Helms, Highlands County-BCC, President
The Nominating Committee issued a call for nominations for the Secretary/Treasurer position and board positions with expiring terms. The two board positions, currently held by Doreen Lam and Kent Olsen, are for three-year terms. The board position, currently held by Mary Anderson-Pickle (candidate for Secretary/Treasurer), is for a one-year term. Nominations have been received and considered. A list of candidates has been announced and may be viewed on the website. The list of candidates will be finalized and elections will open on March 23, 2010. Please take time to vote, especially sinc
GASB Issues Final Statements on OPEB Measurements and Chapter 9 Bankruptcies
News release by GASB – December 31, 2009
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) today issued Statement No. 57, OPEB Measurements by Agent Employers and Agent Multiple-Employer Plans and Statement No. 58, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Chapter 9 Bankruptcies. The Statements are intended to improve consistency in the measurement and financial reporting of other postemployment benefits (OPEB) such as retiree health insurance, and of the effects of municipal bankruptcy...
What is a Certified Government Finance Officer (CGFO) and Why Would I Want to Become One?
Mary-Lou Pickles, St. Johns River Water Management District, FGFOA Board Member
There are many certifications such as the Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Management Accountant (CMA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and Certified Government Finance Officer (CGFO) available for practitioners in the finance and accounting industry to pursue. Each of these distinguished certifications indicates the person who achieved it has a specialized body of knowledge. To determine if a certification is right for us, we should ask ourselves some important questions such as...
Certification Committee
Donna Wright, City of Leesburg, Chair
The Certification Committee has finished almost all of the renewals that have been received. We appreciate the information furnished as we worked with the review process. The committee is tasked with determining that all renewals meet minimum criteria. With over 180 renewals to review this year, it has been quite an involved job. We appreciate your patience as we are finishing up the last few...
Conference Host Committee
Linda Howard, Orlando Utilities Commission, Chair
The Conference Host Committee is finalizing the details to make the FGFOA 2010 Annual Conference the best yet! The Conference will be held at the new Hilton Orlando, located on the popular International Drive, from Sunday, May 22nd through Wednesday, May 26, 2010. The Host Committee is very excited about all the activities we have planned to make this an enjoyable experience for all attendees and their families. We would like to thank the League of Cities for all of their guidance and assistance...
Conference Program
Tim Pozza, Okaloosa County –CCC, Chair
The Program Committee has finalized session topics and speakers for the 2010 FGFOA Annual Conference. The conference announcement with the pending sessions is on the FGFOA’s website, along with the application for the conference. The members of the various subcommittees spent a significant amount of time obtaining qualified speakers for each of these sessions and developing unique, relevant and current topics. I am very appreciative of the help that I received from all of the committee members, and a special thanks to the Board Liaison, Mary-Lou Pickles and Board Member Mary Anderson-Pickle.
Legislative Committee
Diane Reichard, City of Temple Terrace, Chair
On December 7, 2009, The Board approved the 2010 Legislative Policies and Recommendations, which are available on the FGFOA web site at: http://www.fgfoa.org/resources/legislative.aspx. Members are reminded that useful links with information to track bills during the legislative session are available at this web site also...
2010 School of Governmental Finance Committee
Karin Ashmore, City of Stuart, Chair
The School of Governmental Finance Committee is holding it's first meeting from 11am to 1pm March 9th at the City Hall in Stuart. Areas of discussion will be potential speakers, topics and theme for this year’s event which is to be held at the Marriott World Golf Village in St. Augustine on November 8 thru 12. It is not too late to be a part in this committee and have the opportunity to work with this outstanding group of people...
Small Government Committee
Marilyn Rosetti, Florida Auditor General, Chair
Headed by Subcommittee Chair Elly Gumera, the Committee continues its work preparing the unfinished sections of the Small Government Resource Manual. The Committee has provided four sections for Board members to review and provide comments, in addition to the two the Board has already approved this fiscal year. Completed sections of the Manual are available online on the FGFOA’s Web site...
Central Florida Chapter
John Dufresne, City of Apopka, President
Thanks go out to Mark Fostier, Jim Moye, Laurie Campbell and many others for organizing an outstanding day of Free CPE. The full day, free seminar hosted by the Central Florida Chapter on February 26, 2010 included 8 hours of CPE to Members. Sessions included the Audit Selection Committee Process, Internal Controls, Long-Range Budgeting and CIP, Best Practices to Prepare for a Federal Single Audit - ARRA Grants, and Debt Issuance and Administration. Speakers included Jim Moye and Chris Dawkins from the Orange County Comptroller's Office, Kent Olson from the City of Jacksonville, Troy Manning
Gulf Coast Chapter
Jay Ravins, City of Clearwater, President
The Gulf Coast Chapter hosted a full day Cash and Investments Training seminar on Tuesday, February 16th, at Tucson’s Restaurant in Clearwater. We had a successful seminar with attendance of 46 members. We would like to thank all attendees for their participation and our speakers for their excellent presentations on the following topics...
Hillsborough Chapter
Lee Huffstutler, City of Tampa, President
The Hillsborough Chapter held its quarterly CPE session at a new location in Tampa's Old City Hall on February 12, 2010, with about 50 members and guests in attendance. After a short business meeting, Ming Gao, FDOT, Planning Manager and Bob McDonaugh, City of Tampa, District CRA Manager spoke for an hour on the topic: Florida High Speed Rail is coming to Florida! How does this affect Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa? Afterwards, Mike Perry, City of Tampa, Water Department Administrative and Fiscal Manager spoke for an hour on the topic: Florida Water is a scare resource! Recent dr
Nature Coast Chapter
Susan Sullivan, Citrus County Clerk of Court, President
The Nature Coast Chapter held their quarterly meeting on January 20, 2010, at Andre’s of Citrus Hills, in Citrus County, Florida. The speakers were Sheree Cunningham, Internal Revenue Service Federal, State & Local Government Specialist and Glenn Walther, Senior Solutions Consultant Information Access Systems, Inc. The topics included fringe benefits IRS Compliance Issues and Electronic Document Management and Workflow...
Palm Beach Chapter
Jim McInnis, City of Greenacres, President-elect
The Palm Beach County Chapter held its annual investment seminar on Thursday, February 25th at the Palm Beach Airport Hilton. We had an excellent turnout and all who attended were very satisfied with the presentation by PFM Asset Management. They always do a very good job, but this year’s seminar had to be one of their best. A special thanks to Social Chair Kathy Eder of the Town of Palm Beach for doing most of the work in staging the event and collecting fees at the door. The lunch was excellent...
Panhandle Chapter
Charlotte Dunworth, City of Fort Walton Beach, President
The Chapter’s annual investment seminar will be held Friday, March 19, 2010 at Northwest Florida State College in DeFuniak Springs. Multiple speakers from PFM Asset Management will present, keeping the day interesting and the audience engaged. Training meets the 8 hour CPE requirement per F.S. 218...
South Florida Chapter
Karen Correa, Cooper City, President
Our next Chapter meeting will be on April 22, 2010; 5:45 pm – 8:30 pm at Tropical Acres Restaurant, 2500 Griffin Road, Dania Beach, 954-989-2500. Directions: From I-95 North or South, take Exit 23 (Griffin Road) and go west about ¼ mile. The restaurant is on the south side. The board is finalizing the agenda and will email the membership with details. Anyone interested in volunteering to help set up for the meeting, please contact a board member or you can just show up and surprise us. We love surprises like that. Hope to see you there...
Southwest Florida Chapter
Donna Lovejoy, City of Fort Myers, President
The Southwest Chapter will hold its quarterly meeting on March 19, 2010, at Olde Hickory Golf & Country Club, Ft Myers, Florida. Three hours of CPE credits are being offered. Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. will be providing a two hour presentation on Funding Opportunities. It will be presented in four sections: 1. Funding Opportunities presented by Tami Ray, Senior Associate, Malcolm Pirnie, Inc., 2. Application Processes by Dr. Karen Rubin, Grantsman, Malcolm Pirnie, Inc., 3. Essential Planning by Thomas A. Bryant, P.E., Planning Manager and 4. Grant/Loan Administration by Brenda Westlake, Administ
Space Coast Chapter
Christine Fain, City of Satellite Beach, President
We held our CPE workshop hosted by the City of Titusville on Friday, 19 February 2010, in the Florida Room, Building C, of the Viera Government Complex. The topics included Budgeting and Controlling Personal Services by David Pollard who is the OMB Director for the City of Port St. Lucie; Spotting Counterfeit Money by Secret Service Special Agent Joseph Seeger; Public / Private Partnerships by Robert Koch of Fugelburg Koch Architects; and Self-Insurance Funds by David Jang of PFM Asset Management. Our speakers were all very well received and provided us with timely information...
Treasure Coast Chapter
Jason E. Brown, Indian River County – BCC, President
The Treasure Coast Chapter held its quarterly chapter meeting on January 22, 2010. Following the business meeting, Ray Tomlinson of the Crowne Consulting Group provided a presentation on “Health Care Cost Trends and Strategies.” This discussion covered timely topics in the healthcare arena including the current status of healthcare reform in Washington. Mr. Tomlinson also covered current trends in healthcare costs and administration as well as strategies entities can use to manage these costs...
Employment postings
Employment postings are a free service to FGFOA members. If you would like to include a financial job announcement for your organization, please e-mail your posting in a word document along with your member name to Merrily Bennett mbennett@flcities.com Positions will be posted for 90 days. Please contact to remove posting if the position is filled prior to the 90 days...