Florida TaxWatch Announces Winners of the 2019 TaxWatch Productivity Awards Program
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida TaxWatch (FTW) today announced the winners of the 2019 TaxWatch Productivity Awards (TPA), which is celebrating 30 years of recognizing and rewarding the dedication and hard work of state employees who find ways to improve services, increase efficiencies and save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars each year. The awards program is presented by Kyra Solutions, Inc.
In accepting a TPA Agency Initiative honor for Hurricane Michael recovery efforts, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronisthanked judges and praised employees by stating, “On behalf of the Florida Department of Financial Services, I’d like to thank Florida TaxWatch for recognizing the tireless work of our employees who spent countless hours focused on helping Floridians recover from Hurricane Michael. We were able to have boots on the ground immediately and host insurance villages so local families could start rebuilding their lives a little sooner. It is truly an honor to serve the people of the greatest state in the nation.”
During the Tuesday, June 4 Cabinet meeting, CFO Patronis sponsored a Cabinet Resolutiondesignating July 2019 as “TaxWatch Productivity Awards Recognition Month,” in honor of the program’s 30thanniversary. Since its creation in 1989, TPA has received more than 16,000 nominations from highly dedicated state employees and workgroups who have produced more than $10 billion of added value to Florida’s taxpayers.
This year, the program received hundreds of nominations, and FTW is proud to unveil nearly 200 awards to approximately 550 employees and 17 large teams from 25 different agencies for their achievements and efforts.
Florida TaxWatch President and CEO Dominic M. Calabro shared,“We are thrilled to be celebrating 30 years of the TaxWatch Productivity Awards program, recognizing the incredible public servants who work together to build a better Florida ensuring that state government can direct taxpayers' hard-earned money to the vital services that make the Sunshine State a great place to live, work and raise a family. This program originated from the vision of the late J.E. Davis and A.D. Davis, co-founders of Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. and co-founders of Florida TaxWatch. We have managed to accomplish so much in the last three decades, and I wholeheartedly believe they would be proud.”
Originally known as the Davis Productivity Awards and most recently the Prudential Productivity Awards, the TPA is a nationally unique program. Florida TaxWatch is pleased to have the support of its title sponsor Kyra Solutions, Inc. and co-sponsor, the Florida Council of 100.
Kyra Solutions, Inc. President and CEO Piyush Patel, Florida TaxWatch Treasurersaid, “Kyra Solutions is proud to be the lead sponsor of the TaxWatch Productivity Awards recognizing state employees, who often go unrecognized, for their efforts in making our state more efficient and effective.”
Florida Council of 100 President and CEO Bob Ward, co-sponsor of the TaxWatch Productivity Awards stated, “This celebrates 30 years of focusing on the best and brightest public employees serving our state with dignity, honor, originality and personal sacrifice. These are the best examples of what public service should always be about. On this anniversary of our collective endeavor, the Council is grateful for our partnership with Florida Tax Watch, and all its leaders and world-class teams do for the State of Florida.”
The TPA winners will be honored on September 11 at the Turnbull Center on the campus of Florida State University, and in ceremonies in Central and South Florida later that month.
The full list of winners and more about the program can be found here.
About Florida TaxWatch
As an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit government watchdog & taxpayer research institute for forty years, the trusted eyes and ears of Florida taxpayers, Florida TaxWatch, works to improve the productivity and accountability of Florida government. Its research recommends productivity enhancements and explains the statewide impact of fiscal and economic policies and practices on citizens and businesses. Florida TaxWatch is supported by voluntary, tax-deductible donations and private grants, and does not accept government funding. Donations provide a solid, lasting foundation that has enabled Florida TaxWatch to bring about a more effective, responsive government that is more accountable to, and productive for, the citizens it serves since 1979. For more information, please visit www.floridataxwatch.org.