City of Lemoore earns top finance award for its effort on financial plan

But did you know that the award for the best municipal financial report is the CAFR (Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting)?

While not quite as up to par nor as public as an NFL or NBA championship trophy, the CAFR means a lot to the myriad of finance officers and auditors who year in and year out struggle to “communicate” a city’s financial health. And in the case of a CAFR, an ability to create a “readable” document that the public can understand.

2016 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report

That’s just what the City of Lemoore did last year with its annual Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. And in honor of its effort, the City of Lemoore announced on July 17 that its report was awarded a “CAFR” by the Government Finance Officers’ Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA).

“Our CAFR is one of the best,” said a proud Heather Corder, Lemoore’s financial officer. What it states is that “you’re doing a great job in presenting this to the citizens of Lemoore who can easily understand and read it. It’s basically an audit with bulked up information,” she added.

She said that every good agency needs to do an annual audit, which Lemoore does. She said Lemoore’s 2016 financial report was a comprehensive effort that features the city’s history – at least ten years – rendering the often-wordy report more readable.

“You can see the changes in the city,” she said. “It’s exciting. We really worked hard on it.”

An impartial panel judges the CAFR in order to determine if it meets the high standards of the program, including the ability to communicate its financial story in the “spirit of full disclosure.” Recognition of this represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.

The City of Lemoore’s award winning CAFR can be found on the City’s website, www.lemoore.com.