Nelson hires new Finance Director

Bring on the budget.

The Apopka City Council voted 5-0 to ratify the contract of Jamie Roberson to be the next Finance Director at the Wednesday meeting. Roberson is currently the Chief Financial Officer for the Osceola County Property Appraiser's Office.

This completes Apopka Mayor Bryan Nelson's budget team with the previous hiring of Edward Bass as City Administrator. After ratifying Roberson's contract, Nelson announced that two budget meetings have been scheduled for July 5th at 1:30 PM, and July 11th at 7 PM and will be considered special City Council meetings, which means that public comments will be allowed.

Jamie Roberson

As the CFO, Roberson is responsible for the accounting, budget, payroll, and assists with the human resources functions within the office. Roberson has been CFO for the past 12 years.

Prior to joining the Property Appraiser’s office, she was a Senior Accountant for the Osceola County Board of County Commissioners. This position was a supervisory position that was responsible for Debt Administration, Operational Analysis, Cash Management and General Management functions within the Financial Services Department. She has been working in Osceola County Government for almost 16 years.

Roberson graduated from the University of South Florida, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the USF School of Accountancy. She is a Certified Government Finance Officer (CGFO) and has been a member of the local, state, and national chapters of the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) since 2002. She served as President of the Central Florida Local Chapter FGFOA for three years from 2011-2014, currently serving her second term as a Florida Government Finance Officers Association Board Member and this month will be the incoming Secretary/Treasurer for the Florida Government Finance Officers Association.

"I think we've got a really good hire here," said Nelson.

Commissioner Doug Bankson agreed.

"I'm really pleased... in looking at her resume' to bring Jamie on especially in light of my psalm on reserves. I know there's going to be a real understanding moving forward there... and moving forward as a city."