LEXINGTON — After close to four decades of service, Barb Hodges, the City of Lexington’s Finance Director, Treasurer and Utilities Manager has retired, a public reception was held at the Grand Generation Center on Thursday, Aug. 31.
Hodges has had 38 years of service with the City of Lexington and started as a data entry operator and would go on to learn the duties of all the desks in the business office.
In 1992, Hodges left employment with the city to further her education but would return in 1995 with additional responsibilities and several title changes.
By 1997, Hodges was appointed Interim Finance Director. She furthered her education even more when she graduated from the University of Nebraska – Kearney with her bachelor’s degree in business and finance in 1999.
In April 2000, Hodges was appointed as City Treasurer and took over the Lexington Utilities Business Office.
Hodges has been a member of the Government Finance Officers Association for many years and served on the Municipal Accounting and Finance Committee of the League of Nebraska Municipalities for five years and was a conference presenter several times.
Members of Hodges staff said she has seen many changes over the years, especially in the area of technology going from backing up data on disks, now uploading information to “the cloud.”
City Manager Joe Pepplitsch thanked Hodges on his behalf and the city for her years of service.
Pepplitsch said he learned several of Hodges’ characteristics over the years, “She is intelligent, reliable, organized, detail oriented, ethical, confident and always dedicated.”
He said it will be a shock to the system after Hodges is gone, noting her years of experience. “She has been a part of the city family for a long time and she will be missed,” Pepplitsch said.
“I am happy for her as she moves onto her next venture and I wish her all the best,” Pepplitsch concluded.
Hodges then took the podium, recounting her early years with the city and noted that technology really started to take off in the 1990s and remembered when the city got their first personal computer.
“How we did things really started to change,” she said.
Hodges recalled when the first city budget was put on her desk, realizing that this was her responsibility.
“It was summer, the budget was due in September and I was freaking out,” she said, “Somehow I got it figured out and we got it done.”
Hodges quipped that might be one of the reasons the budget was never her favorite thing to tackle.
Going through the years, Hodges remembered the anxiety that came from the new millennium rolled around. Commonly recalled Y2K, it referred to potential computer errors related to formatting and storage of calendar data for years in and after the year 2000.
A lack of clarity regarding the potential dangers of the bug led some to stock up on food, water, and firearms, purchase backup generators, and withdraw large sums of money in anticipation of a computer-induced apocalypse.
For Hodges part, she said she Jan. 1, 2000, in her office either waiting for a full computer crash or the software engineers to figure out the issues. Thankfully, no computer meltdown occurred.
Hodges joked that she was appointed City Treasurer in the hallway when Pepplitsch turned to her one day and informed her of the promotion.
She didn’t have long to enjoy it before state tax auditors arrived at her door. “Talk about trial by fire, those people mean business,” said Hodges.
The city is audited by every federal, state and even some grant agencies they work with, Hodges noted.
But Hodges said she didn’t mind the audits and enjoyed digging into the numbers.
Hodges also recalled the COVID-19 pandemic, spelling out “C-O-V-I-D,” as though it was a curse.
“We didn’t skip a beat, we were closed for a time to the public, but we were at work every day. We had bills to pay and work to do, of course we had utility bills to get out…some people were not happy about that,” Hodges said, ending with the quip.
Hodges said she learned that there is a reason why everything happens the way it happens in a municipality.
“If you have ever been driving down the street and saw something the city has done and wondered, ‘why the hell did they do that for,’ let me tell you, there is a reason,” Hodges said, cracking a smile at the end.
Hodges concluded by thanking everyone who has helped her during her years with the city, her team members, City Manager Joe Pepplitsch and her family.
Hodges then looked over toward her husband, Mike, “You heard me complain year after year about that damn budget,” which prompted a wave of laughter from the crowd.
After her speech, Hodges was leaving the podium when one of her grandchildren sprinted across the room and embraced her in a bear hug.
Hodges returned the hug and said aloud, “This is the best part, right here.”
