For Release, July 17, 2006

PARISH ACKNOWLEDGED FOR ACCOUNTING EXCELLENCE 

            St. Tammany Parish Government received an unqualified opinion, or “clean,” audit from the accounting firm of LaPorte, Sehrt, Romig and Hand, according to the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report presented this week to Parish President Kevin Davis and the Parish Council by the Finance Department. 

            The 236-page document contains an overview of St. Tammany Parish Government from an organizational chart to a historical record of Parish Government expenditures.  

            The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, of CAFR, is again being submitted to the Government Finance Officers Association for an Excellence in Financial Reporting Award – a recognition given the parish for the past two years. 

            “We’ve worked very hard in recent years towards maintaining clean audits,” Davis said. “My administration made a commitment to run St. Tammany in a responsible, business-like manner, and we focused on updating and increasing the resources of our Finance Department as an investment in good government.  Especially since Hurricane Katrina, the process of accounting and managing funds has been particularly challenging, and I’m very proud of our Finance Department staff and Director Leslie Long for this tremendous accomplishment.”