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6.4. SR 12-17-2012 of REQUEST FOR ACTION rik 4.,: River TO ITEM NUMBER Mayor and City Council 6.4 AGENDA SECTION MEETING DATE PREPARED BY Awards/Recognitions December 17, 2012 _ Tim Simon, Finance Director ITEM DESCRIPTION REVIEWED By Acceptance of the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Cal Portner,City Administrator Financial Reporting for the 23rd Consecutive Year REVIEWED BY ACTION REQUESTED Acceptance of the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION The City of Elk River has once again received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the 2011 fiscal year. The Certificate of Achievement is a prestigious national award recognizing performance with the highest standards for preparation of state and local government financial reports. The city continues to implement Governmental Accounting Standards Statement's early in the financial statements. The City of Elk River has received the Certificate of Achievement for 23 consecutive years. ATTACHMENTS • News Release • Award of Financial Reporting Achievement Action Motion by Second by Vote Follow Up P O W E R E D H i N:\Public Bodies\City Council\Council RCA\Agenda Packet\12-17-2012\certificateofexcelleance2011fs.docx NATURE Government Finance Officers Association 203 N.LaSalle Street-Suite 2700 Chicago, IL 60601 Phone(312)977-9700 Fax(312)977-4806 11/29/2012 NEWS RELEASE For Information contact Stephen Gauthier (312)977-9700 (Chicago)--The Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting has been awarded to City of Elk River by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada(GFOA)for its comprehensive annual financial report(CAFR). The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management. An Award of Financial Reporting Achievement has been awarded to the individual(s), department or agency designated by the government as primarily responsible for preparing the award-winning CAFR. This has been presented to: Finance Department,City of Elk River The 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 is a nonprofit professional association serving approximately 17,500 government finance professionals with offices in Chicago,IL, and Washington,D.C. GDGovernment Finance Officers Association 203 N.LaSalle Street-Suite 2700 Chicago, IL 60601 Phone(312)977-9700 Fax(312)977-4806 November 29,2012 Tim Simon Finance Director City of Elk River 13065 Orono Parkway Elk River MN55330 Dear Mr. Simon: We are pleased to notify you that your comprehensive annual financial report(CAFR)for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, qualifies for a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management Each entity submitting a report to the Certificate of Achievement review process is provided with a "Summary of Grading" form and a confidential list of comments and suggestions for possible improvements in its financial reporting techniques. Your list has been enclosed. You are strongly encouraged to implement the recommended improvements into the next report and submit it to the program. If it is unclear what must be done to implement a comment or if there appears to be a discrepancy between the comment and the information in the CAFR, please contact the Technical Services Center (312) 977-9700 and ask to speak with a Certificate of Achievement Program in-house reviewer. Certificate of Achievement program policy requires that written responses to the comments and suggestions for improvement accompany the next fiscal year's submission. Your written responses should provide detail about how you choose to address each item that is contained within this report. These responses will be provided to those Special Review Committee members participating in the review. When a Certificate of Achievement is awarded to a government, an Award of Financial Reporting Achievement (AFRA) is also presented to the individual(s) or department designated by the government as primarily responsible for its having earned the Certificate. Enclosed is an AFRA for: Finance Department,City of Elk River Your Certificate of Achievement plaque will be shipped to you under separate cover in about eight weeks. We hope that you will arrange for a formal presentation of the Certificate and Award of Financial Reporting Achievement, and that appropriate publicity will be given to this notable achievement A sample news release has been enclosed. We suggest that you provide copies of it to local newspapers,radio stations and television stations. In addition,details of recent recipients of the Certificate of Achievement and other information about Certificate Program results are available in the"Awards Program" area of our website,www.gfoa.org A current holder of a Certificate of Achievement may include a reproduction of the award in its immediately subsequent CAFR. A camera ready copy of your Certificate is enclosed for that purpose. If you reproduce your Certificate in your next report, please refer to the enclosed instructions. A Certificate of Achievement is valid for a period of one year. To continue to participate in the Certificate of Achievement Program it will be necessary for you to submit your next CAFR to our review process. In order to expedite your submission we have enclosed a Certificate of Achievement Program application form to facilitate a timely submission of your next report. This form should be completed and sent (postmarked) with three copies of your report,three copies of your application,three copies of your written responses to the program's comments and suggestions for improvement from the prior year, and any other pertinent material with the appropriate fee by June 30, 2013. Your continued interest in and support of the Certificate of Achievement Program is most appreciated. If we may be of any further assistance, please contact Delores Smith(dsmith @gfoa.org or(312) 578-5454). Sincerely, Government Finance Officers Association Stephen J. Gauthier,Director Technical Services Center SJG/ds •