Mayor Nominates Heaton as Finance Director

Lincoln, NE (May 31, 2022) Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird today announced her nomination and intent to appoint Lyn Heaton of Lincoln as the next Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the City. The CFO serves as Director of the City Finance Department. Heaton is currently the CFO for the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) and has 15 years of experience in government budgeting and finance. If approved by the Lincoln City Council, he will start Monday, June 27. Heaton replaces Brandon Kauffman, who served as City Finance Director from 2016 until January 2020.

“When we sought to fill this important position on our leadership team, we said that person should be knowledgeable of governmental budgeting best practices and be progressive and solution oriented in the management of public sector finance and service delivery,” said Mayor Gaylor Baird. “Lyn Heaton’s experience and skills will position the City to maintain its excellent financial status and develop creative solutions to continue to provide critical services to the residents of our community.”

Before taking his position with NDOT in 2018, Heaton served as Deputy State Budget Administrator and a Budget Analyst in the Budget Division of the State Department of Administrative Services. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Wayne State College.

“I am truly honored to be given this opportunity to serve the people of the City of Lincoln and to join such a dedicated Finance Department team,” Heaton said. “I’m excited to contribute my experience and energy to the Mayor’s initiatives to emphasize data-driven decision-making for city government, as well as to continue the commitment to award-winning financial reporting and budgeting.”

“During the search process, Lyn articulated a working knowledge of how to incorporate the use of data-driven solutions to manage the intricate work of complicated service delivery,” Mayor Gaylor Baird said. “His key role in facilitating the first-of-its-kind financing of the South Beltway demonstrates the kind of innovative thinking we will need to meet the challenges facing municipal government in the future.”