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Hagerstown Awarded “Highest Honor” in Financial Reporting
9/16/2011
For the fifteenth consecutive year, the City of Hagerstown was awarded the “highest form of recognition in the area of government accounting and financial reporting.”
The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) gave the City the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting on September 7th, 2011 in response to the comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR) prepared by the City’s Finance Department.
“We are honored to receive this recognition,” said Michelle Burker, Director of Finance for the City of Hagerstown. “We take accountability and responsibility very seriously and want the citizens of Hagerstown to know that transparency in the handling of the City’s finances is very important to us.”
In order to receive the Certificate of Achievement, a government entity must publish an easily readable and efficiently organized annual comprehensive report. Generally accepted accounting principles and applicable legal requirements must also be satisfied within the report to receive the award.
The GFOA notes that attainment of this award represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management. A release prepared by GFOA goes on to say, “The CAFR (is) judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program including demonstrating a constructive ‘spirit of full disclosure’ to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the CAFR.”
The City of Hagerstown’s CAFR for fiscal year 2010 can be found on the City of Hagerstown’s website and includes three sections: Introductory, Financial and Statistical. http://www.hagerstownmd.org/Finance/cafr.asp
The GFOA is a non-profit professional association serving approximately 17,500 government finance professionals with offices in Chicago, IL and Washington, D.C.
For more information on the GFOA contact Stephen Gauthier at (312) 977-9700.
