PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
DENNIS HOWARD, CFO, CITY OF LENEXA

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

There are two elements, which will decide to what level this organization will be successful. They are communication and involvement.

We have a great start on the communication side already. The "UPDATE" is one of our organizations foundations. Ross VanderHamm and everyone who has worked on it have exceeded all expectations. To complement it we now have "KSGFOA.COM". Gena Schallehn and Ed Mullins have put a lot into this project and it shows. We have long needed the ability to have finance professionals network. We now have the tools in place to do it.

Involvement is critical. We all need to participate. We need good people who would be will

ing to serve as Board Members, Offices or as members of our five standing committee's (Program & Professional Development, Legislative, Bylaws & Policy, Membership & Ethics, and Newsletter & Publicity)

For the upcoming year I have asked Rebecca Bossemeyer, Dawn Grosdidier, Robert Hammond and Nannette Pogue to serve with me on a nomination committee for next years officers and board members. We will need to fill the position of Treasurer and that of two Board Members. Please contact anyone on the committee and let them know of your interest to serve or if you could recommend someone. If you would like to serve on one of the committees please contact any Officer or Board

members. (Phone numbers are on the web)

We are getting close to 200 members. I am excited about our growth and what we have accomplished, but more so for what this organization could do in the future. Don't wait for it to happen. Be part of it.

The last two items I want to pass on are to welcome Dale Jost as a new member of our board. Dale fills the board position vacated by Shirley Moses, who resigned earlier this year. Also a big thanks to Chris Chronis for the time and effort his people put into the development of our logo. It looks great. Thanks Chris, it is appreciated.

Kansas Official Leads Effort to Lower Airline Fares for Local Officials
CHRIS CHRONIS, SEDGWICK COUNTY CFO

A group of purchasing agents, county and city officials and the NACo Financial Services Center are working on a proposal to reduce airline travel costs for local governments. Facilitated by the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP), the group is collecting data in order to create a national airline fare bid.
"Our group has decided that a great inequity exists between the prices paid by federal and state employees and the prices paid by local government employees for airfares," stated group chairman Darren Muci, Sedgwick County purchasing

director. "The airlines extend significant advantages to our colleagues at other levels of government, but extend few discounts to us."
Muci's steering committee includes representatives from various airport authorities, county and city governments and NIGP. With support from NACo's FSC, the group surveyed local governments through a fax-back questionnaire. More than 400 local governments responded.  The purpose of the survey was to determine the total volume of local government air travel and the costs of that travel to specific locations across the nation.

The steering committee will use the information from the survey to construct a bid or request for proposals from the airline industry. The group hopes to achieve volume discounts, pricing incentives and electronic ordering incentives.
Although it may be difficult for the airlines to offer federal pricing to local governments, the steering committee hopes to achieve other pricing and ordering considerations.
If the group can achieve "Saturday overnight" pricing without being required to stay over a Saturday night, local gov

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