FAIRHOPE, Ala. - The city’s financial reporting department and its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report have been recognized for the third year in a row by the Government Finance Officers Association for “excellence in financial reporting.”

“The city’s CAFR requires a large amount of additional data not required for an annual audited financial statement,” Rose Fogarty, finance director, stated in a city press release. “We produce this supplemental information to make the report easier for everyone to understand. Then we voluntarily submit the report to a panel of our peers for their review and scrutiny.”

In a letter to Mayor Tim Kant, Stephen J. Gauthier, GFOA director, noted the certificate 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,” according to the press release.

 “Rose and her staff work hard to prepare and present full and complete information on the city’s finances, and this certificate recognizes and honors that work,” Kant stated. “We should all be very proud of them.”

The CAFR for fiscal year 2009 was reviewed by an impartial panel and judged to meet the high standards of the program, according to material from the GFOA as stated in the release.

Fogarty, whose title recently changed from “financial reporting manager” to “finance director,” has a staff that includes Jill Cabaniss, assistant finance director, and Nancy Bell, accounts payable specialist. City Treasurer Nancy Wilson, and her assistant Belinda Job, also contributed to the CAFR, according to the news release.

“This certificate means a lot to us,” Fogarty stated. “We’re very proud of achieving this.”