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3/6/2025 <br />Clarissa Hadler <br />Finance Director <br />City of Lake Elmo, Minnesota <br />Dear Clarissa: <br /> <br />We are pleased to notify you that your December 31, 2023 fiscal year end annual comprehensive financial <br />report has been awarded GFOA's Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. <br />However, our review noted one or more serious deficiencies, which required that the Certificate be issued <br />on a qualified basis. While these deficiencies do not disqualify your report from receiving the Certificate, <br />failure to correct them in your next submission will almost certainly preclude award of the Certificate. If <br />you have any questions, or do not understand precisely what changes are required, we strongly suggest <br />that you contact us promptly in order to have sufficient time to correct the identified deficiencies for your <br />next submission, keeping in mind that additional work by your staff and/or contractors (including <br />possibly actuaries and auditors) may be necessary to do so. <br />The GFOA established the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Program <br />(Certificate Program) in 1945 to encourage and assist state and local governments to go beyond the <br />minimum requirements of generally accepted accounting principles to prepare annual comprehensive <br />financial reports that evidence the spirit of transparency and full disclosure and then to recognize <br />individual governments that succeed in achieving that goal. The Certificate of Achievement is the highest <br />form of recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting. Congratulations on having <br />satisfied the high program standards. <br />Your electronic award packet contains the following: <br />A "Summary of Grading" form and a confidential list of comments and suggestions for <br />possible improvements. These documents note the specific deficiency or deficiencies that caused <br />the award qualification. We strongly encourage you to implement the recommended <br />improvements in your next report. Certificate of Achievement Program policy requires that <br />written responses to this year’s comments and suggestions for improvement be included when <br />submitting your next report. If a comment is unclear or there appears to be a discrepancy, please <br />contact the Technical Services Center at (312) 977-9700 and ask to speak with a Certificate of <br />Achievement Program in-house reviewer. <br />Certificate of Achievement. A Certificate of Achievement is valid for a period of one year. A <br />current holder of a Certificate of Achievement may reproduce the Certificate in its immediately <br />subsequent annual comprehensive financial report. Please refer to the instructions for reproducing <br />your Certificate in your next report. <br />Award of Financial Reporting Achievement. When GFOA awards a government the Certificate <br />of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting, we also present an Award of Financial