Most of us have been busy in recent weeks putting together our budgets and reviewing them with our elected officials. The FCCMA has the same October 1 budget year. Our committees have been active and many have provided budget recommendations. A draft FCCMA budget has been reviewed by the Executive Committee and will be presented to the Board for adoption at the quarterly meeting in August.
The budget reflects priorities that were established at the annual conference in June. The first of these is increasing Training and Development. The number of webinars from the Center for Florida Local Government Excellence will increase from eight to twelve. THESE ARE FREE and will provide convenient training on a wide variety of subjects. This budget includes having two symposiums next year; one in the fall and another in the spring. We will also identify ICMA credentialing credits that will be available through FCCMA training.
This budget provides added focus on the Next Generation Initiative. Scholarship opportunities for the best and the brightest Florida MPA students will be increased. We also will encourage new student chapters at universities that do not have them and support those that already exist. Participation in job fairs across the state will be expanded in the next year.
One of several improvements in the area of Communications will be working closely with the Florida League of Cities to prepare videos to publicize upcoming meetings and conferences, highlight FCCMA benefits to increase membership and expand on-demand training.
Your FCCMA remains in strong financial condition. Both the winter Institute and conference have been well attended and profitable for several years and fund balances continue to increase. We are now able to expand FCCMA services to members without raising dues. We hope you will be pleased with the value you receive by being an FCCMA member.
