From May 2008 ICGFM Conference, Habibulah

1. Advancing Government
Accountability and
Transparency Through
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Citizen Centric Reporting
May 20, 2008

2. Background
• AGA is committed to fulfilling a public
interest obligation to advance government
accountability.
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• 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.
• AGA commissions National Survey.

3. AGA/ Harris Interactive® Survey
Public Attitudes Toward Government
Accountability and Transparency 2008
• Government at all levels is failing to meet the
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needs of its citizens with regard to financial
management reporting.
• The public at large overwhelmingly believes
government has the obligation to provide reporting
that explains how the government generates and
spends its money; however, government is not
meeting expectations in any area included in this
survey.
Complete Survey Results at
http://www.agacgfm.org/harrispoll2008.aspx

4. AGA/ Harris Interactive® Survey
Public Attitudes Toward Government
Accountability and Transparency 2008
• Across all levels of government, those surveyed
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held being “open and honest in spending practices”
and being “responsible to the public for its
spending” vitally important but felt that
government performance was poor in this area.
• Respondents are specific in the ways in which
government can address their needs and improve
accountability, including better reporting (open
disclosure, easy-to-read reports), a change in
attitude in communications (honesty and
transparency) and better information in the right
channels (websites, through the press).

5. AGA/ Harris Interactive® Survey
Public Attitudes Toward Government
Accountability and Transparency 2008
• There is an overall agreement on the importance
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for federal, state and local governments’ financial
management information to be available to the
public.
• Only 5% believe that having this information
available to them is not important, regardless of
level of government.

6. AGA/ Harris Interactive® Survey
Public Attitudes Toward Government
Accountability and Transparency 2008
• However, among those who do receive
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information about governments’ generation and
spending of money, there is a strong dissatisfaction
with the information that they receive.
• The strongest dissatisfaction is with the
information about the Federal government’s
financial management (Federal, 61%; State, 47%;
Local, 38%).

7. AGA/ Harris Interactive® Survey
Public Attitudes Toward Government
Accountability and Transparency 2008
• A large majority of Americans (89%) believe that
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as taxpayers, they are entitled to transparent
financial management information.
• 57% take the strongest position possible that
government has an obligation to provide reports
that explain how the government generates and
spends money.

8. AGA Citizen-Centric Reporting
AGA believes that government financial
information should be provided in forms
that are:
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• Clear and Understandable
• Updated Regularly and Often
• Delivered to All and Easy to Locate
• Honest in Breadth and Technically
Accurate in Detail

9. AGA Citizen-Centric Reporting
• AGA believes that its citizen friendly
four-page report template can contribute
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to a solution
• League of Women Voters Support
• Sloan Foundation Grant Support

10. Constructing A Report Doesn’t take a
Super Human Effort!
Resources Available:
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• Content Guidelines
• Design Guidelines
• Media and Communications Templates
• Completed Reports – Don’t Reinvent
the Wheel!

11. AGA Citizen-Centric Report
Content Guidelines
• Page 1
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o Strategic Objectives - What we’re required to do
o Demographic information
• Page 2
o Notable Accomplishments - top services
o Performance metrics (non-financial) for services
• Page 3
o Revenues and Expenses - pie charts
• Page 4
o What’s Next? Future Challenges?
o Infrastructure items

12. AGA Citizen-Centric Report
Design Guidelines
• Visual Appeal & Readability
• Use of Pictures and Pie Charts
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• 10-point Font or Higher
• Ample White Space
• Free of Technical Accounting Jargon – Keep it Simple
• Professional Designer or Publishing Software

13. Page 1 Example:
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What are we
required to do?
How the
government is
setup
Population,
Per capita
income, # of
gov’t workers

14. Page 2 Example:
Ask what
performance
metrics do you
want to see
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included?
Report on 3 - 4
key services
(non-financial
Go to website outcomes) -
for more Compare to
information previous years

15. Page 3 Example:
Costs/Revenues
for servicing
citizens
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Use Pie Charts
- compare to
previous years
Complete
financial Include similar
information statement – re:
can be found audit
on website

16. Page 4 Example: Report on 3 - 4
major challenges
facing community
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Include similar
statement -
feedback
Include
contact name

17. Distribute Your Report
• Print in local newspaper
• Post to website
• Print bulk copies – libraries, grocery stores, city hall
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• Hold a press conference
• Mailing lists
• Governor’s office, city/county offices
• Activist Groups, League of Women Voters

18. Completed Reports
• AGA
• Maricopa County, Arizona
• City of Portland, Oregon
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• State of Oregon
• State of Nevada
• City of Saco, Maine
• Washington D.C.
• City of Tallahassee, Florida
• Blount County, Tennessee
• Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities
Council

19. Completed Reports
• Village of Los Lunas, New Mexico
• TN Comptroller of the Treasury
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• Office of Management Services, Comptroller
of the Treasury, State of Tennessee
• Saint Louis County, Minnesota
• City of Virginia Beach, Virginia (draft)
• Columbus Metropolitan Library (draft)
• City of Carmel, Indiana (draft)
• City of Lawrence, Indiana (draft)
• State of Indiana (draft)

20. Others in the Works
• U.S. Coast Guard
• U.S. Department of Defense
• Denali Commission
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• City of Phoenix, Arizona
• Albany, New York
• State of Arizona
• State of Nevada
• City of Schenectady, New York
• Strong Interest from Many Others
• Your Government Here!

21. AGA Citizen-Centric Reporting
• AGA believes that these reports will make
governments more accountable to their citizens,
and will help Americans become better educated
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and better able to participate in government
activities.
“This initiative is about honestly reporting back to our
citizens and saying, „This is what‟s been done well, and
this is where we‟re going to need to improve in the
years to come.‟ This state learned long ago that you
can‟t move forward without its citizens weighing in, and
we hope this report is a big step in making that process
easier.”—John J. Radford, CGFM, CIA, CFE, State
Controller, State of Oregon

22. Please let us know what you think
about citizen centric reporting!
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Contact Susan Fritzlen at
sfritzlen@agacgfm.org and/or
1.800.242.7211.
www.agacgfm.org