City Council

Agenda Request

Agenda Of:

12-5-06

Agenda Request No:

REC III

Initiated By:

jennifer brown

Responsible Department:

fiscal services

Presented By:

Mayor Pro-Tem Cyril Hosley

Department Head:

linda symank

Director of Fiscal Services

 

 

Additional Department. Head (s):

n/a

Subject / Proceeding:

recognition of “distinguished budget award” and “certificate of excellence in financial reporting” received from the government finance officers association

Exhibits:

n/a

Clearances

Approval

Legal:

n/a

Executive Director:

n/a

Purchasing:

n/a

Asst. City Manager:

david ellison

Budget:

n/a

City Manager:

Allen Bogard/for AB

Budget

Expenditure Required:  $

n/a

Amount Budgeted/Reallocation:  $

n/a

Additional Appropriation:  $

n/a

Recommended Action

Recognition of “Distinguished Budget Presentation Award” and “Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting” from the Government Finance Officers Association

Executive Summary

Sugar Land has received its tenth consecutive Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for the annual budget beginning Oct. 1, 2005.   The City has also received recognition for its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) from the GFOA, receiving the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the twenty-second consecutive year for the year ended September 30, 2005.  The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) is a national nonprofit professional association serving approximately 15,000 government finance professionals in the United States and Canada. 

 

To receive the distinguished budget award, budgets are evaluated by three reviewers and must be judged proficient in each of the four major categories and meet established criteria.

 

The four categories are:

o       Policy document -discussion of the long-term financial policies that are guiding the budget process

o       Financial plan -clearly describes funding sources and planned expenditures for the budget period

o       Operations guide -describes functions and services provided by the organization

o       Communications device -helps readers quickly understand major budgetary issues, trends, and resource choices

 

Budget reviewers are finance officials of similar state and local governments who are not in Texas.  This is the only national awards program in governmental budgeting; since the program was first established in 1984, participation has grown from 113 to 1,108 entities.

 

The Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting program is designed to recognize and encourage excellence in financial reporting by state and local governments.   It is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting.  Attaining this certificate represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.  The CAFR was 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 to read and use the CAFR.  Participation in the program reflects a significant proportion of larger local governments in the United States.  Over 69 percent of all cities and 46 percent of all counties with populations in excess of 50,000 participate in the program.  For the fiscal year ending in 2005, approximately 3,500 CAFRs were submitted for review through the program.

 

Exhibits

 

none