For the 20th consecutive year, Hampton Township School District received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting.
The Government Finance Officers Association, which represents officials throughout the United States and Canada, established the award in 1945.
Only about seven to 10 schools districts in Pennsylvania that choose to participate because of the exceptional amount of work that is involved.
“Every year the report is due on Dec. 31. So if it’s not complete or if it needs anything, then I’m usually working over the holidays,” said Jeff Kline, Hampton’s director of administrative services/transportation.
He and Tammi Kinzel, manager of accounting, were acknowledged for the efforts by Superintendent Michael Loughead.
Another reason why school districts choose to avoid the program is the potential for scrutiny, according to Kline.
“It’s put out there for everyone to see. It gets reviewed by peers and other industry experts,” he said.
One of the primary differences between the report that Hampton submits versus other districts’ basic reports is the trending and projecting included in the Hampton report.
“We show like 10-year trends, and we go into great detail projecting and forecasting for the future,” said Kline.
Hampton school board member Greg Stein praised Kline’s work on the reports,
“Mr. Kline is humble about it but auditors tell them all the time that they’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.
The Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting was instituted to encourage local governments and reporting agencies to “go beyond the minimum requirements of the generally accepted accounting principles to prepare annual comprehensive financial reports that evidence the spirit of transparency and full disclosure.”
The district also received good news regarding the belated adoption of Pennsylvania’s 2023-24 budget, which was signed by Gov. Shapiro on Aug. 3, more than a month after the deadline for school district budgets.
Subsidies for basic and special education will net Hampton $146,766 more than what the district budgeted.
