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Posts for Tracey Dunlap

Financial Management of Municipal Court Services

Financial Management of Municipal Court Services

August 18, 2016  by  Tracey Dunlap
Category:  Guest Author ,  Financial Management

This Advisor column addresses how municipalities can work together with the judicial system to provide effective financial management of the municipal courts.

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A Few Simple Tips for Presenting Financial Information to Non-Financial Audiences

A Few Simple Tips for Presenting Financial Information to Non-Financial Audiences

August 27, 2015  by  Tracey Dunlap
Category:  Finance ,  Guest Author

Presentations of financial information are a routine part of municipal operations; however, they are not always the most widely anticipated. Tracey Dunlap provides some good tips for making your data more understandable.

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Why is Property Tax So Complicated?

Why is Property Tax So Complicated?

February 1, 2015  by  Tracey Dunlap
Category:  Guest Author ,  Property Taxes

In this month's Finance Advisor column, Tracey Dunlap, City of Kirkland Director of Finance and Administration, gives us a "property tax 101" overview of the limits on regular property taxes.

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Capital Project Financial Management - Seeking the "Universal Translator"

July 31, 2014  by  Tracey Dunlap
Category:  Guest Author ,  Public Works Finance

How can local government finance and project management staff improve consistency in communications to better manage capital projects?

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Reprioritizing in the Rebound

August 31, 2013  by  Tracey Dunlap
Category:  Guest Author ,  Financial Management ,  Fund Balance and Reserves

At a recent retreat, the Kirkland City Council discussed how to proactively plan what to do with increased revenues as the economy recovers. This blog post recaps some of the key points from that discussion.

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Lessons Learned from Two Successful Levy Lid Lifts

January 31, 2013  by  Tracey Dunlap
Category:  Guest Author ,  Property Taxes

The City of Kirkland was fortunate to have two levy lid lift measures pass on the November 2012 general election ballot. The city's finance director explains how the city approached the two measures and what may have contributed to their success.

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Some Tips on Time Commitment and Management for Busy Financial Professionals

April 30, 2012  by  Tracey Dunlap
Category:  Guest Author ,  Management

I was recently asked to provide some tips on time commitment and management based on my experience as a consultant, and I thought some of the information would be useful for busy finance professionals in these busy economic times. So this is the first tip - use information in multiple forums!

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Keeping Internal Controls Fresh in Your Organization

March 1, 2012  by  Tracey Dunlap
Category:  Finance Advisor

Kirkland tries to keep the issue of internal controls before management and staff in a variety of ways, including periodic “internal control moments” at senior management meetings, ad hoc training on specific topics, inviting departments with issues to the exit conference, etc. The city recently completed a large annexation and we decided that this would be a great time to do some organization-wide training.

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