Resolution four Government Finance Professionals Week

44:41Resolution number.

44:53Resolution number 25, 147, a resolution by the Board of County Commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, declaring March 17th to the 21st, 2025 as Government Finance Professionals Week in Pasco County. Whereas, founded in 1937, the Florida Government Finance Officers Association serves more than 3,300 professionals from state, county, and city governments, school districts, colleges, universities, special districts, and private firms. And whereas

45:24government finance professionals play a critical role in ensuring the effective and transparent management of public funds, supporting physical health and sustainability of Florida state and local governments. And whereas the Florida Government Finance Officers Association is dedicated to being a professional resource by providing opportunities through education, networking, leadership, And information. And whereas Government Finance Professionals Week, sponsored by the FGFOA and all

45:54of its member government organizations, is a week-long series of activities aimed at recognizing government finance professionals and the vital services they provide to our state, local government, and the community in which they serve. And whereas government finance professionals serve the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners, promoting prosperity by ensuring sound physical management, fruitful investments, and uh diligent accounting among many, many other services. And

46:24whereas during this week, government finance professionals throughout the state of Florida will be acknowledged for their hard work, dedication, and leadership. now, therefore, be it resolved by the Board of County Commissioners of excuse Pasco County, Florida, the said board hereby declares March seventeenth to the twenty first, twenty twenty five, as Government Finance Professionals Week in Pasco County and encourages citizens to extend their appreciation to all government finance professionals throughout Florida and

46:54Pasco County. Dunn resolved in regular session with the quorum president voting this eleventh day of March Twenty, twenty five.

47:03Little rule.

47:04Second. All in favor. Aye. Opposed? Okay. Welcome. Big group. I counted twenty. Wow. Um Commissioner Yeager.

47:12Okay. Well I just want to thank you guys for your hard work and your dedication and also just for your service to our county. I I know it's not an easy job and you do it ethically and transparent and we really appreciate everything you do. And I wouldn't want your job for anything.

47:30Same. Same. No one would give me that job. Who's here from the county? Raise your hand. Okay. And uh school district? Does anyone hear from the school, Mr. Mm? And then from the clerk's office? Okay. Any cities? So it's it's county and clerk? Okay. Well w well welcome. Do you wanna say a few words?

47:50So, to my knowledge, Amy Farrell, Budget Director with Pasco County. So, to my knowledge, this is the first time that Pasco County has participated in recognizing and celebrating Finance Professionals Week. And because by and large, I don't know if you saw how hard it was to try to get my friends to come up here with me, but they love to be kind of in the background, just that quiet, steady hum that you don't notice when it's there, but in the back their absence you would feel it. Um and they they appreciate that type of work, right? Number crunching behind the scenes

48:20and not necessarily all of the public recognition. So I won't belabor the point, but I'm honored and humbled to get to call these people my colleagues, my partners, my collaborators, and most importantly my friends.

48:31Ah, very nice.

48:33Good morning. Heather Grimes, Chief Administrative Officer for the Clerk's Office. Um thank you, Commissioner Yeager, for sponsoring this. Uh Amy said a lot of what I was going to say because I do believe it is the first time we've ever had such a resolution. Um And this group of people um behind me and I've had the opportunity to work with both when I worked at the board. I worked with a lot of these individuals and now at the clerk's office. Um they in my mind are the unsung heroes. Um Uh

49:04one of the most important things in my opinion that uh this board does is make sure that you're good stewards of the taxpayers' bunny. and this group helps you do it. Um they care. They work collaboratively between our two groups, which wasn't always the case if you've been here a long time. Um but they work very collaboratively um to get things done and to do the right thing. And so I just appreciate this board's recognition of this uh Quiet group. They're not

49:34like fire and sheriff that enjoy being in the limelight. Like Amy said, they like to hide out. So um this thank you.

49:41Thank you, Seth. Thank you, Chairman Mariano. I can't

49:45keep the word.

49:46I can't.

49:47All right. Um thank you for being here today and thank you for Amy and Clerk's office, all all of you being here together. This time of year actually uh You come to the forefront, you come out of the back rooms and make sure everything happens right for our citizens and the programs we have to service our citizens. So very important to all of us and thank you each for what you do. Okay.

50:13Yeah, Commissioner Weightman.

50:14Thank you, Chair. It's fitting that um you guys get your your week during spring break in Pasco County. Take advantage take advantage of it. Um I'm just kidding. I I for one, um, no secret how I am about managing the taxpayer dollar and managing this budget. And I don't take for granted, and I share this with with Amy and Mike as we go through this process, uh how appreciative I am of your

50:45work. and how critical it is. you know, to help manage this county. Our number one job as a county commission is to is to vote on a budget. And we could not do that without your help, without your dedication, without managing Five. quirky personalities at time on what's important and what might not be important during the budget process or You know? Last minute votes two budget cycles ago and we're doing cocktail napkin math. You know, thank you all. Hopefully

51:15you find that as exciting as I do. Um I for one very much appreciate your line of work. and um you know thank you for dedicating and and being being a steward and a watchdog of of our money and uh keeping the electeds in this process honest and transparent. So congratulations and thank you both sides of clerk and our team for for coming over this morning.

51:41And um I would just echo everything my uh fellow commissioners have said, um and I wouldn't want your job for anything. No, no, no. Commissioner Yeager are so many. Why don't you go down and we'll stand stand up? Oh sure. Oh do you want to do that?

51:55Uh I want to thank you all for the work you do. Uh clerk's office for you guys to make sure our paperwork's lined up so that everything's done the right way is is critical. Um And and for our O and B team, the budget work that you guys do, um, it's fluid. And it's it's kinda like it almost finishes one year and we start the next year. Uh we talked about doing things biannually but uh I don't think we'll ever get there just because things change all the time. So it's hard to do that. But I I wanna s I wanna say just coming back from DC Watching the attitude

52:26change and looking for efficiencies up there. I want to empower you guys when you see some things that could be done more efficiently, maybe it's not done quite the right way, whatever. Please speak up, bring it all the way up the chain, and let's make sure we're doing the best we can every step of the way. And I I just I want to thank all of you for the great work you do. Appreciate it.

52:43I know you have something to say. I do, I

52:46know we're gonna be there because everyone associated. From the podium, it looks like. So what you do is foundational, right? I mean, without uh without you, I mean I think you described it perfectly. It's that quiet palm in the background that we take for granted and should take for granted, but it's it's foundational to how we invest, how we're transparent and accountable to the taxpayers, and how we invest their hard-earned money into the services that they've asked us to provide them. So I can't thank you enough for that. I'm married to a government finance professional,

53:17so I understand uh what what you guys do, what you go through. Uh, and sometimes even we at the administrative level can be a little quirky of some of the some of the hoops we make to jump through just uh well what if we did it this way, what if we did it that way? But you always do it, you do it well, and you do it precisely. And that's that's what's great. You can always just count on what it is that you guys do it. So I just thank you for for your professionalism, your attention to detail, and just your dedication uh to the job that uh you've been called here. So thank you.

53:43Uh and one more from the clerk. Well, just to add on what Blank was saying, working together, um, as we announced to the board here about a month ago, uh, Matt, uh, that once again again for the 40 Forty first. Forty first year Pasco County has been awarded the excellence in financial uh accounting which it takes both sides to make that nice board happen. So um we

54:14can be proud of uh a long history that they are under tremendous pressure to not lose. So

54:22that would that would be uh not

54:24a good day. I'm just saying when Mickey are I've already heard, you know, but no. It it it takes both sides to make it work and Uh and as Heather said, I've been around watching a long time and I cannot remember when the relationship and communication has ever been better than it is today.

54:44Wonderful. All right, let's take a photo.

54:49Yes, yes, thank you.

55:14As much as possible. It might have to like a couple of you come in front. So,