The finance director for the city of Marble Falls has accepted another position as he leaves the municipality with confidence about its financial health and foundation for growth.
Jeff Lazenby has worked for the city for nearly four years. He recently submitted his resignation to become the finance director for the city of Blacksburg, Virginia. His last day is Feb. 28.
“During my time here, the Finance Department has evolved into a wellrun operation. We have built a cohesive team with a mission-driven focus on customer service,” Lazenby told The Highlander. “I am truly thankful for the department’s hard work, dedication, and responsiveness to the changes that have been enacted in making the de- partment more efficient and effective.”
Lazenby explained that he’s most proud of his efforts in streamlining the budget process.
“When I started, it was still very much a manual process, and I was able to help implement a more automated system and process for our budget planning and using modern budget planning software. That has really streamlined that, so it’s helped reduce time spent on budget planning by at least 50% - 50% of the finance director’s time,” he
said.
Some of the biggest challenges the city has surmounted include keeping pace with growth.
“It was phenomenal. It doesn’t appear to be slowing down,” he said. “One aspect that I liked about working for the city is that it is able to approach growth from a strategic perspective, being proactive in terms of handling the growth versus being reactive. I really like that approach.”
Lazenby expressed confidence about the leadership which will steward the direction of the city.
“It’s headed on the right path in terms of managing the growth, being strategic about the growth,” he said. “It’s a great team. They’re really focused on running the city efficiently, effectively with the taxpayers in mind and being mindful of spending taxpayers’ dollars.”
“The city management have really exhibited and shown what it is to efficiently run an expanding municipality.
Lazenby says his decision turned out to be the right move at the right time.
“We have family,” he said. “We wanted to be closer to them.”
He views his experience as a positive one.
“It’s been great; a great team. Everything runs efficiently and smoothly,” he said. “The department directors, council, city management. They’ve all been a pleasure to work with.”
Lazenby has a master’s in public administration with an emphasis in public financial management.
Prior to coming to Marble Falls, he served as the finance director for the City of Blaine, Washington, population 5,500. His past experience includes a job ad administrative services manager for the Whatcom County Library District in Washington State for three years.
