The State of Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts recently awarded its “Gold Leadership Circle” to the City for “setting the bar with financial transparency efforts.”

The State Comptroller of Public Accounts launched the Texas Comptroller Leadership Circle program to recognize local governments across Texas that are striving to meet a high standard for financial transparency online. The program spotlights local governments that are:

• opening their books to the public
• providing clear, consistent pictures of spending
• sharing information in a user-friendly format that lets taxpayers easily drill down for more information.

The program looks for those local governments that go beyond the basics of posting three recommended documents — the Budget, the Annual Financial Report (or Comprehensive Annual Financial Report) and the Check Register — in a user friendly manner.

The Comptroller’s office said, “Financial transparency is an ongoing goal for any government entity. We encourage and applaud local governments across Texas that are stepping up efforts to give taxpayers a transparent look at where their money goes.”

The City of Carrollton’s financial reports are easily accessible from a button on the home page at www.cityofcarrollton.com or through the City Services dropdown menus. The following financial documents are available for review to provide details and better understanding about how City funds are spent:

Budget
A budget serves as the financial plan for the City. It shows proposed spending and revenue in broad categories by department or by account type.  Starting for Fiscal Year 2011, the City of Carrollton has adopted a three-year budget cycle to enable long-term planning and strategic forecasting. Check Register
A check register is a listing of all payments incurred during a quarter by the City.  The check register includes payment date, payment amount, payee, type of expenditure, and business unit. Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR)
This report provides a quantitative look at the operating success, financial health, and compliance of the government report units. It includes a balance sheet, a statement of changes in financial position, a statement of revenues and expense, and a comparison of budgeted to actual expenses and revenues.  Unclaimed Funds
The City of Carrollton is holding various types of unclaimed property that is presumed abandoned and subject to Title VI Unclaimed Property Chapter 76 of the Texas Property Code Pursuant to Section 76.201.  The City of Carrollton is publishing the names of people or businesses that the City is holding unclaimed property.