City of Salem Receives National Award for Finance Report
The City of Salem has been awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) for the city’s comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR) for the year ending June 30, 2015.
The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of government accounting and financial reporting. Its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management. This marks the tenth year that the City has received the distinction.
“This is award is a credit to the hard work of our Finance Department, led by Finance Director Sarah Stanton,” said Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll. “It is also a reflection of the value we have placed on transparency and financial responsibility in government operations.”
In awarding this recognition, GFOA stated that Salem’s CAFR “has been 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 GFOA established the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Program in 1945 to encourage and assist state and local governments to go beyond the minimum requirements of generally accepted accounting principles to prepare comprehensive annual financial reports that evidence the spirit of transparency and full disclosure and then to recognize individual governments that succeed in achieving that goal. The goal of the program is to ensure that users of their financial statements have the information they need in order to assess the financial health of participating governments. Reports submitted to the CAFR program are reviewed by selected members of the GFOA professional staff and the GFOA Special Review Committee, which comprises individuals with expertise in public sector financial reporting and includes financial statement preparers, independent auditors, academics, and other finance professionals.
Salem’s CAFR is available online at http://www.salem.com/auditor-director-finance/pages/financial-statements.
###
About the GFOA
The GFOA is a major professional association servicing the needs of more than 18,000 appointed and elected local, state, and provincial-level government officials and other finance practitioners. It property top quality publications, training programs, services, and products designed to enhance the skills and performance of those responsible for government finance policy and management. The association is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with offices in Washington, D.C.