Port Honored for Excellence in Financial Reporting

SAN DIEGO, CA, USA - For the third consecutive year, the Government Finance Officers Association for the United States and Canada (GFOA) awarded the Port of San Diego with the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for their Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.

A GFOA representative presented the award to the Board of Port Commissioners on July 11, 2017.

This award is considered one of the most highly regarded recognitions in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and represents a major achievement for the Port. It honors comprehensive annual financial reports that, according to the GFOA’s website, exhibit the “spirit of transparency” and full disclosure.

“The fact that we have received this award for three consecutive years shows the Port’s dedication to having an open and honest relationship with the public,” said Port Chairman Robert “Dukie” Valderrama. “We as an organization embody the ‘spirit of transparency’ that the Government Finance Officers Association strives to promote.”

“The Port strives to find ways of facilitating communication and maintaining an open and honest relationship with the people and organizations it serves,” said Chief Executive Officer Randa Coniglio. “This award recognizes those efforts and is a key indicator that we are taking the right steps.”

The Port’s CAFR was reviewed by a nonpartisan panel comprised of individuals with expertise in public sector financial reporting that included financial statement preparers, independent auditors, academics and other finance professionals.

In addition, the GFOA presented an Award of Financial Reporting Achievement (AFRA) to the Financial Services Department for their excellent work in putting together the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. This award is given to the department that played an integral role in leading their government organization to achieve the Certificate of Achievement. Financial Services Director Jeanette Sales accepted the award on behalf of the department.

“The Financial Services Department is very deserving of this award,” said Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Robert DeAngelis. “I’m so proud of all the time and effort the department staff put into creating such a thorough and effective report, and that they did so completely in-house.”

The GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving approximately 17,500 government finance professionals.

The GFOA established the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Program in 1945 to encourage state and local governments to go beyond the minimum requirements of generally accepted accounting principles to prepare comprehensive annual financial reports that evidence the spirit of transparency and full disclosure and then to recognize individual governments that succeed in achieving that goal.