Fall 2006 Visit our Website at www.gfoact.org Volume 14, Issue 1


President’s Message

By Jeff Jylkka

As I read through the list of past presidents of the Connecticut GFOA, I realized how fortunate I am to have been elected by my peers to serve on this organization. I would like to thank all of the past presidents whom I have had the opportunity to work with and especially Bob Curry for serving as president last year. Bob’s leadership and support to the organization have been invaluable. A special thanks to our board and committee members who worked together to make last year such a success.

I would also like to welcome and congratulate the newly elected executive board members and officers, and those who will be continuing terms to which they were previously elected:

Chris Hutton, 1st Vice President, Tolland

Jim Jaskot, 2nd Vice President, Cheshire

Sal Pandolfo, Treasurer, Groton

Richard Darling(2009) Weston

James Finch(2009) Branford

Maryanna Stevens(2007) Stonington

Michael Walsh(2007) East Hartford

Lisa Hancock(2007) Wethersfield
Barbara Bertrand(2008) Windsor Locks

Diana Doyle(2008) Middletown

At the annual meeting the John T. Walsh Scholarship was awarded to Kate Clarke Buch. This award pays the tuition for GFOA’s Advanced Government Finance Institute at the University of Wisconsin. I encourage anyone who is interested in applying for the scholarship to visit our web page. The Al Young Award which recognizes a significant contribution to Connecticut Government was given to Ted Ellis, Finance Director (retired) of Glastonbury.

NESGFOA

This years conference at Foxwoods Resort was a huge success, with over 300 delegates this was one of the best attended to date. A very special thanks to Jeff Smith, NESGFOA President in addition to all of our sponsors, the local conference committee and volunteers, without your support this could not have been possible.

At this years conference we offered a unique opportunity for participants to receive a

Certificate in Debt Management from the University of Connecticut’s Department of Public Policy. Thirty delegates attended this challenging and rewarding class. Alan Desmarais should be recognized for putting together this successful class.

Committee Chairs

The following Committee Chairs were appointed:

Accounting Standards – Jim Jaskot, Cheshire

Audit Committee – Ann Harter, Newington

Education Committee – Diana Doyle, Middletown (Co-chair)

Legislative Committee – Jim Wren, Manchester (Co-chair)

Internet Committee – Bob Curry, New Britain

John Walsh Scholarship – Bill Hogan, Newington

National Representative – Jeff Smith, Mansfield

Newsletter – Dena Diorio, Danbury

Program – Chris Hutton, Tolland

Historian – Jan Godley

NESGFOA Representative – Don Miklus (2007), Westport & Alan Desmarais (2011), Manchester

Tom Hamilton of Norwalk will be chairing the Connecticut Event at the National GFOA Conference in Anaheim, California this June. The event in Montreal was a huge success and I am looking forward to what Tom has planned this year.

I look forward to seeing all of you at the November 2 meeting at the Aqua Turf in Southington.

Accounting Standards Committee

By James Jaskot

The GASB has issued the following documents since the Spring 2006 Newsletter:

GASB Technical Bulletin (TB) No. 2006-1, Accounting and Financial Reporting by Employers and OPEB Plans for Payments from the Federal Government Pursuant to the Retiree Drug Subsidy Provisions of Medicare Part D

The GASB issued this TB in June 2006, to clarify the proper reporting of payments that an employer or a defined benefit other postemployment benefit (OPEB) plan receives from the federal government under the retiree drug subsidy provisions of Medicare Part D, as established by the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. Medicare Part D provides sponsors of postemployment healthcare plans the opportunity to receive up to 28 percent of the amount of eligible prescription drug benefit costs of retirees who are eligible for, but not enrolled in, Medicare Part D, if the sponsor’s plan provides a prescription drug benefit that is actuarially equivalent to the Medicare Part D benefit. The TB clarifies how an employer or OPEB plan should account for and report Medicare Part D retiree drug subsidy payments from the federal government. This TB is effective immediately, except for portions of answers pertaining specifically to measurement, recognition, or required supplementary information requirements of Statements 43 or 45. Those provisions should be applied simultaneously with the implementation of Statements 43 or 45. The TB, product code GTB06-1, can be ordered through the GASB order department at 800-748-0659 or via its website at www.gasb.org.

GASB Statement 48, Sales and Pledges of Receivables and Future Revenues and Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets and Future Revenues

On September 29, 2006, the GASB issued this Statement to establish criteria that governments will use to ascertain whether sales and pledges of receivables and future revenues should be regarded as a sale (revenue) or a collateralized borrowing (liability). Such transactions are likely to comprise the sale of delinquent taxes, certain mortgages, student loans, or future revenues such as those arising from tobacco settlement agreements. In addition, the Statement requires enhanced disclosures pertaining to future revenues that have been pledged or sold, provides guidance on sales of receivables and future revenues within the same financial reporting entity, and guidance on recognizing other assets and liabilities arising from the sale of specific receivables or future revenues. The Statement supercedes guidance regarding future revenue sales provided in Technical Bulletin 2004-1, Tobacco Settlement Recognition and Financial Reporting Entity Issues. The requirements of this Statement are effective for financial statements for periods beginning after December 15, 2006. Statement 48, product code GS48, can be ordered through the GASB order department at 800-748-0659 or via its website at www.gasb.org.

GASB Exposure Draft (ED) on a Proposed Concepts Statement, Elements of Financial Statements

On August 14, 2006, the GASB issued an ED on the proposed Concepts Statement, Elements of Financial Statements. The Concepts Statement would be one of a series that are intended to provide a conceptual framework of interrelated objectives and fundamental concepts that can be used as a basis for establishing consistent financial reporting standards. It would establish definitions for seven elements, fundamental components of historically based financial statements of state and local governments. For statements of financial position, these elements include assets, liabilities, deferred outflows of resources, deferred inflows of resources and net assets; for resource flows statements, they included outflows of resources and inflows of resources. Comments are due November 17, 2006. The ED can be downloaded from the GASB website.

GASB Comprehensive Implementation Guide – 2006

This guide represents a consolidation of Implementation Guides issued through June 30, 2006. It not only codifies the questions and answers from the original guides, it updates answers to recognize the effects of standards that have been issued since the release dates of the individual guides and new questions and answers on Statement 43, 44, and 45 have been added. Also added are questions and answers to address a variety of topics including issues related to compensated absences, Statement 34, asset impairment, net assets restricted by enabling legislation, and termination benefits. The guide should be available from the GASB by the week of October 23, 2006. Because of its immediate relevance for governments who are implementing the OPEB standards, new questions and answers regarding qualifying OPEB plan trusts, and the responsibilities of those who play a significant role in the functions of an OPEB plan that includes such a trust, are posted to the GASB website www.gasb.org/project_pages/opeb_staff_guidance.pdf, in advance of publication.

The following Ed and PV document are still outstanding from previous newsletters.

GASB ED, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Pollution Remediation Obligations

An ED, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Pollution Remediation Obligations, was issued on January 31, 2006, following the issuance of a Preliminary Views (PV) document in March of 2005. The comment period on the ED concluded on May 1, 2006. Issuance of the resulting Statement is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2006.

GASB PV document, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Derivatives

A PV document, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Derivatives was issued on April 28, 2006. The comment period on the PV concluded on July 28, 2006. Issuance of the resulting ED is scheduled for the first quarter of 2007.

Audit Committee
By Ann Harter

Only July 6th, the Audit Committee completed a review of the Combined Balance Sheet of the Government Finance Officers of Connecticut as of June 30, 2006 and the Combined Statement of Revenues, Expenditures and Changes in Fund Balance for the year then ended.

We reviewed the posted revenue for reasonableness, selected and traced portion of expenditures to invoices and canceled checks and verified cash balances to year end bank statements/reconciliations. Based on this review, nothing came to our attention that caused us to believe it could have a material effect on the financial statements.


Internet Committee

By Bob Curry

Welcome to the newly redesigned website for GFOA of CT. There are a number of enhancements to our new website.

Annual membership fees are now due. You can go to the new website membership area and printout your renewal and mail in. The renewal form can be accessed at http://gfoact.org/Content/Membership_Form.asp

The Registration form for the November 2nd meeting at the Aqua Turf in Southington is now available at http://gfoact.org/Calendar/default.asp Look at the calendar and click on "read more" for each event you wish to attend. This will bring you to the registration form and details about the meeting.

Also note the registration forms for the CT Public Pension Forum being held on October 24 are available.

To sign into the MEMBERS ONLY section you need to put in your email address and password. Everyone's password has been set to 1234. You should log in and change the password. In the EDIT MY INFO section you can change your personal information such as title, phone number, etc. Please review your information to be sure it is correct because this is the organization's official membership list.

The MESSAGE BOARD is a new enhancement where members can add topics for everyone to discuss. This should be a very popular so go ahead and add some topics.

Our very popular EMPLOYMENT section is located in the RESOURCES section and now members can now submit employment opportunities through the website.

The website redesign has been a long process but GFOA of CT members will benefit greatly and I want to thank everyone for being so patient during the redesign.

GFOA Historian’s Report
By Jan Godley

Bob Curry will be added to the list of Past Presidents

GFOA Advanced Government Finance Officers Institute

By Kate Clarke Buch

What I did on my summer vacation

I would like to express my appreciation to the GFOA-CT and the John Walsh Scholarship Committee for affording me the opportunity to attend the Advanced Government Finance Institute. It was a worthwhile experience from start to finish. I encourage other members of the GFOA-CT to attend the Institute in future years.

Unlike Bob Curry’s cab driver last year, my cabbie didn’t know about CAFRs. She did, however, know quite a bit about Madison. I got a geography and history lesson on my way from the airport to the University. We arrived in time to witness the moving out/moving in process at the University. If you were looking to furnish a house on the cheap, that was definitely the week to be in Madison! Madison is a lovely location and the University does a terrific job in assisting the GFOA with the Institute. Although the Lowell Inn was undergoing some renovations, it was still a nice facility and convenient to everything.

It was interesting to see the different personalities of my fellow students over the week. There were those of us who sat in the same seat every day and then there were the roamers. There were the case study groups who met at 7 am over breakfast and the ones who slept a little late after testing the bars of Madison. The case study presentations also showed the different styles, from the very serious presentations with Power Point shows, to the creative, the slightly comical, and the very comical which happened to be the most educational! The case study preparation was one opportunity that the class had to interact. We also had other opportunities over cocktails, dinner and ice cream. On Thursday, we even had a trip to Spring Green, WI where we toured Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hillside School and had dinner at a local resort.

We covered a variety of topics during the week - from “Working with Employees to Keep them Happy” and “Disaster Planning” to “Future Trends” and “Dealing with the Media”. The Disaster Planning session was a real eye-opener for me. It was about the Finance Director’s role in a disaster. It goes well beyond what we normally think of – like writing checks and keeping records – to ensuring that there are banking facilities for residents. We also had a session on Performance Measures in Budgeting which really brought together a lot of the things I had read and heard on performance measures and clarified how it helps the budgeting process. We had a Work/Life Balance workshop which was one of my favorites. The leader of the session gave us tools to regain the balance in our lives. She also had toys for us to play with during the session! The session on Leading Organization Changes was another one that I took a lot from. It taught us to recognize people’s reactions to change and with that knowledge, showed us how we could successfully negotiate obstacles to change and resistance to change. The last session of the week was “Value Added Leadership” and was another of my favorites. We discussed different types of leaders and leadership. We also participated in a valuable bridge building exercise. To give you all the details would take too long. Suffice it to say that our team learned that cheaper is not always better!

I can’t finish without saying something about the coordinator of the AGFI, Susan Gaffney. Susan is the Director of the Federal Legislation and Regulations Center of the GFOA. She did a terrific job in putting together the program for the week, getting us where we needed to be and keeping us on time and on topic.

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