With over 130 members in attendance, the GFOAz Summer Training held at the beautiful Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson on August 10-11 was a thrilling success! On Thursday morning we had the golf tournament sponsored by Stone & Youngberg, followed up with a diverse line up of speakers in the afternoon. Read more

The League of Arizona Cities and Towns has recently issued the
"New Laws Report", which contains a summary of each new law enacted this past legislative session that may have a significant impact to cities and towns. The report is designed to assist municipal officials and staff by providing them with a brief summary of each law and other specific information related to each bill. The report includes new finance laws in the following areas: Read more

GFOAz in conjunction with the City of Peoria will be hosting a Budget Forecasting Forum for budget experts across the state. This forum will focus on sharing essential budgetary information, including discussions on economic assumptions, forecasting methods, as well as current issues and events. Read more

No document plays a more important role in public-sector finance than the annual or biennial operating budget. To be effective, the budget must succeed, not only as a policy document and as a financial plan, but also as an operations guide and as a communications device. To help public-sector budget professionals prepare better budgets, GFOA has identified twenty-seven specific criteria for assessing how well a budget document meets these different objectives. Read more

1. Know what your rating is and what it means.

2. Know your rating analysts and feel free to ask them what they view as your credit's key strengths and weaknesses. Read more

Just when municipalities were finally recovering from flat revenues, low operating fund investment rates, and historically low pension fund investment returns, the Government Accounting Standards Board ("GASB") has given finance officers one more financial challenge and elected officials another public policy debate. The coming need to account for all accrued Other Post Employment Benefits ("OPEB"), while not quite an unfunded mandate, may have a similar effect on municipal budgets and GAAP financial statements. Read more

On November 9, 2006, for the eleventh year in a row, the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) will offer its highly popular Annual Governmental GAAP Update by satellite teleconference. This unique program offers participants an unsurpassed opportunity to obtain a comprehensive yet comprehensible overview of all the past year's developments affecting accounting and financial reporting for state and local governments. Specific topics to be addressed at this year's teleconference will include: Read more

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) proposed its fourth Concepts Statement, "Elements of Financial Statement", defining the seven elements of governmental financial statements. When considered collectively, Concepts Statements form the GASB's conceptual framework, which provides a foundation to guide the Board's development of accounting and financial reporting standards. Read more

Budget Analyst
City of Peoria

Where are you originally from?
I was born in Texas, but grew up in the Pacific Northwest in Oregon, Idaho, and Washington. Since then, we've lived in Japan, California, and now Arizona.

Why did you decide to pursue a career in local government?
I spent nine years in the Air Force, and loved going home every night knowing that I'd somehow made a difference. In local government we have an even greater opportunity to have an impact on our community every day. Read more

Network Analyst
Town of Gilbert

Where are you originally from?
The Garden State - New Jersey, Passaic County, Township of Wayne. I have been a resident of Arizona since 1978.

Why did you decide to pursue a career in local government?
My interest was piqued. In college, Fund Accounting was covered in two weeks. I figured that there had to be more to it than what was presented, so I pursued further opportunities within this arena after graduation. Turned out to be a very rewarding career. Read more

Active Members
Eileen Moe, Finance Department, Coconino County
Linda Willis, Assistant Deputy Director, State of Arizona
Sarah Luckie, Town Clerk, Town of Star Valley
Joel Peterson, Risk Manager, City of Tucson
Peter Christensen, Management Analyst, City of Peoria
Brent Stoddard, Intergovernmental Programs Coordinator, City of Glendale
Jenny Cole, Finance Manager, Town of Miami
Shane Oman, Principal Accountant, Tucson
Laurie Grounds, Financial Services Specialist, Queen Creek
Dee Flanagan, Finance Director, Bisbee
Vivian Newsheller, Principal Accountant, Tucson

Associate Members
Andrew Wagemaker, Student, The Garvin School of Intl. Mgmt.

Commercial Members
Michele Bax, Attorney, Snell & Wilmer
Neil Broadstock, Accountant/Auditor, Lumbard & Associates
Thomas Morden, Accountant/Auditor, Lumbard & Associates