For the 19^th year in a row, the City of Washington’s Finance Department is a recipient of the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for its comprehensive annual financial report on fiscal year 2013.

The award is bestowed by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada. The city earned its first certificate in 1996 when Carol Williams was the city’s chief financial officer. Matt Rauschenbach, the city’s current chief financial officer, continues the streak. Williams and Rauschenbach have credited the city’s finance staff for doing most of the work that has led to 19 consecutive awards.

Rauschenbach, who also serves as the city’s administrative services director, and Anita Radcliffe, the city’s assistant finance director, each hold active local government officer certifications in North Carolina.

“The program does not make a determination on the financial health of the government, but rather ensures that users of the financial statements have adequate information needed to make that determination for themselves,” according to Radcliffe.

“This award exemplifies the qualified and skilled efforts of the entire Finance Department team and is only possible because of their dedication and expertise,” she noted.

The city’s comprehensive annual financial report is judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the certificate 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 report, according to the Government Finance Officers Association.

In order to be awarded a certificate, a government must publish an easily readable and efficiently organized comprehensive annual financial report.

The certificate program was initiated in 1945 to encourage and assist local and state governments to go beyond the minimum accepted accounting principles to prepare comprehensive annual financial reports that evidence the spirit of transparency and full disclosure and recognized governments that succeed in meeting that goal.

This year, 86 (about 15.6 percent) of the 552 municipalities in North Carolina and 55 of the state’s 100 counties received certificates.