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IGFOA President's Update on COVID-19 - May 1, 2020

Posted May 1, 2020 in IGFOA updates

IGFOA President's Update on COVID-19 - May 1, 2020

To IGFOA Members, Partners and Colleagues,

I hope everyone is doing as well as you can be and continuing to stay safe. Recently, the Governor of the State announced an extension of the stay at home order through May 29th, with minor changes that allow some businesses and activities to reopen on a limited basis provided appropriate protections and distancing are made during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, face coverings will be required in public areas where adequate social distancing can’t be maintained. Please see the Illinois Department of Public Health for the current status of Illinois orders and guidelines.  https://www.dph.illinois.gov/covid19

In response to these unprecedented times, IGFOA has undertaken the following actions in order to best address the needs and safety of all of our members:

• Cancelling all regular in-person IGFOA training and events through August 31st;

• Planning for transitioning to on-line training using new platforms; • Providing daily email updates to all members with the latest COVID-19 information from the Illinois Municipal League (IML);

• Implementing an on-going series of virtual IGFOA member-only roundtables where members of similar jurisdictions can share thoughts and ideas on how their organizations are responding to the pandemic; please be on the lookout for additional virtual roundtables posted on the IGFOA calendar at https://www.igfoa.org/events;

• Encouraging members to coordinate their own virtual meetings (using the technology available to us now), whether regionally or by government-type, to help each other through these times; and

• Offering free webinars in cooperation with IGFOA Sustaining Partners on timely topics pertinent to our current situation.

IGFOA remains committed to providing timely information, resources, networking and training during these trying times. I continue to strongly believe that we will persevere through this together and meet the challenges that confront us now and into the near future.

In the spirit of sharing information, if you come across an innovative idea, resource or important piece of information that you believe would be beneficial for all of our membership to have please share that on the IGFOA Knowledge Exchange; both Partners and Public Sector members are able to sign in to the Knowledge Exchange and share information.

As a reminder, please be aware of the following resources to help guide you through this time:

  1. Updates from the Illinois Municipal League (IML) on COVID-19 – be sure to check your email for IGFOA’s daily broadcast with IML’s most recent information and resources. IML maintains a comprehensive list of resources and current information on its dedicated webpage https://www.iml.org/covid.     
  2. Information on other relevant resources – the national GFOA has a Resource Center for Coronavirus Response https://www.gfoa.org/gfoa-resource-center-coronavirus-response
  3. The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) provides a number of additional stakeholder resources that may be useful during this period on its website at https://www.gasb.org/COVID19, including an Emergency Toolbox. The toolbox is meant to provide a starting point for stakeholders to address accounting and financial reporting issues that may arise during this uncertain period. In addition, the GASB issued a document for public comment that would postpone the effective dates of provisions of certain pronouncements.

As previously noted, IGFOA continues to closely monitor and follow the advice and direction from the State of Illinois, CDC and Illinois Department of Public Health to help minimize the spread of COVID-19. The health, safety, and welfare of IGFOA members, coworkers, and community members remains our top priority.

At this time, the IGFOA is moving forward with the 2020 annual Conference this September in Springfield. However, IGFOA will continue to monitor and provide updates on the status and format of the conference.

Thank you for time and attention to this information. I want to especially thank the members of our IGFOA Executive Board, Committee Chairs, and volunteers who have worked during this time to assist the Association with moving us forward despite the uncertainty of these times, and especially, as always, Diane and Ruth. If you have any questions, concerns or ideas, please let us know. Stay well and safe and I look forward to seeing you all someday soon.

Thank you, Bill Hannah President, IGFOA