When she became finance director for Fort Walton Beach, Florida, in 2023, Nicole Nabors had her work cut out for her.
The city known for its white sand beaches had a finance department in disarray, City Manager Jason Davis said. One of Nabors’ predecessors had been sentenced to prison for stealing from the city; the next one was arrested for a DUI. “It was, for lack of a better term, a dumpster fire,” she said.
In that mess, Nabors said she saw an opportunity to turn things around for the city that’s been her home for more than 20 years.“I live here. My husband's from here,” she said. “I want to see the city grow and see great things happen for the city.”
Building a cohesive team
Nabors worked as a financial analyst for Fort Walton Beach for two years starting in 2014. She followed that with stints as an auditor at accounting firm Carr, Riggs & Ingram, where she earned certified public accountant and community association manager licenses, and as chief financial officer for Okaloosa County Water & Sewer. She opened her own accounting firm in 2023 and was hired on contract to become the city’s finance director.
Reinstating trust — both internal and external — in the department was her top priority, she said. To do that, she started with her team, asking them, “What are your challenges? What are you not liking about the job? What can I do to help you?”
“Everybody was leaving, so it was really my job to get in there and be like, ‘OK, how can I make this team cohesive? How can I get in there and make everybody want to work for everybody and stay and get this done?’” Nabors said.
That focus on the employees worked. The 15-person department has retained 100% of its workforce for two of her three years, she said.
“I really just love how my team cares,” Nabors said. “No matter what’s going on, they will be here, whether it’s 10 at night, 7 in the morning, they’re going to be here, and I’m hoping that maybe I’m a part of that. Maybe it’s because I’m a good leader, but I feel like I trust in them, and they trust in me.”
One of those workers is Jared Taylor, who has worked as a grants analyst for the city for more than six years. “With all the chaos that happened before, we haven’t really had any guidance, per se,” Taylor said. Now, “there’s an actual plan in place. It’s good to be able to follow somebody who has direction and transparency.”
He also touted Nabors’ commitment to getting workers the resources they need to learn and do their jobs better. For instance, she sent him for training in Nashville on how to appropriately distribute American Rescue Plan Act grants. Nabors is pushing two other employees to finish their accounting degrees and is “always looking for continuing education [opportunities for her team] so we can stay within best practices to have good succession planning,” Davis said.
Nabors “expects us to know our job, and if we don't know our job, she expects us to come to her so we can get the proper training that we need to get it done,” Taylor said. “She motivates you to better yourself.”
Restoring trust
Nabors’ efforts have also gone a long way toward restoring the department’s reputation, Taylor said. She’s worked with third-party auditors to verify the city’s spending and with representatives from Okaloosa County, which encompasses Fort Walton Beach, on grant funding. By taking a customer-first approach, she has elevated transparency among the city, its residents and vendors.
Nabors also undertook a plan to modernize the department, replacing decades-old computer systems with today’s technology. The city is three months into deploying CentralSquare’s Finance Enterprise platform, which unifies finance, HR and payroll into one system. The result will be streamlined processes and greater transparency, she said.
Transparency is “priority one,” City Manager Jason Davis said. “We have a special interest group here that is convinced that the city is out to borrow, steal anything they possibly can from the taxpayers … so the second that thing’s live, it’s a win for everybody.”
“Very challenging” budgeting conditions
Currently, the city is navigating what Davis calls a “very challenging” budget process. In a November 2024 referendum, voters approved a cap on annual increases to personnel costs across city funds and to operating expenses in the city’s General Fund. It requires the city to limit increases to either 3% or the Consumer Price Index — whichever is less.
In addition, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has proposed cutting property taxes, which are a significant funding source for Fort Walton Beach’s General Fund. Although the measure has not been put to vote, the possibility has made Nabors cautious.
“All the state revenues have been going down a lot, so just trying to navigate balancing the budget is really my No. 1 goal,” she said. “That’s our biggest challenge this year. We’re trying not to raise the millage for citizens and [to keep] that balanced budget without pulling [from] reserves because we have a lot of projects going on.”
Davis said Nabors has built “a good little family environment” by supporting the various city departments through the budgeting process. “While the parks guys are really good at doing parks things and the IT guys are good at computering, they struggle with the budget,” he said. “She coaches them every step of the way.”
Serving the community
To Nabors, being a good city worker is also about being a good city resident. Through her eponymous accounting firm, which she still runs, she volunteers for a variety of local organizations. She has been the treasurer of the Emerald Coast Foundation, a nonprofit that supports children’s charities and organizations in Okaloosa County. She also has volunteered with the Arc of the Emerald Coast, visiting the homes of children with special needs.
That jibes with Nabors’ approach to work, Davis said. “We’re servants by nature,” he said. “Seeing the line-level staff watch her do her volunteerism, I think it sparks a good [inspiration for] the community to give back.”
As Nabors put it, “I’m trying to do the best that I possibly can every day.”
