The following VGFOA Executive Board policy statements are designed to provide a further link between the 
by-laws, mission and other practices of the VGFOA in achieving a fiscally prudent and effective operation. 

1)  Implementation of By-Laws

      Article I - Name
Article II - Mission
Article III – Membership
Article IV – Executive Board
Article V – Election of Executive Board
Article VI - Annual and Special Meetings
Article VII – Amendment of By-Laws
Article VIII – Rules of Conduct of Meetings
 

2)       Standing Committees
3)       Executive Secretary
4)       Membership and Awards Committee
5)       Associate Membership Relations Committee
6)       Education  - Conferences Committee
7)       Education – Certification and Other Courses
8)       Communications and Technology
9)       GFOA State Representative and Historian Committee
10)   Legislative and Standards Committee
11)   Treasurer Duties
12)   President Duties
13)   President-elect Duties
14)   Collaborating Organizations
15)   Contributions
16)   Code of Ethics
17)   Organization Structure

1)       Implementation of By-Laws
 

a)       Article I - Name

i)         Filing status and all filings with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) shall be maintained for membership to view and retained in permanent records of VGFOA.

b)       Article II - Mission

i)         Mission statement shall be materially compliant with IRS purpose statement on file and shall remain in effect with current operation of VGFOA.

ii)       An annual report will be prepared by President provided to membership which shall at a minimum describe how VGFOA attained compliance with “purpose” statements from by-laws with this annual report properly archived on WEB site.

iii)      As Mission Statement is stated in its entirety in the By-laws, the policies shall define the “tag-line” for the VGFOA as “Developing Governmental and Financial Leaders”

iv)     The tag-line shall appear on all letterhead and communications of the VGFOA wherever practical and any logo of the VGFOA shall also be approved by the Board.

v)       The Mission Statement shall be clearly visible for members to see at conferences, WEB site and other practical instances for communications.

c)       Article III – Membership

i)         The Executive Board will approve annually in conjunction with the budget all fee rates and due dates for membership fees.

ii)       After three-month period of non-payment, such member shall be notified that their membership is in suspension.

iii)      In attaining the most administratively efficient manner to collect membership fees, the annual membership fees shall be built into the annual Fall Conference with existing and targeted members not attending conference to be billed for such annual membership fee by November 30. .

iv)     Once paid for the year, membership shall be granted to both the employee enrolled as a member and the entity that sponsored such employee for a period no greater than 12 months with membership status provided to the employee if they transition to another employer during the year as well as granting continued employer membership for replacement position.

d)       Article IV – Executive Board

i)         The following are the prescribed goal statements for each member of the Executive Board and the established standing committees for which the chair of such committee is a board member.

ii)       Officers

(1)     President – to oversee the Executive Board in meeting goals and other assigned duties through contract oversight of Executive Secretary, formulation of agenda items, running board meetings in a proper manner and other contracted services including risk management (insurance), legal counsel and audit.

(2)     President-elect – to serve in the President’s role in President’s absence, committee oversight and other leadership roles and special committees for assigned tasks from the President.

(3)     Treasurer – to provide oversight over the proposed budget formulation for Executive Board, present Board financial reports, monitor compliance with financial polices and ensure that actual revenues and expenditures are being recorded and supported in a proper manner.

(4)     Past-President – to chair by-laws committee, chair nominating committee, ensure rules of meeting (as defined per by-laws) are followed and other leadership roles and special committees for assigned tasks from the President.

(5)     Standing Committees

(a)     Membership and Awards – to ensure that all efforts are being made to recruit and retain full, lifetime and past-president membership through provision of member-benefit services, including alumni-benefit services, and oversight over structured awards program to provide recognition to both individual members and/or their organizations in becoming premier governmental financial leaders.

(b)     Associate Membership Relations – to ensure associate members and prospective vendors for membership are provided with pathways to illustrate their goods/services, provide educational and technical resources and contribute appropriately for such access to the full membership.

(c)     Education–Conferences – to provide oversight for Spring and Fall Conference, including securing location and formulating agenda.

(d)     Education – Certification and Other Courses – to formulate a structured educational training schedule that includes at a minimum the VGFOA certificate program, Winter Conference and other targeted training classes.

(e)     Communications and Technology – to provide oversight for content of communications (including e-mail distributions) and the technical manner in which such content and other information can be maintained on the WEB site.

(f)      GFOA State Representative and Historian – to be the primary liaison between the State organization and the national GFOA as well as historian of organization.

(g)     Legislative and Standards – to be apprised in a timely manner of State and Federal legislation impacts, standard setting authorities (e.g., GASB) and/or any other impacts that may be imposed upon governmental entities for which research will be conducted to best formulate education and communication strategies to best apprise members.

(6)     Special Committees (on-going, President may formulate other committees as needed)

(a)     Nominating Committee – to formulate nominating slate for open positions on the Executive Board.

(b)     By-Laws Committee – to propose changes of by-laws and ensure compliance with existing by-laws.

(c)     Audit Committee – to provide oversight and contact for contracted auditors for annual audit.

(d)     Alumni Committee – to promote activities and communication through network of past-members and those interested current members.

(e)     Associate Member Relations Committee – to promote the best manner in which associate members (vendors) can be engaged in helping full members in activities and mission of the VGFOA.

iii)      Attendance at Meetings and Provision of Appropriate Resources

(1)     In order for the business of the VGFOA to be conducted properly, attendance at meetings and the provision of appropriate resources is needed from each and every Executive Board member.

(2)     For those members that fail to attend 50% of scheduled VGFOA Board meetings during their term, those members can be removed from the Executive Board, upon vote of the Executive Board, with vacancy on Executive Board filled in accordance with By-laws process for vacancies.

(3)     For those members that fail to perform their duties (e.g., commitments to assigned duties, committee oversight, etc.), those members can be removed from the Executive Board, upon vote of the Executive Board, with vacancy on Executive Board filled in accordance with By-laws process for vacancies.
 

e)       Article V – Election of Executive Board
 

i)         The By-laws enables the Executive Board to prescribe the manner in which the elections are held.

ii)       Nominating committee shall be appointed by the Past-president at least 120 days prior to the election to enable committee to meet and present draft slate of candidates for Executive Board meeting at least 30 days before election.

iii)      Nominating committee will be chaired by Past-president and be comprised of no more than five members, of which at least three shall be prior Past-presidents.

iv)     Nominating committee will solicit potential candidates and take into consideration the following:

(1)     Service of candidate to the VGFOA

(2)     Availability of candidate and their employer to devote time and resources to VGFOA which shall include consent of nominated candidate’s employer in having employee on VGFOA Board.

(3)     Achieve diverse and representative Executive Board covering broad areas of geographic, governmental structures and fiscal expertise roles.

(4)     For President, President-elect and Treasurer, it would also consider leadership attributes in serving the organization over the long-term, managing contractual relationships and other duties assigned to such board members.

v)       Final nominating slate will be presented to Executive Board at meeting prior to annual election with Executive Board approving such slate to be presented to the full membership.

(1)     If changes to the slate, then such changes must have unanimous support of the Executive Board.

vi)     Nominating committee will present slate to annual membership at business meeting with voice vote held to record vote and if no objections, then such slate will be considered approved unanimously.

(1)     If not unanimous, then form ballots will be made available for membership to vote and results tallied within 24 hours of receiving ballot.

vii)    Upon election to new term in office, all Executive Board members will have a letter sent to their employer from the Past-President thanking the member for their service and commitment to the VGFOA, unless member otherwise requests to not have such letter sent.

viii)  All new board members will be provided with an orientation package from the executive secretary prior to the first Board meeting following the annual conference.
 

f)        Article VI - Annual and Special Meetings
 

i)         The annual meeting that includes the business meeting shall be the “Fall Conference”.

ii)       The annual meeting notice of 30 days prior to the meeting shall be met via conference solicitation for such fall conference.

iii)      Special meetings shall meet all notice requirements (at least 10 days prior to the meeting).

iv)     Executive Board meetings will enter into closed session for those discussion items that meet criteria for organizational closed session discussions.

v)       Executive Board may correspond with one-another via e-mail and/or conference call with consensus of Board’s opinion documented in subsequent minutes of meeting.

vi)     Regularly scheduled Executive Board meetings will occur at least four times per year with the following schedule to be used as a guideline (actual meeting schedule determined at the last Executive Board meeting of the calendar year at times and places most convenient to Executive Board members):

(1)     March – at a mutually agreed-upon site and time

(2)     May – in conjunction with the Spring conference, traditionally held in Virginia Beach, with such Executive Board meeting beginning just prior to such conference.

(3)     October – in conjunction with the Fall conference with such Executive Board meeting beginning just prior to such conference (in addition, a brief meeting is also held just subsequent to the annual full membership meeting).

(4)     December – at mutually agreed-upon site and time.
 

g)       Article VII – Amendment of By-Laws
 

i)         The By-laws Committee shall be comprised of the Past-president and two active members (per the By-Laws).

ii)       The Past-president shall establish the committee by January 1 of each year with goal to have the by-laws reviewed, and if any edits are proposed by the committee, to have such edits presented to Executive Board no later than spring conference meeting with any edits to proposed by-laws having unanimous support.

iii)      Proposed by-law amendments shall be made available to full membership at least 30 days prior to their adoption at annual meeting with any edits to such proposed by-laws prior to annual meeting also requiring unanimous support of the Executive Board.
 

h)       Article VIII – Rules of Conduct of Meetings
 

i)         The Past-President shall serve in the role as understanding the Robert’s Rules of Order in order to best conduct the meetings should such consultation be needed.

ii)       Unless it appears that a unanimous vote is not reached via a voice vote, then a roll call shall be done for Executive Board meetings and a ballot format for annual business meetings for the membership.
 

2)       Standing Committees
 

a)       Overall Structure

i)         Committee members shall be appointed by the chair of the committee with consent of the President.

ii)       Committee size shall be determined by the committee chair, but unless otherwise determined by committee chair, each committee shall be comprised of no less than three and no more than ten members.

iii)      Committees shall meet at a minimum once per year at the annual conference in a pre-scheduled meeting.

iv)     Committees shall formulate and maintain agreed-upon guidelines, responsibilities and duties that at a minimum prescribe manners in which committee can meet and communicate (e.g., via conferences, e-mail, conference call) as well as attendance/participation goals for active membership in committee.

b)       A goal of the committees is to encourage greater participation from the membership, and to rotate committee assignments as needed to mitigate anyone from serving on one committee too long.

c)       Committee slots may be occupied by a representative of a targeted governmental entity on an on-going basis, if agreed-upon by committee chair and President.
 

3)       Executive Secretary
 

a)       The Board will contract for executive secretary services with calendar year contract terms subject to renewable one-year terms for a period of up to five years.

i)         Every five years a standing committee will be convened to determine how best to solicit and procure executive secretary services for which formal proposals will be submitted by all prospective service providers, including the incumbent executive secretary.

ii)       During last calendar year Executive Board meeting a formal contract review will be done, including closed session discussion, in order to best evaluate the existing contract and agree to contract renewal terms for the succeeding calendar year.

iii)      If transition of services to new executive secretary, then contract terms should ensure that extension of existing executive secretary services will negate any lapse in service during transition; this shall also apply for any circumstance that defers renewal of existing contract past January 1.

iv)     Contract will meet legal contractual terms with legal counsel review done, as applicable.

b)       The following represent the minimum scopes for such contractual services for which remuneration for services would be based:

i)         Record retention of VGFOA records.

ii)       Deposit all receipts and payment of expenditures incurred within budget appropriation in a timely manner and with supporting documentation properly maintained.

iii)      Day-to-day activities of association.

iv)     Administrative duties for all educational training and conferences.

v)       Maintain minutes of all Executive Board and annual business meetings of the VGFOA with all actions properly and clearly recorded.

vi)     Maintain a book of accounts for the VGFOA and report to the Executive Board the status of the financial activity of the VGFOA.

vii)    Work with the President and Treasurer to present a proposed budget for the VGFOA and five-year plan for the VGFOA by the last calendar year meeting of the Executive Board each year.

viii)  Coordinate Executive Board meetings and provide applicable meeting materials prior to Executive Board meeting via e-mail with any Board member responsible for brining such materials to meeting.

ix)     Maintain the Membership Directory.

x)       Invest any anticipated idle funds of the VGFOA.

xi)     Other duties may be assigned by the Executive Board with the concurrence of the Executive Secretary.

c)       Reimbursable expenses shall include, in addition to any other defined in the contract:

i)         All lodging and meals costs at conferences, training sessions and board meetings.

ii)       If approved in budget, all travel, lodging and meal costs for national GFOA conference subject to IRS per diem for meal reimbursement and lodging costs pre-approved by the President.
 

4)       Membership and Awards Committee
 

a)       Awards and Recognition Program

i)         The Membership and Awards Committee provides recommendations of award recipients to Executive Board for approval and subject to budget appropriation.

ii)       Each award shall be based upon eligibility for award guidelines as defined by the committee.

iii)      Presentations of all awards will be based upon the time/place most convenient to award recipient with the goal to be recognized at a conference and consideration of communicating content of the award’s merits to members to provide further education to members.

iv)     Membership and Award Committee and Executive Board members shall be precluded from applying and receiving any individual award (e.g., scholarship), but may have their employer receive an award, in which case such member would abstain from such award vote.

v)       The following represents such award and recognition programs:

(1)     Award of Excellence: to recognize governmental entities that developed innovative programs.

(2)     GFOA Advanced Government Finance Institute Scholarship: to provide funding in the budget for a scholarship to mitigate costs to a recognized national program in developing governmental and financial leaders.

(3)     Certificate Program Scholarship: to promote VGFOA Certificate by providing an incentive to members in pursuit of certificate.

(4)     Pettigrew Scholarship: to recognize undergraduate or graduate students in pursuit of a governmental fiscal career, named in honor of Edward T. Pettigrew, VGFOA’s first president.

(5)     Black Lifetime Member Award – to recognize a member who has retired from active service in governmental finance field and has made an outstanding contribution to the field of public finance in the Commonwealth, named in honor of Joseph N. Black, founding member of VGFOA.

(a)     As this is a prestigious award and recognizing the fact that Executive Boards have transition over time and may not be cognizant of a the merits of someone who is now retired, the membership and awards committee, through established guidelines, will maintain a list of potential candidates and their contributions that were noteworthy.

(b)     All lifetime members will be recognized on plaque that the VGFOA shall display at annual conference and individual recognition on WEB site

(6)     Other awards, resolutions or other forms of recognition (e.g., Certificate of appreciation) to an individual, governmental entity or an organization may be initiated by a Executive Board member

vi)     The Executive Board shall try to establish scholarships and awards under the name of a member or past-member who has made significant contributions to the organization and/or to the establishment of such applicable scholarship/award.

b)        Alumni Member

i)         As the only members who have a connection to VGFOA after they have retired and/or are in non-governmental finance career are lifetime members and past-presidents, there shall be a pathway for such members to stay involved with the organization.

ii)       Alumni contact list to be maintained on WEB site with such alumni provided e-mail notices about conferences and other VGFOA related events.

iii)      Executive Board will provide support as needed to encourage participation of alumni in VGFOA activities and design programs to accommodate such alumni interest with coordination of a sub-committee combined of alumni members.

c)       Fellowship programs

i)         Regional and other fellowship programs shall be advocated in providing pathways for members to exchange information and related interests in providing for a stronger association
 

5)       Associate Membership Relations Committee
 

a)       Committee will also include representative associate members in order to best ascertain the best manners for such relations.

b)       Organizations wishing to advertise will be given access to sponsor programs, scholarships, training programs, newsletters and other materials as deemed appropriate by Board member overseeing such materials with fees based upon established associate member fee schedule adopted by the Board.

c)       Exhibitor space will be provided at conferences as facility space permits with agreed-upon fees provided for such use of space and access of exhibitors to conference events

d)       Vendor relations will focus on ability of VGFOA to promote services of vendors via WEB site and/or newsletter in a manner that is fair and equitable to all vendors who are associate members.
 

6)       Education  - Conferences Committee
 

a)       All conferences shall be held at a location as approved by the Executive Board and recommended by the Education - Conferences Committee with scope of this committee limited to the Spring conference, traditionally held at Virginia Beach in May, and the Fall conference, traditionally held in October at a location agreed-upon by the Executive Board.

b)       Facility arrangements and other conference/training-related items shall be coordinated between the Board member/Committee member assigned oversight and the Executive Secretary.

i)         Conference facilities – for those facilities that educational training and/or conferences will be held, standard contractual agreements will be negotiated between conference facility and VGFOA person in-charge of such conference with the following attributes.

(1)     No contract will guarantee payment of funds above an attendance figure that is not reasonably projected.

(2)     Standardized contractual agreements shall be reviewed by legal counsel and upon consent, approved by the Executive Board within desired parameters, with final contract reviewed by the Treasurer and signed by the President.

(3)     In order to assure facility accommodations at desired place and time, such contractual arrangements for facilities shall be made at least 12 months in advance (for such recurring facility locations as Virginia Beach, multi-year agreements are acceptable).

c)       Conference fee shall be formulated and approved by Executive Board to achieve desired margin, after consideration of estimated attendance, facility fees, other expenses, net of estimated sponsorship.

d)       Sample conference parameters shall include:

i)         Proper times for speakers, concurrent sessions and adhering to such times.

e)       Continuing Professional Education (CPE) hours

i)         CPE hours shall be based upon established standards of the Virginia Board of Accountancy

ii)       For those CPE hours required in certain areas (e.g., ethics), conference planning shall occur to ensure that all CPE goals can be met through VGFOA conferences and/or other related-training

f)        Reimbursable expenses for conferences and training speakers are as follows:

i)         If an associate member or non-member/non-governmental employee, then no reimbursable expense is necessary unless otherwise approved by the Executive Board and/or addressed in another policy section (e.g., vendor relations).

ii)       If a full active member, then a free registration shall be permitted.

iii)      If not a member, but a governmental employee, then a free registration and if requested by speaker, one night’s hotel lodging shall be permitted.

iv)     For “keynote” or banquet” speakers, accommodations can be made for one night’s lodging if requested by the speaker.

g)       Reciprocal member recognition shall be given to the following organizations which shall entitle such members to receive information on conferences and educational training:

i)         Treasurer’s Association of Virginia

h)       Refunds shall be provided back to “payee” for any registration fees if such notice was received prior to established date w/ facility in providing estimate for attendees for meals, facility space, etc.
 

7)       Education – Certification and Other Courses
 

a)       Elements of the Education – Conferences Committee shall also pertain, as applicable, to this committee and therefore are not repeated in this section.

b)       VGFOA Certificate Program

i)         The VGFOA Certificate Program will be comprised of courses and electives as approved by the Executive Board with appropriate Executive Board approved waivers granted based upon other certifications and/or college coursework taken.

ii)       All records of individuals in pursuit of certificate program will be maintained by the executive secretary.

iii)      Through an agreement with Government and Non-Profit Assistance Center (GNAC), the VGFOA shall net an agreed-upon return per student attending such classes.

iv)     A rolling five-year plan shall be maintained by the committee to illustrate the manner in which the certificate program could be achieved within a five-year period.

c)       Other training classes that are not part of the Certificate Program will be structured and formulated to best meet membership training needs, as necessary, which may also include opportunities for such training to occur via WEB.
 

8)       Communications and Technology
 

a)       Website

i)         Communications - to provide oversight over the solicitation and production of virtually all content delivered to the membership via newsletter, WEB site and/or e-mail distribution outlets.

ii)       Technology – to manage the WEB site and related technologies (e.g., e-mail distribution) in order for content providers to best communicate to the membership and other interested parties at-large; including monitoring of other applicable WEB sites for further enhancements to VGFOA WEB site.

iii)      The Website will contain the membership list of all members with e-mail addresses also provided.

iv)     E-mail distributions to entire mail list will be coordinated through the Communications and Technology Committee chair that would allow communications to members if it met educational and information standards for VGFOA members at-large.

v)       Job postings should be posted for a period through application deadline and/or three-months from any position of a governmental finance perspective.

vi)     All award winners shall be posted to the Website including a standing page section for lifetime member awards.

b)       Newsletter

i)         A newsletter shall be published every three months and distributed to all members of the organization with emphasis upon distributing such newsletter via e-mail and/or WEB site posting.

ii)       Advertising considerations can be accepted for newsletter upon consent of the Executive Board.

c)       Prototype Policies and Documents

i)         The VGFOA will advocate for prototype financial policies, request for proposals and other related information to be disseminated in an organized manner via the WEB page and/or other communication means.

ii)       Regional Focus Groups shall be encouraged as a manner to promote fellowship and regional discussion groups about issues relevant and current for members to address.
 

9)       GFOA State Representative and Historian Committee
 

a)       National GFOA Relations

i)         VGFOA shall understand GFOA’s position with regard to national practices and standards for governmental entities as well as how other State organizations operate in the most efficient and effective manner.

ii)       The VGFOA Board shall annually nominate a candidate to the national GFOA Executive Board.

b)       Historian

i)         Through a liaison with the Alumni Committee, the goal would be the continued documentation of VGFOA’s history.

ii)       Through newsletter and WEB site communications, the historian will continue to focus on the past highlights of the organization and its members.

iii)      Oversight is also provided in recording the permanent history story maintained on the WEB and providing timely updates in the organization’s history.

iv)     Record Retention

(1)     All record retention guidelines of the Virginia Archives shall be followed, unless otherwise specified below:

(a)     Permanent retention - Minutes of board meetings, by-laws, IRS filings, audit reports, adopted budgets, certificates of insurance and other documents deemed appropriate.

(b)     Critical records – general ledger records of revenues and disbursements, membership status lists

(2)     For permanent records and those records deemed to be critical such record retention area shall be secured and fire-proof with back-up of such records at an off-site location.
 

10)   Legislative and Standards Committee
 

a)       Legislative

i)         A State legislative update shall be provided to members in a timely manner from Governor budget proposals to General Assembly actions and through adoption of budget.

ii)       Federal legislative update shall be provided to members in a timely manner.

iii)      For both State and Federal updates references to other sources can be substituted if it meets members’ objectives for timeliness, propriety and completeness of information.

b)       Standards

i)         Updates shall be performed as needed in order to best apprise members of standard setting body impacts (e.g., GASB, GFOA, etc.) with education program also designed to best orient members to proposed changes in standards.
 

11)   Treasurer Duties

a)       Audit

i)         There shall be an annual audit and related management letter, if applicable, of all funds under the control of the VGFOA performed by an independent certified public accountant contracted by the Board through a request for proposal process for a contract of up to five years.

ii)       For any non unqualified opinion or management letter, a corrective action plan shall be formulated by the Treasurer and adopted by the Executive board within three months of getting such opinion or letter.

iii)      The Treasurer shall coordinate all audit-related services and oversight over Executive Secretary in ensuring that all records are complete and control/compliance inquires are addressed.

iv)     An Audit Committee comprised of the Past-President, President and President-elect with President serving as chair shall make their preliminary report to the Executive Board at the Spring conference meeting of the Board for the preceding fiscal year with final report approved for distribution at the Fall conference to members.

v)       Year-end unrestricted net assets  shall be greater than 15% of actual revenues with any balance less than such percentage to be addressed by Treasurer in corrective action plan to achieve such threshold during next fiscal year

vi)     The audit shall also ensure compliance with required IRS reporting (e.g., Form 990, Form 1099) within prescribed deadlines.

vii)    The audit, to the extent practical, shall also determine compliance to by-laws and polices established.

b)       Budget

i)         By October 1, all committees and contracted services will submit requests for budgetary needs for next fiscal year to the Treasurer.

ii)