Finance Advisor

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Finance Advisor Archive

MRSC has joined with Tracey Dunlap, Director of Finance & Administration at the City of Kirkland, Mike Bailey, Finance Director, City of Redmond, Glenn Olson, Deputy County Administrator, Clark County, and Angie Sanchez, Principal, FCS GROUP, to bring you the "Finance Advisor" column. The "Finance Advisor" will feature a new article each month with timely local government finance information and advice you can use.*

This page contains the current and all previous Finance Advisor articles:

2013

Award Program for Small Entities, By Mike Bailey, Finance Director, City of Redmond, April 2013
Lessons Learned from Two Successful Levy Lid Lifts, By Tracey Dunlap, Director of Finance & Administration, City of Kirkland, February 2013

2012

Regionalizing Local Government Services, By Glenn Olson, Deputy County Administrator, Clark County
A Bright Light for Those of Us Who Want to Improve Public Service, By Mike Bailey, Finance Director, City of Redmond, September 2012
Have You Reviewed Your Excise Tax Worksheets Lately?, By Chris Gonzales, Project Consultant, FCS Group, August 2012
Some Tips on Time Commitment and Management for Busy Financial Professionals, By Tracey Dunlap, Director of Finance & Administration, City of Kirkland, May 2012
Bending the Cost Curve, By Glenn Olson, Deputy County Administrator, Clark County, April 2012

2011

Using GFOA's New Financial Management Assessment Tool to Improve Performance, By Mike Bailey, Finance Director, City of Redmond, December 2011
Stormwater Rate Credits, By John Ghilarducci, Principal, FCS GROUP, October 2011
Keeping Internal Controls Fresh in Your Organization (or We Really Don’t Make This Stuff Up!), By Tracey Dunlap, Director of Finance & Administration, City of Kirkland, September 2011
Living with the New Structure of Revenues in Washington State, By Glenn Olson, Deputy County Administrator, Clark County, July 2011
Financial Statements - GAAP or Cash Basis? – You Decide, By Mike Bailey, Finance Director, City of Redmond, June 2011
Indirect Cost Allocation Basics, By Peter Moy, Principal, FCS GROUP, March, 2011

2010

One Approach to Identifying Service Priorities, By Tracey Dunlap, Director of Finance & Administration, City of Kirkland, October 2010
Practical Ideas on Financial Sustainability, By Mike Bailey, Finance Director, City of Redmond, August 2010
Assessing Options for Surviving the “New Normal”, By Glenn Olson, Deputy County Administrator, Clark County, May 2010
“Why Finance is Your Friend (or Should Be!)”
Thoughts on the Finance/Budget Office Role in Managing through Tough Times, By Tracey Dunlap, Director of Finance & Administration, City of Kirkland, April 2010
Do You Know Where Your Cash Is?, By Mike Bailey, Finance Director, City of Redmond, January 2010

2009

Pension Problem Primer, By Glenn Olson, Deputy County Administrator, Clark County, December 2009
Some Financial Food for Thought Regarding Annexations, By Tracey Dunlap, City of Kirkland Director of Finance and Administration and Sri Krishnan, Senior Financial Analyst, September 2009
Amending Your Budget, By Mike Bailey, Finance Director, City of Redmond, June 2009
Property Taxes in Washington, By Glenn Olson, Deputy County Administrator, Clark County, April 2009
How to Effectively Use Consultants - The View from Both Sides, By Tracey Dunlap, Director of Finance & Administration, City of Kirkland, February 2009
Finance 102, By Toni Nelson, Small Cities Specialist, State Auditors Office, January 2009

2008

Fiscal First Aid – Financial Planning has Never Been More Important, By Mike Bailey, Finance Director, City of Redmond and Shayne Kavanagh, Senior Program Manager, GFOA, December 2008
Long-Term Budget Strategy Considerations, By Tracey Dunlap, Director of Finance & Administration, City of Kirkland, November 2008
Budgeting Issues - Red Flags You Should Think About, By Toni Nelson, Small Cities Specialist, State Auditors Office, October 2008
Budgeting for Capital Improvements, By Mike Bailey, Finance Director, City of Redmond, July 2008
Why Internal Controls are Everyone’s Job, By Tracey Dunlap, Director of Finance & Administration, City of Kirkland,, June 2008
Internal Controls over the Preparation of the Annual Financial Report, By Toni Nelson, Small Cities Specialist, State Auditors Office, Arpil 2008

2007

Year-End is a good time to get a financial “checkup”, By Mike Bailey, Administrator of Finance and Information Services, City of Renton, December 2007
Does a new law allow code cities to credit all interest earnings to the general fund?, By Mike Bailey, Administrator of Finance and Information Services, City of Renton; Toni Nelson, Small Cities Specialist, State Auditors Office; Gayla Gjertsen, Finance Director, City of Tumwater, October 2007
Finance 101, By Toni Nelson, Small Cities Specialist, State Auditors Office, June 2007
Strategic Planning, By Gayla Gjertsen, Finance Director, City of Tumwater, May 2007
Technology - Good or Bad?, By Mike Bailey, Finance Director, City of Redmond, April 2007
Annual Financial Report, By Toni Nelson, Small Cities Specialist, State Auditors Office, March 2007
Where Eagles Dare, By Gayla Gjertsen, Finance Director, City of Tumwater, February 2007
A Primer on Performance Audits, By Mike Bailey, Finance Director, City of Redmond, January 2007

2006

Year End Financial Issues, By Toni Nelson, Small Cities Specialist, State Auditors Office, December 2006
Financial Analysis at Your Fingertips!, By Mike Bailey, Finance Director, City of Redmond, October 2006
Budgeting, By Toni Nelson, Small Cities Specialist, State Auditors Office, September 2006
Internal Controls, By Gayla Gjertsen, Finance Director, City of Tumwater, August 2006
How Sales Taxes are Catching up to the Internet, Mike Bailey, Finance Director, City of Redmond, July 2006
Second Quarter Financial Review, By Toni Nelson, Small Cities Specialist, State Auditors Office, June 2006
Whoa! Budget Again... or Still??, By Gayla Gjertsen, Finance Director, City of Tumwater, May 2006
Centralized Purchasing or Decentralized Purchasing, Mike Bailey, Finance Director, City of Redmond, April 2006
Check Fraud Risks, Toni Nelson, Small Cities Specialist and Joe Dervaes, Fraud Specialist, State Auditors Office, March 2006
Monitoring the Budget, Gayla Gjertsen, Finance Director, City of Tumwater, MRSC, January 2006

2005

Biennial Budgets in Washington’s Cities and Counties, Mike Bailey, City of Renton and Judy Cox, MRSC, December 2005
What are Fund Balances and Why do we need them?, Toni Nelson, Small Cities Specialist, State Auditor's Office, November 2005
Seeing Red?, Gayla Gjertsen, Finance Director, City of Tumwater, October 2005
Who Makes the City and County Accounting Rules We Must Follow?, Mike Bailey Finance Director, City of Lynnwood, August 2005

Mike Bailey is currently the Finance Director for the city of Redmond. Previously he worked as Administrator of Finance and Information Services for the city of Renton and as the Director of Finance for the city of Lynnwood. Mr. Bailey also served as president of the Washington Finance Officers Association and is the Vice Chair of the GFOA Budget Committee. An experienced CPA and GFOA budget reviewer, Mr. Bailey co-founded the annual Budget and Fiscal Management Workshops held each summer. Mr. Bailey conducts numerous workshops and has authored various articles on local government finance, including Effective Budgeting in Washington State Cities published by the Association of Washington Cities.

Glenn Olson is the Deputy County Administrator for Clark County. He has been in Clark County since 1997, serving in various leadership positions during his tenure there. Previously Mr. Olson served 15 years in the Governors Office of Financial Management overseeing budget forecasts. Mr. Olson chaired the Washington State Public Works Board for Governor Locke. Currently he is the gubernatorial appointee representing local governments on the Select Committee for Pension Policy and on the Law Enforcement Officers and Fire Fighters Plan 2 (LEOFF2) Board, and he is the president of the Washington County Administrators Association.

Tracey Dunlap, P.E. is the Director of Finance & Administration at the City of Kirkland. Prior to joining Kirkland in 2006, she was a principal and shareholder in FCS Group, a regional financial and management consulting firm (14 years). An industrial engineer registered in the state of Washington, she has worked with jurisdictions throughout the Northwest to develop and implement cost recovery and fee strategies, set utility rates, and improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness. Tracey's experience also includes working for a large defense contractor (5 years) and a major financial institution (3 years). She has presented on a wide array of topics for organizations including WFOA, APWA, APA, WABO, and AWC.

Angie Sanchez Virnoche is a principal and shareholder at FCS GROUP, a consulting firm specializing in public sector financial, economic and management consulting. Angie has provided financial utility business advisory services to municipalities since 1993 for water, sewer, solid waste, storm water and electric utilities. Her project work includes multi-year financial planning, cost of service studies, conservation based rate design development, capital/infrastructure planning, funding alternatives, cost benefit analysis, and community education and involvement. Angie has presented at numerous conferences and workshops throughout her career on topics related to financial management and rate-setting including WFOA, ERWOW, WAPUD, NWPPA, WOW, AWWA, PWC, WASWD.

*The Articles appearing in the "Finance Advisor" column represent the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Municipal Research and Services Center.