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. 

Nineteen CGFO renewals were randomly chosen by CGFO number for the annual audit.  Thank you for providing additional information so that the Audit Subcommittee could complete this process as well.  Of the 19 selected, 17 audits have been completed. 

The Board of Directors requested a survey to get your feedback about the CGFO program.  Thank you for participating and for your comments.  This information is being presented to the Board at the March meeting. 

The Spring exams are being given the week of March 15^th at 8 locations around the state.  Review classes are offered in Orlando in the Spring with the exams offered on Friday of that same week.  We want to thank the chapters that made it possible to offer test sites in so many different locations.  Some sites will offer CPFO exams also.  With tight budgets, travel has been kept to a minimum, and we hope that the additional test sites will allow more members to participate. 

If you are not already a CGFO, please give it careful consideration.  Florida is one of the few states that offers a certification program for Government Finance Officers.  The next deadline for applying is September 15, 2010.  There will be review classes and exams offered at the School of Governmental Finance being held November 8-12, 2010 in St. Augustine.

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 22^nd 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. 

Please visit the FGFOA website for Conference registration information and a peek at all the events scheduled:  the Golf Tournament at Shingle Creek; the opening session; Association Night, complete with contests for attendees and exhibitors; the hospitality suite; and a huge block party at Universal Citywalk!  And, don’t forget, family members can enjoy the area’s attractions and theme parks while attendees are learning the latest information for governmental finance officers.

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. Their help and experience from previous committees was of a tremendous value.

Registration is already underway, and we encourage everyone to sign up early. The Conference this year is at a new Hilton in Orlando, and I would advise signing up early so that you can enjoy this new facility and this exciting conference. Finally, the two pre-conference seminars on leadership and investments will offer you much needed additional training in two of the more important areas for governmental finance employees. 

Hope to see all of you in Orlando!

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. 

In January, several Board members met with four committees in Tallahassee and communicated finance officer concerns.  On February 12, 2010, the Committee provided a list of some (not all) of the bills for the 2010 Legislative Session to monitor over the next two months that may impact local governments financially or operationally.  For details:

Senate – http://www.flsenate.gov/session/ - “Jump to Bill” or search “Bill Text” - on left
House - http://www.myfloridahouse.gov – Use “Bill Finder” tab or “Search Bill Text' tab at top 

The Committee will continue to monitor relevant legislation during the 2010 session, and will provide comments and sample red-lined legislation as requested by staff.

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. 

The Conference Track Subcommittee is responsible for providing suggestions for sessions to be included in the Annual Conference to the Conference Program Committee that may be of interest to small government finance officers.  Any ideas for topics that should be considered can be provided to the Conference Track Subcommittee Chair, Jeff Price (jprice@ci.greenacres.fl.us) 

The Outreach Subcommittee is seeking to make contact with small government finance officers who may not be aware of FGFOA resources.  If you know a small government finance officer who is not participating in FGFOA, please share your experiences with them or have them contact the Subcommittee Chair, Wende Hester (whester@largo.com).