Borough accountants nab award

PALMER -- Although it operates with a budget of nearly $170 million, there's little chance the Mat-Su Borough will be among one of the Arthur Andersens of the accounting world anytime soon -- the borough finance department recently secured its 17th award for excellence in financial reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association.

The history of excellence precedes current Finance Director, Tammy Clayton, but she has certainly done her share to uphold the tradition during her 11 years in the

position.

Borough Manager John Duffy, who commended the accounting staff at last week's borough assembly meeting, said the award speaks to high-quality work done by a group of employees not often recognized.

"I think 17 years in a row -- that's no mean feat," Duffy said. "These people come in day in and day out -- you don't hear a lot about the people in that department unless something goes wrong, and then you hear a lot."

He added that the report is one criteria used by the International Cities and Counties Management Association to judge how well a governmental body is performing financially.

"Getting that award is an indication that you're doing good in that area," Duffy said.

The award is based on the borough's 2001 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, a report that summarizes the financial position as of the end of the fiscal year.

"This covers all our financial transactions for the fiscal year," Clayton said. It reviews the collection of fees, such as those brought in from the landfill, as well as the collection of taxes, capital projects expenditures and other financial transactions and compares those numbers to what was budgeted.

Each year, after the fiscal year-end document is completed, it is sent to the GFOA for review. The association reviews similar documents for municipalities and school districts across the nation. The certificate of achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting awarded by the GFOA.

"Had we had a material mistake at all, we would not have received it," Clayton said.

The borough finance office is now hard at work completing the fiscal year 2002 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, and is working on implementing the federal changes to governmental accounting, known in the accounting world as GASB 34. The new accounting method is an attempt to make governmental accounting similar to business accounting, in which assets are considered as part of the net worth or debt of the body. It's a big change for her department, Clayton said.

"Previously, since we didn't have any enterprise funds, we didn't have any assets," Clayton said. Enterprise funds, she said, are funds related to a business-type venture. In Anchorage, for example, the fund for Municipal Light and Power could be considered an enterprise fund.

The new requirements mean every building and road owned by the borough will be listed as assets, as will the depreciation of those items. Clayton said her department has been working closely with the borough's public works department to compile a list and value of all the borough's assets.

"I would say that report's probably 95 percent complete," Clayton said.

Although changes in accounting practices have been instituted throughout her career, Clayton said the award for excellence shows that the borough's financial department remains on solid ground through those and other changes.

"We have continued to follow the high standards and practices through different administrations," Clayton said. "The goal has continued to be upheld and not diminished and … one reason for this is so the assembly can have confidence in what we are reporting to the public."