Sammamish Deputy Finance Director Chris Gianini is buried in neatly stacked documents orderly spaced on her desk.

Her current project involves digging through research so when the Klahanie annexation takes place, the city of Sammamish can start collecting the estimated $6.5 million in annual revenues. Of that, Sammamish expects to see $1.4 million in excess after subtracting the costs for services.

“It’s a fascinating project,” she said thumbing through an 89-page handbook the Municipal Research and Services Center prepared for annexing within the state.

Gianini will use this document, as well as the 65-page report the city prepared, in correlation with state laws to be sure the city notifies all parties to send tax revenues, like sales tax, fuel tax or liquor excise tax, to the city instead of the county.

Finance Director Joe Guinasso jokes that Gianini does all the work in the office.

“She is very key and instrumental to everything that goes on here,” Guinasso said. “She knows the city’s finances, I would say, better than anyone in the city. She’s a master of research.”

He recently recognized her during a May 5 council meeting for earning the Professional Finance Officer award in 2014, for the 23rd time in a row.

The Washington Finance Officers Association, a nonprofit that promotes excellence in governmental finance throughout the state, presents the award to those who qualify. To be eligible for the recognition, finance officers must show ongoing commitment to professional development, communication for the public benefit and ongoing education.

“To me, it’s more like I’m doing something I’d have to do anyway,” she said.

She said a lot of the work she has done to earn the recognition she would have to do anyway, to maintain her certified public accountant license.

Some of the qualifications she’s met include leading financial discussions outside of the Sammamish financial team and serving on the Puget Sound Finance Officers Association board of directors.

Gianini, 66, has been working for Sammamish since 2008. Before that, she held two positions in city of Redmond’s finance department.

While working in Redmond, she completed her bachelor’s from City University in Seattle when she was 40, after raising her two children, now grown, with her husband. They’ve lived in unincorporated King County, just south of Issaquah, since 1976. She’s been married for 47 years.

Her job is mostly detailed administrative work with a lot of Excel spreadsheets and numbers.

But she’s fascinated by the work being done in the other departments.

“I’m really interested in how this money is spent,” she said. “What does it mean for Sammamish?”

Over the years, she’s gone on many tours, where other department leaders explain how and where they’ll construct improvements, like turning the swamp-like path of 224th Avenue into a functional road.

She said it’s nice to get out, because even her eyes will glaze over when analyzing the numbers.