Office of Finance
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Joe Szczechowski June 23, 2004 Public Information Specialist Phone: (302) 395-5163
E-mail: jszczechowski@co.new-castle.de.us
New Castle County was recently honored with the 2004 Award for Excellence in Government Finance in the Accounting, Auditing, and Financial Reporting Category from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA). New Castle County won the award for its innovative, trend setting multimedia CD-ROM project, “The Bottom Line.”
“The Bottom Line,” is a pilot project created to convey financial information to County residents in a unique and exciting way. The presentation supplements New Castle County 's 2002 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) by presenting both financial information as well as examples of how the County's financial condition affects the quality of life in New Castle County .
"Our investment in emerging technology to best serve our citizens has been a hallmark of our administration,” said County Executive Thomas P. Gordon. “This cutting edge approach by the Office of Finance helps maximize the return on that investment by expanding the amount of information available to residents about their government."
Users simply insert the CD into their PC to experience the twenty-five minute presentation, which features video, photographs, graphics, and narration. Sections can be repeated or accessed separately, and the CD also contains the entire 2002 Financial Report in PDF format, as well as Internet links to the New Castle County Web site.
“The idea behind this project was to show the connection between New Castle County 's strong financial condition, and the exceptional programs and services that it allows us to provide to our constituents,” said Chief Financial Officer Ronald A. Morris, who conceived the idea for the multimedia financial presentation.
The project group consisted of five New Castle County employees: Chief Financial Officer Morris, Accounting and Fiscal Manager Michael D. Finnigan , Accounting and Fiscal Manager Edward Milowicki , Accounting and Fiscal Officer Michael Mackiewicz , and Public Information Specialist Joseph D. Szczechowski. The group worked with consultants and designers at Newport-based multimedia production company TNT Video to bring the project to fruition.
“I want to personally congratulate New Castle County on a superb submission,” said GFOA Executive Director and CEO Jeffrey L. Esser . “This is GFOA's most prestigious award, recognizing contributions to the practice of government finance exemplifying outstanding financial management. The award is reserved for those programs or projects which stress practical, documented work that offers leadership to the profession and promotes improved public finance. ‘The Bottom Line' exemplifies the term ‘best business practice.'”
New Castle County believes it is the first government in the entire country that has created an interactive, multimedia CD-ROM to communicate information from its annual financial report to its citizens. In government, the key to public participation is a well-informed citizenry. “The Bottom Line” communicates not only financial information, but provides an overview of the functions, services, and programs of the government as a whole.
"This national recognition further illustrates New Castle County 's excellence in financial management,” said Chief Administrative Officer Sherry Freebery . “We're pleased to be recognized for pioneering creative new means of communication with our constituents."
Hard-copy publications are still considered the standard format for financial reports. While PDF and other electronic formats have been used to translate this information to the Internet, this has only changed the tool used to communicate the exact same message.
“The Bottom Line” reinvents the method of communication, as well as the message itself. Words like “enjoyable” and “exciting” have rarely been used by the general public to describe governmental financial reports, but “The Bottom Line” has garnered that exact reaction from our citizens. It is to the hard-copy publication what an IMAX motion picture is to a one-act play.
“As Director of Professional Development, I reviewed all of this year's submissions and was immediately impressed with New Castle County 's ‘Bottom Line,'” said GFOA's Joanne Howard. “It communicates accounting and financial information in a new and exciting way, and makes that information more accessible for your residents. In my experience, very few counties have been as innovative in finding unique ways to convey financial information to their residents. I believe ‘The Bottom Line' will be emulated in similar projects by governments throughout North America in the future.
“The Bottom Line” has been so well-received, a second edition, based on the 2003 CAFR has been created and will be available in a few weeks.
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For a copy of either “The Bottom Line” or “The Bottom Line 2003,” call 395-5163, or send an e-mail with your name and mailing address to: rmorris@co.new-castle.de.us
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