City of Peekskill Receives Certificate of Achievement

The City of Peekskill has received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for its comprehensive annual financial report. The award from the GFOA recognizes the City of Peekskill as going beyond the minimum requirements to prepare annual financial reports that evidence the spirit of transparency. In 2021, the City of Peekskill was one out of only twenty two municipalities in New York State to be awarded the Certificate of Achievement. This Certificate of Achievement was shared along with a report on the independent financial audit and an update on the 2021 budget at the July 12th Common Council meeting.

The GFOA established the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Program (COA) in 1945 to encourage and assist state and local governments to go beyond the minimum requirements of generally accepted accounting principles to prepare comprehensive annual financial reports that evidence the spirit of transparency and full disclosure, recognizing individual governments that succeed in achieving that goal. In order to be awarded a Certificate of Achievement, a governmental unit must publish an easily readable and efficiently organized comprehensive annual financial report that satisfies both generally acceptable accounting principles and applicable legal requirements.

“I would like to thank the staff of the Finance Department, especially our Deputy Comptroller Jessie Boyd, for their dedicated service in preparing this report which included the processing of records and analyzing the thousands of transactions,” said City of Peekskill Comptroller Matt Alexander. “This report would not have been possible without the assistance of all city departments as well as the support of the City Manager, Mayor, and City Council for their continued support in enhancing the financial integrity of the City of Peekskill.”

During the July 12th Common Council meeting, Chris Kopf from PKF O’Connor Davies presented the results of the annual audit process. As the city continues to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, the report of the city’s annual independent financial audit revealed substantial improvements in 2020 despite extraordinary loss of revenues. Thanks to swift decisive action from city management to adjust its budgeted expenditures downward and avert a financial disaster, the city was able to soften the blow on taxpayers and improve its fund balance. Over the last five years, the city’s unassigned fund balance has grown from $2.6M in 2016 to $5.5M at the end of 2020, illustrating sound financial management and an improved ability to pay for emergency repairs and other unanticipated losses.

“I would like to applaud our City Comptroller and our Finance Department for all their hard work,” said City of Peekskill Mayor Andre Rainey. “Although the pandemic has presented its difficulties, our great city has been able to avoid financial disaster by responding to these challenges with strong leadership and decision making.”

Also at the July 12th Common Council Meeting, City Comptroller Matt Alexander presented a 2021 budget update to the City Council that showed a recovery from the economic crisis brought forth by the pandemic. Although metered parking revenues is less than expected in 2021, building permit revenues have increased from $148,471 in 2019 to $486,951 in 2020, with a projected total revenue of $450,000 by the end of the 2021 year. In addition, plumbing permits, street opening permits, site planning fees, mortgage tax, and county sales tax are also performing well. On the expense side, garbage disposal fees are trending higher than in past years, but rate reductions for workers comp, smaller than expected increases in health insurance costs, as well as the continued vacancy of some positions, are benefiting the 2021 city budget.

For more information and to view the annual comprehensive financial report as well as the 2021 city budget, please visit the Finance Department website at https://www.cityofpeekskill.com/finance.

About the City of Peekskill: The City of Peekskill is a thriving, historic community located on the banks of the Hudson River. Just under one hour north of New York City, Peekskill is culturally and economically vibrant with abundant natural resources due to its location on the river and at the gateway to the Hudson Highlands. With over three miles of continuous parkland, the waterfront is a regional destination with a variety of active and passive recreation, as well as breathtaking views of the Hudson River. The downtown area features an array of dining establishments, a growing arts community, and is a hub for new generation technology and multimedia. For more information, please visit www.cityofpeekskill.com.