POST FALLS — The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) has awarded the Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting to the City of Post Falls and the city’s finance department.
This is the 23rd consecutive year that Post Falls has received this honor.
No other town in Kootenai County has done this, although Kootenai County has also been recognized for excellence in reporting, said Jason Faulkner, CFO and Treasurer for the Town of Post Falls.
The award is the highest form of recognition in the field of government accounting and financial reporting, according to a city press release on Tuesday.
Post Falls also received the GFOA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reports. The LCP is a “condensed and user-friendly guide to the City’s financial statements. It is presented to the general public and to interested people who do not have a background in public finance.
Visit https://bit.ly/3Lmr4p7 to access PDFs of the city’s budget documents, full annual financial report, and popular annual financial report to citizens.
The budget analysis and audit process is “intensive to generate,” Faulkner said, in an email Wednesday.
An independent auditor reviews the city’s financial statements for: government activities, business-type activities, each major fund, financial activities of the Post Falls Urban Renewal District, information on remaining funds, and all related financial notes , Faulkner said.
The auditor assesses the “risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error,” Faulkner said.
“This includes assessing the appropriateness of the accounting policies used,” Faulkner said. “And the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by management.”
In addition, the general presentation of the documents is evaluated.
Faulkner and his staff undertake the important task of completing the declarations for submission and checking off a 49-page checklist of items required by the GFOA.
Current bondholders review and rely on audited statements, Faulkner said. Documents are also assessed when the city issues additional debt. For example, when the city received a loan from the Department of Environmental Quality for the upgrading of the sewage treatment plant.
The award was established in 1945 to encourage state and local governments to “go beyond the minimum requirements of generally accepted accounting principles,” according to the GFOA website.
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