Join us for a JaxStrong Family Reunion

from The Voice - July 2021

Antilles cuts ribbon on new facility

Corps Day 2021: It' s a family reunion!

We are coming together with anticipation after a year of pandemic - Corps Day is back! Join us as we gather for a JaxStrong family reunion at the Jacksonville Fairgrounds on Friday, August 6.

Employees should arrive by 8:30 a.m., and the celebration kicks off a 9 a.m. with an awards ceremony.

Video live streaming of the ceremony is available for those who are not planning to attend Corps Day in person. Stay tuned for streaming information.

A number of activities are underway for the reunion, including adult and kids games, a silent auction, car show, bake sale, and more!

No ticket required for lunch - which will be on your own. A wide variety of food trucks will be onsite to serve lunch and are sure to please even the pickiest palates. Vegan options available. After all, what is a family reunion without a lot of food? For more information about Corps Day or to volunteer for one of the many activities, please see your division ' s Corps Day Committee member or activity coordinator.

Committee Members:

Construction – Eric Ardnt / Jason Summerbell Contracting – Katie Marrette Engineering – Rosemarie Pinto G&A Offices – Tanasha Walker Office of Council – David Hart Logistics – Christian Erb Operations – Candida Bronson / Sabrina Lee Planning – Kevin Wittmann / Evan Jonson PPMD – Jan Detwiler Real Estate – Martrice Hunter Regulatory – Muriel Blaisdell Resource Management – BJ Fagan Safety – Eduardo Garcia

Activity Coordinators:

Adult and Kid Games – Kevin Wittmann and Evan Jonson Silent Auction – Jennifer Tyler and Matt Filer Photo Booth – Martrice Hunter Car Show – Kevin Wittmann Bake Sale – Muriel Blaisdell

A history lesson on fiscal-year-end close-out

Story by BJ Fagan

Fiscal year-end is like the 4th of July. It comes faithfully every year, not in July of course, but on September 30. And, like the 4th there is a lot of preparation and hard work from everyone in the district to pull off a spectacular closing.

However, as a little history lesson, fiscal year-end wasn ’t always on September 30. The first fiscal year (FY) for the U.S. Government was based on the calendar year and started January 1, 1789. Congress changed the beginning of the fiscal year from January 1 to July 1 in 1842 and finally to October 1 in 1977 where it remains today.

SAJ’ s workload has continued to increase over the past several years. Increased workload creates an increased number of financial transactions (commitments/obligation documents, travel orders/vouchers, funding documents, etc.), creating a financial data footprint within the Corps of Engineers Financial Management System (CEFMS).

CEFMS goes through a series of transaction reviews during the close-out process, and based on the quality of the data, the review process can take several hours to complete. Any glitch in data quality will stop the review, and close-out can ’t begin until the error is corrected.

There are multi-overlapping actions and tasks taking place in the 4th Quarter, all of which are critical to the success of year-end:

(a) Obligation of Funds. From July thru September, the focus is on awarding contracts and obligating funds.

Contract awards establish the workload for current and future program execution. Program Management, Contracting, and other key players have been meeting weekly to ensure that scheduled awards remain on track.

Traditionally, the final push is in September to complete all actions, and in FY20, 34% of the $721.1M in total obligations took place in the last 30 days of the FY. To date, $338.8M has been obligated across all funding sources.

(b) Program Execution. The FY21 disbursement projection is $1.1 billion. USACE considers disbursements our “Sources of Workload and Inhouse Revenue ” because they represent the payroll cost for our people and payments to our contractors for goods received and services rendered. Our workload and in-house revenue is projected five years out, and the program managers are currently putting together the numbers for FYs 22-26.

(c) Development of FY22 Operating Budget. At the same time the district is closing out the current FY, efforts are underway to establish next year ’ s operating budget.

The operating budget is approximately $53M and consists of indirect labor, training, awards, building rent, national costs, and other costs not directly related to a project.

Office budget discussions are taking place now to finalize the FY22 operating costs in preparation for the July 12 Program Budget Advisory Committee (PBAC) brief to the Commander and Corporate Board. The budget process does not end until Regional discussions take place and the MSC Commander blesses the budgets.

Operating budgets are required to be CEFMS approved before the close-out process begins.

In years past, the Resource Management Office was a flurry of activity on September 30. Employees stayed in the office sometimes long after midnight, ordering in pizza while waiting for higher headquarters approval to go home.

When the books were finally closed, and we grant permission to leave, everyone would high-five, congratulate each other on another successful year-end, and head home tired but with a tremendous feeling of accomplishment.

We know now that close-out can occur virtually because we ’ ve done it, and the feeling is not the same anymore!

There are no pizza parties, no high-fives, and no rush of adrenalin when you get the proverbial blue star that lets you know close-out is complete.

Technology has changed our processes, and one day a human won ’t be needed to push the “ magic start button ” .

The system will automatically know when it’ s time and when the blue star appears on the screen, there won ’t be anyone watching to acknowledge and say, “job well done ” .

I wish there could be fireworks; I wish we still had pizza parties, and most of all I wish I could feel that esprit de corps and enthusiasm again with my team all in the same room.

William Arthur Ward says that “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. ” So, I have to embrace technology and adjust to my sails, and just maybe on September 30, I will have my lone pizza party in front of the TV at home.