"The mission of the WFOA Education Committee is to provide Washington public entities and their staffs with professional training in finance, budgeting, accounting, reporting, and other relevant fields.

This professional training provides budget and finance professionals the opportunity to meet face-to-face, exchange ideas with others, and enhance their knowledge that will assist them in promoting the professional management of government financial resources.

The professional educational opportunities also enable our members to maintain their status as Professional Finance Officers, CPA's, and/or other similar professional designations."

This is the link to WFOA Scholarship Guidelines:  WFOA Scholarship Guidelines. Your application must be received four weeks prior to the class registration deadline. Scholarships are paid on a reimbursement basis.

"X Marks the Spot...X-cellence and X-perience" is the theme for the 2009 WMCA Annual Conference at the Quinalt Beach Resort and Casino in Ocean Shores, WA. Master Academy is Tuesday, March 17, 2009. The Conference is March 18 - 20, 2009.

If you register by February 13, 2009, you can save $25.00 for the Master Academy and $50.00 for the Conference. 

My favorite Education Session Title is: "City Clerk - Lurker or Leader?" Wednesday, March 18 at 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. The WMCA has assembled a top-notch series of events and Education Sessions. You can view the schedule here: 2009 WMCA Conference Schedule of Events.

Now that we're on our own for Wednesday evening dinner, I wonder if we will have the pleasure of hearing Colleen Nicol, MMC, City Clerk, City of Riverside, CA, IIMC District IX Director, yodel this year......perhaps at the Thursday night banquet?

As a returning WMCA Sponsor and Exhibitor, Mark and I look forward to giving everyone a shout out in Ocean Shores.

The theme for the 2009 WMTA 26th Annual Conference is "Follow the Financial Brick Road." The date is April 15 to 17, at Campbell's Resort and Conference in Chelan.

According to the July 2008 Money Clip, it is never too early to apply for a Conference Scholarship. The link for WMTA Scholarship Guidelines is: WMTA Scholarship Guidelines.

What better way to start out the New Year on the correct "financial foot," than by reading Toni Nelson's January 2009 article in the MRSC Finance Advisor: Finance 102? (For those who missed Toni's great article: Finance 101, this is the link: Finance 101.) In Finance 102, Toni emphasizes "proper training is the key to success and a commitment to education is essential now more than ever."

For everyone who's attended a BARS Class once, and believes they do not need to attend again, au contraire! During one of Toni's classes at the 2008 WFOA Conference, she stated that attending a BARS class at least every other year, if not every year, is preferable. You have five different opportunities to attend a BARS Class, taught by Toni and Duane Walz, in 2009, at the cost of $50.00/Class.

MRSC Finance Advisor: Finance 102

Beginning Jan. 1, 2009, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

2009 Standard Mileage Rates

Deborah Crabbe, Foster Pepper PLLC, presented "Utility Payment Collection Issues" December 9, 2008, at our 2nd Annual User Conference. Would you like a copy of this lecture? If so, please email me at karen@biasaccounting.com, and I will mail it to you.

Deborah Crabbe, Foster Pepper PLLC

"A Mug Full of Change" is a presentation from the 2008 AWC Budget Workshop. Ken Miller is the founder of the Change and Innovation Agency. He is the author of We Don't Make Widgets: Overcoming the Myths That Keep Government From Radically Improving, available from Governing Books. He can be reached at ken@changeagents.info

The article explains: "great organizations do seven things well and continuously improve all seven." This is a great read for every leader to "show employees that we are not jumping on another fad, but rather continuing our journey to get better every day."

"A Mug Full of Change"