The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) announced the winners of its 2011 Awards for Excellence in Government Finance. The GFOA’s most prestigious awards recognize contributions to the practice of government finance that exemplify outstanding financial management. The awards stress practical, documented work that offers leadership to the profession and promotes improved public finance.

This year’s Awards for Excellence-winning entries encompass such innovations in areas of capital financing and debt administration, economic development, and e-government and technology. The awards were presented at the GFOA’s annual conference in San Antonio, Texas, at the board meeting on Sunday, May 22, 2011.

Office of the Treasurer, Arlington County, Virginia

One System for All Taxes: Automated Tax Management in Arlington County

Arlington County, Virginia, has torn down the silos and put in place a single, integrated system to administer all county taxes. The Office of the Treasurer’s assessment and collection enterprise (ACE) system approaches tax collection in a new way, based on the core idea of the tax-paying entity, rather than separate systems and processes for each tax – the norm for local government. ACE replaced a dozen 25-year old mainframe, Access, and Excel-based systems with a single, integrated, off-the-shelf software program and a new cashiering system. ACE also connects with more than 50 other county systems, external customers, and service providers. The system has improved service to county residents and provided for more cost-effective, accurate, and efficient delivery of services.

Contact: Frank O’Leary, Treasurer, Office of the Treasurer, 2100 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 201, Arlington, VA 22201 (703-228-3255, foleary@arlingtonva.us)

The Community Development Commission of the County of Los Angeles

From Paper to the Web: Streamlining Grants Management in Los Angeles

Developed in response to increasing administrative costs and staff reductions, the Los Angeles Community Development Commission’s paperless grants management system allows unprecedented paperless efficiency in all aspects of managing the CDC’s community development block grants, federal stimulus grants, and local grants. The comprehensive, integrated Web-based system provides the CDC with real-time access to financial information on projects that use CDBG funds. It is also linked to the CDC’s financial system, which allows internal and external users to submit payment requests electronically and track project expenditures in real time. Not just another database, the GMS automatically tracks the work in different stages of grant management and notifies users of impending deadlines.

Contact: Yui Cheng, Director of Financial Management Division, 2 Coral Circle, Monterey Park, CA 91755 (323-890-7271, Yui.cheng@lacdc.org)

City of Rock Hill, South Carolina

Measuring Service Performance, Not Departments: Using Dashboards to Communicate Results

Taking the concept of dashboards a step further, the City of Rock Hill, South Carolina, decided to present a wide variety of measures in a number of categories, arranging them by service area rather than by department. This approach advances the practice of providing information to departments, elected officials, and the community in an easy to understand, straight-forward manner. The city now produces easy-to-read 30-page reports twice a year, complemented by an online performance dashboard that uses graphs, timelines, and narrative information to communicate a wealth of information about the city’s progress. Rock Hill now has an accountability system that truly increases the financial awareness of its organization and community, allowing the city to use performance management in a way that meaningfully affects its operational practices and holds the city responsible for outcomes.

Contact: Steven Gibson, Administrative Services Director, 155 Johnston St., Rock Hill, SC 29731 (803-329-5680, sgibson@cityofrockhill.com)

City of Beverly Hills, California

Innovating to Cut the Costs of Retirement Benefits: The City of Beverly Hills Alternative Retiree Medical Program

The City of Beverly Hills turned its rapidly escalating OPEB liability into a lower fixed cost through an innovative strategy, the Alternative Retiree Medical Program (ARMP). The city, which provided a relatively generous conventional retiree medical benefit, had substantial unfunded accrued liabilities. Through ARMP, the city bought out a number of vested incumbent employees (who volunteered for the program) and created a defined contribution OPEB benefit for new employees. ARMP allows eligible staff members to choose an alternative benefit in lieu of their current retiree medical benefits – an actuarially determined amount they can disburse to several tax-advantaged accounts or take as a cash lump sum. With 58 percent of employees accepting the exchange feature, cumulative cost reductions over 40 years totaled $260 million in unfunded liabilities.

Contact: John Shim, Management Analyst, 455 N. Rexford Drive, 3rd Floor, Beverly Hills, CA 90210 (310-285-2441, jshim@beverlyhills.org)

For more information about the GFOA’s Awards for Excellence in Government Finance and other municipal recipients, please visit www.gfoa.org, e-mail AwardsforExcellence@gfoa.org, or call 312-977-9700.

The Government Finance Officers Association is the major professional association serving the needs of appointed and elected local and state-level government officials and other finance practitioners. It provides top-quality publications, training programs, services, and products designed to enhance the skills and performance of those responsible for government finance policy and management. The association, which has 17,500 members, is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with offices in Washington, D.C.