Each year the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of the United States and Canada present a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to those governmental units whose annual financial reports are judged and adhere to program standards. In order to be awarded the Certificate of Achievement, a governmental unit must publish an easily readable and efficiently organized comprehensive Annual Financial Report, whose contents conform to program standards. Such reports should satisfy Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and applicable legal requirements. A Certificate of Achievement is valid for a period of one year only. The GFOA Award represents the highest honor in governmental financial reporting.

The City of Sanford has been the recipient of this award for CAFR consecutively each year since 1981 and for the Budget consecutively each year since 1986.

Additional information on the Government Finance Officers Program can be found at www.gfoa.org.