Administration
Christine J. Riffey, Finance Director
Jennifer Latzer, Assistant Finance Director
James Meyer, Accounting Manager
Kimberly Greene, Deputy Tax Collector
Jennifer Conrad, Accounts Payable
Cheryl Wilkinson, Utility Billing Coordinator
Donna Smith, Billing Technician
West Goshen Township Financial Transparency
Click on this link to open West Goshen’s Citizen Transparency site and then click on the button for “Launch Tyler Citizen Transparency.” This site, updated weekly, provides easy access to West Goshen Township’s expenditure, revenue and budget information for the current fiscal year, as well as a historical view of previous years. This interactive website can be used to search details of municipal expenses and revenues by category, department, fund, government area and vendor. The financial data within this site covers every level of governmental finances, from total activity by fiscal year to individual vendor payments.
Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports
The Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports are available in PDF format. Please note that the documents are large and may take some time to open.
Purpose
What does the Finance Department do?
West Goshen Township’s Finance Department oversees all of the Township’s financial transactions under the supervision of the Board of Supervisors and the Township Manager. The six-member Department concentrates the majority of its efforts in the areas of utility billing, accounts payable and receivable, employee benefits administration, and most importantly, budgeting. Billing personnel invoice and collect payment for refuse collection and wastewater treatment service from residents and commercial entities four times per year. They also serve as the initial contact for service-related disputes. Accounts payable and receivable personnel contribute to the smooth daily operation of the Township through timely payment and collection of amounts owed to vendors and due from various individuals and organizations. In addition to processing payroll, employee benefits personnel focus efforts on cost-effective and equitable insurance plan design, and the administration of those plans to eligible employees.
Budgeting
The most important function of the Finance Department lies in forecasting revenues and expenditures through budgeting. Finance Department professionals use historical data, trend analysis, and general economic indicators to project revenues and expenses for the coming year and beyond. In addition, every department within the Township submits a detailed plan of activities for its area. For example, in the Roads Department, the plan may include road-resurfacing projects, and in the Recreation Department, it may include Township-sponsored bus trips to various events. The plans are refined through discussions with the Board of Supervisors, the Township Manager, and the Finance Director, and the resulting final budget is adopted by the Board at a public meeting. The budget document is a central component of the government process. Therefore, the budget is constantly monitored and analyzed throughout the year by department supervisors, the Township Manager, and the Board of Supervisors. West Goshen Township has been a past recipient of the prestigious Distinguished Budget Presentation Award, which recognizes excellence in budget documentation. Awards are conferred by the Government Finance Officers Association, an international professional association of finance officers.
GASB34
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement 34 established a whole new financial reporting framework for state and local governments. The result is the biggest change in the history of public sector accounting and financial reporting. It is intended to improve financial reporting by adding significant additional information not previously available in local government financial statements.
In the past, financial reporting focused on fund types (e.g., special revenue funds, capital projects funds) and short-term annual goals. Under the new financial reporting model, these fund-based statements are complemented by a set of government-wide financial statements that for the first time present the government as a single, unified entity, while providing additional long-term focus for governmental activities. The government-wide financial statements will include a Statement of Net Assets that provides the total net equity of the Township including infrastructure and a Statement of Activities that shows the cost of providing government services. These new statements combined with other information will be further analyzed in a new narrative section called Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A).
General fixed assets and long-term debt will no longer be shown as account groups, but appear as assets and liabilities in the government-wide financial statements. One of the changes brought about by GASB 34 is its requirement to capitalize and depreciate most capital assets. The Finance Department is currently in the process of identifying and classifying the Township’s assets and infrastructure to comply with GASB 34. Infrastructure includes streets, drainage, sewage systems, traffic signals, and so forth.
Although GASB 34 financial statements are longer and more complex, the goals are to improve financial reports, to enhance awareness of fiscal issues facing state and local governments, and to recognize the importance of adequately maintained infrastructures.
