July 17, 2000


FOR RELEASE: IMMEDIATELY


For the twelfth consecutive year, the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) has awarded its Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to the State of South Carolina. The award was based on South Carolina's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1999. The Comptroller General's Office prepares the CAFR.

The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of national recognition in the area of governmental financial reporting. The program's purpose is to encourage governments to produce financial reports that demonstrate a "spirit of full disclosure" and communicate clearly to interested parties such as taxpayers, investors, and creditors. The GFOA awards a Certificate only after an impartial panel determines that the government's CAFR meets the program's rigorous technical standards. The requirements include an audit of the general purpose financial statements. The State Auditor's Office and an independent certified public accounting firm performed the audit, which resulted in an unqualified opinion--the best possible result of the audit process.

Comptroller General James A. Lander received the GFOA's Award of Financial Reporting Achievement for being the person primarily responsible for the State's receipt of the Certificate of Achievement.