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Citizen Centric Reporting
Janet Woolum Managing for Results Analyst
Maricopa County, Arizona Drummond
Kahn, MS, CGFM, CIA, CGAP Director of Audit
Services City of Portland, Oregon Susan
Fritzlen Deputy Executive Director of Programs,
AGA September 25, 2007
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Background

• Citizens have a right to an understanding of how
  governments are spending their money and if it is
  being efficient and effective.
• Current reporting is too cumbersome for the
  average citizen.
• How can AGA contribute to a solution? It is our
  responsibility as financial managers!

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Background

• Four Page Citizen Focused Report
• Taskforce members develop Content Guidelines and
  draft prototype report
• League of Women Voters Support
• Sloan Foundation Grant Support

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Content Guidelines What
to Include

• Page 1
• Strategic Objectives - What were required to
  do
• Demographic information
• Page 2
• Notable Accomplishments - top services
• Performance metrics (non-financial) for services
• Page 3
• Revenues and Expenses - pie charts
• Page 4
• Whats Next? Future Challenges?
• Infrastructure items

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• Completed Reports
• AGA
• Maricopa County, Arizona
• City of Portland, Oregon
• State of Oregon
• City of Saco, Maine
• Washington D.C.
• Village of Los Lunas, New Mexico
• Office of Management Services, Comptroller
  of the Treasury, State of
  Tennessee
• City of Virginia Beach, Virginia

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• Others Getting Started
• U.S. Coast Guard
• Denali Commission
• City of Phoenix, Arizona
• Albany, New York
• Columbus Metropolitan Library
• State of Nevada
• City of Bellevue, Washington
• Strong Interest from Many Others
• Your Government Here!

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On the plane back from Nashville, I read AGA's
Citizen-Centric report.  I was impressed and
enjoyed reading it.  It was the quickest and
easiest to read and most informative and
comprehensive presentation of AGA that I have
ever seen. Harold I. Steinberg, CGFM, CPA AGA
Member for 33 Years
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One thought that occurred to me is that the gold
standard for accountability reporting ought to be
citizen-centric.  If you are doing anything else
that is great but report to your citizens at a
base level and give them the path to more info if
that is what you have and they want. The great
thing about a citizen-centric report is you can
just about publish July 1 because you dont have
to do a superhuman effort to put a report
together and wait for auditors. Thomas J.
Sadowski, CGFM, CPA AGA Past National President
and Past National Treasurer AGA Member for 31
Years
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Constructing A Report Doesnt take a Super Human
Effort!

• Resources Available
• Content Guidelines
• Design Guidelines
• Media and Communications Templates
• Completed Reports

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Maricopa County and City of Portland, Oregon
Case Studies

• Who Decides to Produce the Report?
• Who Helps Gather the Information?
• How Do You Decide What to Include?
• Where Do You Find the Information?
• How Long Does It Take to Compile the Info?
• Who Has the Final Approval of the Report?
• Once it is Done, How Do You Get it Into the
  Hands of Your Citizens?

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Where We Go From Here

• Looking for Pilots
• Design and Production Assistance
• Contact AGA to Participate
• Grass Roots and Public Relations Push
• League of Women Voters
• AGA Chapter Challenge
• Greater Media Attention

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Please let us know what you think about this
initiative! Contact Susan Fritzlen at
sfritzlen_at_agacgfm.org and/or 1.800.242.7211.
www.agacgfm.org