Chicago - The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) is pleased to announce that the City of Baytown, Texas has received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for its comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR).
The award represents a significant achievement by the City of Baytown. It reflects the commitment of the governing body and staff to meeting the highest principles of governmental accounting and reporting. To be eligible for a Certificate of Achievement a report, the City’s audit:
- Must be the published CAFR of a unit of government,
- Must include individual funds or departments of a government that meet certain criteria,
- Must include financial statements presented in conformity with GAAP,
- Must have been audited at least in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards,
- Must give clear and thorough view of the government’s finances,
- Should enhance the reader’s understanding of the information required by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles for fair presentation of the financial statements,
- Must be efficiently organized, and
- Must adhere to certain generally accepted terminology and formatting conventions.
When a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting is granted to an entity, an award of Financial Reporting Achievement is also presented to the individual or department designated as being primarily responsible for having achieved the Certificate. Rhonda L. Young, Director of Finance and the Finance Department Staff have taken on this responsibility for our City.
The Government Finance Officers Association is a nonprofit professional association serving 16,000 government finance professionals throughout North America. The GFOA’s Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Awards Program was established in 1945 to encourage all government units to prepare and publish an easily readable and understandable comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR) covering all funds and financial transactions of the government during a fiscal year.
The City of Baytown has received this prestigious award for 15 consecutive years.