City Manager Todd Venning Monday announced the City of Newburgh has received North America’s most prestigious award for state and local government financial reporting: the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting awarded by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA). This is the first time in the City’s history that it has received this award.
“We are incredibly pleased the City of Newburgh has attained North America’s most prestigious award for state and local government accounting and financial reporting,” Venning said in a prepared written statement. “I promised city taxpayers complete financial transparency and accountability from their government, and this award confirms my administration is delivering on that promise. In partnership with the City Council, my administration will continue to undo decades of financial mismanagement and keep Newburgh on the pathway of progress.”
The Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting adds to a series of recent achievements and key assessments of the City’s fiscal health in recent months.
In August 2022, citing the City’s strong management team, Moody’s Investor Services upgraded the City of Newburgh’s credit rating to A3 from Baa2, and awarded the City its highest governance rating of “G1” - including its highest ratings for institutional structure, policy credibility and effectiveness, and budget management.
In October 2022, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli analyzed the City of Newburgh’s leading financial indicators including year-end fund balance, cash on hand, short-term borrowing, fixed costs, and patterns of operating deficits, and awarded the City a fiscal stress score of “0” – the best possible score – for the third consecutive year.
In December 2022, the City of Newburgh announced another major step forward in fiscal transparency and community-centered government with the launch of its web-based, mobile-friendly Digital Budget Book and Fiscal Transparency Center. The City of Newburgh’s Fiscal Transparency Center empowers citizens to see precisely how funds are generated and allocated, and better understand how the annual budget impacts the community programs and services they care about most.