Program Hotel Information Conference Rates Register
 
  • WEDNESDAY, FEB. 15
  • THURSDAY, FEB. 16
  • FRIDAY, FEB. 17

Registration Opens and Platinum Sponsor Exhibit Set-Up

8:00 a.m. Clarkdale/Cottonwood Conference Foyer

CPFO Exam

8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Chino Room

Golf

11:30 a.m. Antelope Hills Golf Course

Golf registration will be separate at this conference. If you are interested in golfing, please contact Brian Wright at bwright@eloyaz.gov or 520-251-0028.

Education Committee Meeting

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Copper Basin Room

Sales Tax Update

1:00 - 1:50 p.m. Clarkdale/Cottonwood Ballroom

1 CPE

Speaker: Lee Grafstrom, Tax Policy Analyst, League of Arizona Cities and Towns

Refreshment Break and Network with Sponsors

1:50 - 2:00 p.m. Conference Foyer

The Positive Power of Humor

2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Clarkdale/Cottonwood Ballroom

1 CPE

Speaker: Yvonne Conte, Keynote Speaker and Author, Humor Advantage

This fast-paced humorous presentation is peppered with personal anecdotes and real life experience. Yvonne provides insights into the trials and triumphs we face at home and in the workplace. She has met personal challenges- major career changes, death, illness, divorce and single parenthood - with unshakable optimism, deep faith, and a sense of humor. She brings laughter and encouragement, delighting her audiences as she offers life-changing material.

A seasoned motivational humorist, Yvonne takes good, clean real-life experiences and adds a delightful serving of laughter, helping her audience to discover how thoughts, feelings and behavior can affect work performance, relationships and personal success. This is a common sense no-nonsense and hysterical look at life.

Develop Powerful Thinking

3:10 - 4:00 p.m. Clarkdale/Cottonwood Ballroom

1 CPE

Speaker: Yvonne Conte, Keynote Speaker and Author, Humor Advantage

Transform your thoughts on change - our most constant challenge and our greatest opportunity. Life is either one we react to or one we create for ourselves. This is a course for anyone who wants to live a more satisfying life. It is about making changes in the way we think. Changing our thinking, changes our actions and new actions produce new results. If you want to find more meaning in your work, if your last kid just got married, if you are experiencing any kind of loss, if life is good but you just feel something is missing, or if you have always wanted to write that novel or climb that mountain or get that promotion, but can't get started... this is the session for you!

Membership Committee Meeting

4:10 - 5:00 p.m. Bradshaw Room

New Member Meet and Greet

5:10 - 5:30 p.m. Sedona Ballroom

Join new and current GFOAz members in a 30-minute meet and greet with the GFOAz Membership Committee. We'd love to see you there!

Welcome and Sponsor Reception

5:15 - 6:45 p.m. Sedona Ballroom and Conference Foyer

GFOAz welcomes members to join us for an opening reception to thank our sponsors. The ongoing success of GFOAz is dependent on several factors, but possibly none as important as the continued financial support of our corporate partners.


Continental Breakfast

7:45 - 8:30 a.m. Conference Foyer

When Life Hands You Lemons - Get Out the Juicer!

8:30 - 9:20 a.m. Clarkdale/Cottonwood Ballroom

1 CPE

Speaker: Yvonne Conte, Keynote Speaker and Author, Humor Advantage

This training focuses on the benefits of focusing on the positive, the power of our thoughts, and how what we say affects what we do. Participants should leave this keynote address feeling energized, motivated, and happy.

Governmental Accounting from Easy Street to Life in the Fast Lane

9:30 - 11:20 a.m. Clarkdale/Cottonwood Ballroom

2 CPEs

Speakers: Michael L. Lauzon, CPA, MBA, Partner, Heinfeld, Meech & Co
Jill A. Shaw, CPA, Partner, Heinfeld, Meech & Co


During this session we will cover the basics of governmental financial reporting including a look at the differences between modified accrual and full accrual. Then we will utilize those concepts to take a deeper dive into accounting of revenues and cover some of the more tedious concepts in that area.

Lunch, Annual Business Meeting and Sponsor Recognition

11:30 a.m. - 12:50 p.m. Sedona/Verde Ballroom

Speakers: Ben Ronquillo, GFOAz 2016 President; Finance Director, Litchfield Park
Lindsey Duncan, GFOAz 2017 President; Finance Director, Surprise


All attendees are welcome to attend the annual business meeting in Sedona/Verde Ballroom. President Ben Ronquillo will recognize GFOAz's current sponsors and recognize new GFOAz board members.

Cyber Security - What Your Treasury Division Should Know

1:00 - 1:50 p.m. Clarkdale/Cottonwood Ballroom

1 CPE

Speaker: Christopher Funk, Vice President Treasury Product Consultant, Wells Fargo Treasury Management

There are various cyber threats that can affect your organization but there are also many ways that you can be on the lookout to prevent cyber fraud. This presentation will provide information that everyone should know about how to protect their organization's banking information by identifying fraud trends, payment fraud, online account hacking and imposter fraud.

GASB 77 - Tax Abatement Disclosures and Required Governmental Considerations

2:00 - 2:50 p.m. Clarkdale/Cottonwood Ballroom

1 CPE

Speakers: Aaron Aversman, Senior Manager, Ernst & Young
Melissa Theilig, Manager, Ernst & Young
John Worden, State and Local Tax Sr. Manager, Ernst & Young


GASB Statement No. 77 (Tax Abatement Disclosures) requires auditors and comptrollers to work with economic development organizations in disclosing abatements. The path to compliance, implementation challenges and risks will be discussed.

Refreshment Break and Network with Sponsors

2:50 - 3:00 p.m. Conference Foyer

Most Frequently Asked Arbitrage Questions & New IRS IDR Management Process

3:00 - 3:50 p.m. Clarkdale/Cottonwood Ballroom

1 CPE

Speaker: Robin Schlimgen, Managing Director, BLX Group

This session will cover the most frequently asked questions issuers have regarding the arbitrage regulations. The presentation will cover basic to complex questions. The presentation will conclude with a review of the IRS's New Information Document Request Management Process.

Fraud Occurs in Governments Too

4:00 - 4:50 p.m. Clarkdale/Cottonwood Ballroom

1 CPE

Speakers: Dennis J. Osuch, Principal, CliftonLarsonAllen
Dennis V. Maschke, Manager, CliftonLarsonAllen


Fraud is a word nobody wants to hear within their organization, but it happens. We will discuss preventative and detective measures that can be undertaken to limit your organization's exposure to becoming the next headline. The discussion will include examples of schemes, as well as controls that might have prevented fraud from occurring or that may have provided earlier detection to limit exposure.

GFOAz Board Meeting

5:00 - 5:50 p.m. Bradshaw Room

Reception

6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Sedona Ballroom and Conference Foyer


Breakfast

8:00 - 8:50 a.m. Granite Mountain Room

Economic Update

9:00 - 9:50 a.m. Clarkdale/Cottonwood Ballroom

1 CPE

Speaker: Jim Rounds, President, Rounds Consulting Group, Inc.

This session will provide an update on current economic outlook nationally and in Arizona and some issues of particular interest regarding Arizona's current and near-term economic circumstances.

The Rocky Road to Financial Stability

10:00 - 10:50 a.m. Clarkdale/Cottonwood Ballroom

1 CPE

Speakers: Lisette Camacho, Controller, Glendale
Tom Duensing, Assistant City Manager, Glendale
Vicki Rios, Budget and Finance Director, Glendale


In November of 2013, the City of Glendale wound up in the same sentence with bankrupt Detroit in a Wall Street Journal article about the nation's most financially troubled municipalities. Three years later, the city's financial position has improved remarkably. Learn how the city turned the corner toward financial stability, what issues still need to be addressed, and how the lessons our panel members learned along the way could help your organization maintain and improve its financial stability.

Legislative Update

11:00 - 11:50 a.m. Clarkdale/Cottonwood Ballroom

1 CPE

Speakers: Tom Belshe, Deputy Director, League of Arizona Cities and Towns
Craig Sullivan, Executive Director, County Supervisors Association of Arizona


This session will update members on a variety of timely legislative issues. League legislative staff will provide an overview of the 2017 legislative session, and explain the challenges and opportunities we currently face. Attendees will also hear about the current status of legal issues that are affecting cities, towns and counties.

Conference Concludes and Platinum Sponsor Exhibit Tear Down

12:00 p.m.