BAXTER-If awards are any indication, the city of Baxter is on the right track.
The city-and, specifically, it's financial department led by Finance Director Jeremy Vacinek and Assistant Finance Director Susannah Jensen-have garnered a seventh consecutive CAFR award, or a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada.
According to the Government Finance Officers Association, the award is intended to "encourage and assist state and local governments to go beyond the minimum requirements of generally accepted accounting principles to prepare comprehensive annual financial reports that evidence the spirit of transparency and full disclosure and then to recognize individual governments that succeed in achieving that goal. The goal of the program is not to assess the financial health of participating governments, but rather to ensure that users of their financial statements have the information they need to do so themselves."
Baxter Mayor Darrel Olson praised Vacinek, Jensen and their supporting staff during a phone interview Wednesday, Dec. 19.
"They are a very, very efficient pair," Olson said. "Between the two of them they really have a grasp on what has to be done. We're really lucky to have them."
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"Susannah came to us from a private firm and what they do is audits. A lot of what happens to us is audits," said Olson, who noted her skillset then translated well to communicating the city's finances on the other side of the equation. "She was a tremendous asset."
On the other hand, Vacinek's attention to detail and creative problem-solving shine through year to year, he said.
"Jeremy is a very sharp guy. He's an ideas guy. He can come up with some solutions and we'll have times where we'll ponder, 'How are we going to pull this off?'" Olson said. "He always had recommendations. He always keeps us on the straight and narrow."
