AGA Today

AGA Member Takes Lead in Creating Citizen-Centric Report for Los Lunas, NM

Knowing that most citizens are unlikely to wade through dense, overly complicated financial reports, one AGA member in the Village of Los Lunas, NM, created a four-page economic overview using a model developed by AGA. 

AGA believes the “citizen-centric” reports will make government budgets and performance more easy to understand and could therefore increase participation in government. In the case of Los Lunas, the village’s operating budget alone is 100 pages. 

Peter Fernández, financial services planner of Los Lunas, said a citizen-centric report fit with the village’s progressive philosophy, so he set forth pulling the financial information, which was readily available in most cases, and plugging the numbers into a template developed by AGA. He said the biggest challenge was not finding the information, but limiting it to four pages.

Fernández recently presented the report to the Los Lunas Council and mayor at the same meeting that the final budget was adopted. He received good reviews, and decided to add the report to the front of his budget document. It’s also available on the village website.

“From the administrator to the mayor and the council, it’s been very well received,” he said. “They focused on how informative it was and how easy it was to read and understand.”

He added, “I also learned that one of our council members used it during a presentation with one of the homeowners’ groups and received positive comments.”

The report includes fiscal year 2007 statistics on number of fire calls (314), traffic stops (5,222) and gallons per day of treated wastewater returned to the Rio Grande River (968,208). Pie charts outline revenues and expenditures, and the last page describes future challenges, such as traffic congestion on Main Street and retention of police officers.

Fernández said one of the accomplishments listed was hiring three certified and six uncertified police officers. While it might sound like a minor issue to someone unfamiliar with New Mexico, he said hiring is intensely competitive throughout the state, so it’s a notable public safety advancement.

Other AGA members have taken up their Association’s call to create Citizen-Centric Reports. Regional Vice President Cindy Cox, CGFM, a member of the Indianapolis Chapter, said she and her husband, Ron Cox, CGFM, the Senior Vice President of Section I, heard AGA Executive Director Relmond Van Daniker speak on the topic and got inspired. She said Van Daniker asked every chapter to help one local or state government develop a report. Cindy Cox thought: “We’ll give him more than one.”

Van Daniker has said that financial managers have a responsibility to leave the world better than when they found it. “If we do not do this, no one will. We are calling on all governments to be accountable to the citizens they serve.”

Summer interns in Cindy Cox’s Defense Finance and Accounting Service office volunteered on their own time to pull financial information off the websites of three government entities to develop prototypes. “It was cake. Everything they wanted was out there, and AGA has a template to follow, which was very easy.” The extra project was a favorite of the interns, she said.

AGA has an active group of DFAS professionals in the region—many of whom are in chapter leadership positions—and Cox said she is challenging the Cleveland, Columbus and Southern Wisconsin chapters to get on board. “We’re trying to have some fun with it.” From here, Ron Cox said he is working with governments to get the reports accepted and published.

So far, AGA has assisted Virginia Beach, VA; Portland, OR; the state of Oregon; Saco, ME; and Maricopa County, AZ, with pilot reports. In addition, the District of Columbia has completed a report using tools provided by AGA for guidance. Strong interest is coming from other governments, and AGA members are clearly ready to help. —by Christina Camara, AGA.