JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan signed an executive order on Tuesday encouraging appointees to city boards, commissions and independent agencies to complete financial training.
The order, which takes effect immediately, also requests that chief executive officers of independent agencies certify the financial information their organizations submit to the city.
Board members oversee billions of dollars in public assets, revenues and obligations. The executive order directs the Office of the Chief Financial Officer to offer free financial training within 90 days.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
The training curriculum will cover fiduciary duties, internal and external audits, fraud awareness, internal controls, state and city ethics rules and Florida’s Sunshine and public records laws.
Sessions provided by the CFO’s office will teach appointees how to read financial statements, navigate the city budget process and spot warning signs related to bond covenants, credit ratings and pensions.
[READ: JTA Financial Crisis: Mayor backs JTA Board, as council says it’s not eyeing ‘punitive’ measures]
Deegan emphasized the need to equip board members with financial and ethical guidance. “Our board members are citizen volunteers who give their time to serve this city and they deserve every tool we can provide them to do that job well,” Deegan said in a news release. “Taxpayers deserve confidence that the people overseeing their money understand the budgets, audits and ethics rules in front of them. This order puts that training within reach today. Working with the City Council, we’ll make these standards permanent through legislation.”
[READ: ‘She didn’t care’: Ex-JTA board member says she warned mayor about invoices possibly tied to probe]
Under the city charter, the 19-member Jacksonville City Council, led by President Nick Howland, confirms mayoral appointees and sets governing rules for city boards by ordinance. An executive order can encourage compliance among appointees, but permanent mandates require city law.
Deegan announced plans to work alongside the City Council to turn these training and certification guidelines into binding legislation.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
