After eight years of service for the city, Westminster's Finance Director and Treasurer Gary Ehlers recently announced that he will be retiring effective Sept. 1.

Ehlers has been responsible for the development of the City’s budget for the past five years, resulting in Certificates of Recognition from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for Distinguished Budget Presentation in 2011 and 2012 according to a news release.

“Gary has significantly improved the City’s financial position over the past three years, particularly within the areas of cash management, collections, accounting, forecasting, and performance measurement. His expertise in these and other disciplines will be missed,” Mayor Kevin Utz said in a statement.

Ehlers was instrumental in the development and implementation of the City’s water and sewer rate structure model, in partnership with the Municipal & Financial Services Group. He established the City’s Technology Services organization and was instrumental in standardizing and integrating the computing environment to include broadband networks, disaster recovery facilities, virtualization of the server environment, and the implementation of a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system according to a news release.

In addition to his service as Finance Director and Treasurer, Ehlers has served in a variety of capacities during his tenure with the City, including: Rehabilitation Coordinator for the redevelopment of distressed properties on Union Street; Manager of the Housing and Community Development organization; Executive Director of the Public Housing Agency; and, Director of Administrative Services.

Information in this article was taken from a news release.