CAFR Report for Maryland

The CAFR is for a municipality in the state of Maryland. A comprehensive financial
report (CAFR) is the documentation of a state or municipality’s financial statement. The report
needs to be presented according to the Government Accounting Standards Board. CAFR gives
detailed information on financial statements and accounts for the information present in the
entity. The largest municipality in the city of Maryland is Baltimore. Baltimore is an independent
city with a population of 620,961 individuals. The information in the CAFR is used by different
groups as required by the state of law, which is published four months before the closure of a specific
financial year (City of Baltimore, 2018). The needs of the users of the CAFR are both internal
and external, and there is a variation in their requirements. The variation depends on the nature
of the information that the user is seeking in the CAFR. The users of the CAFR include the
citizens of the municipality who are also the taxpayers, equity investors, and creditors. The
taxpayer seeks information in the CAFR to see how the government is spending its taxes. The
creditors want to see the viability of the municipality as they are the ones who led the
management money for investment.
A review of Maryland’s CARF for the years ended 2016 shows the availability of three
main sections. There is the introductory section, the fiscal section, and the statistical section.
There are subsections within each of the main sections. In the introductory section, there is the
letter of transmittal. The letter provides the reads with an overview of the management
representation of the city of Maryland’s finances. The information includes the city
organizational chart and the list of all the leaders that were elected (City of Baltimore, 2018).
The financial section is the largest, and it has the report from the independent auditor. The audit
firm responsible for the report is SB & Company LLC. Also, in the financial section, there is the

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management discussion and analysis. The document’s subsection readers have a much better
understanding of the information presented in the report (Association of Government Accounts,
2018). The section provides a breakdown of the report and makes it easy for the users to
understand. There is a statement of the city’s net position for the specific fiscal year in the
government-wide financial section.
Form the report, the total net position for the municipality for the year ended 2016 was
$827,372. The amount is higher than that of 2015, which was $777,730. The amount is just of
the business activities. Other amounts in the report of the fiscal position of the municipality
include that of the business activities. The amounts are $2,965,022 and $2,673,096 for the year
ended 2016 and 2015 respectively. The same report provides a total of the two main activities.
For 2016 and 2015, the amounts were $3,792,394 and $3,450,826, respectively (City of
Baltimore, 2018). Equally, there is an analysis of the changes in the net position. The analysis
includes information from the revenue generated in the respective financial years and the
expenses incurred for the state. From the expenses, it is evident that the state is spending more
money on safety and regulation. The 2016 and 2016 financial years are $744,940 and $692,155,
respectively (City of Baltimore, 2018). The CAFR provides an analysis of the sources of revenue
for the state. Some of Maryland’s sources include property tax, income tax, capital grants, and
operating grants. The highest source of revenue is from property tax, followed by income tax.
The least source of revenue in the state is from capital grants. Property tax and income tax
constitute 41% and 16%, respectively. The capital grants constitute only 1% of the revenue.
The proprietary fund for the state consists of the enterprise fund and funds from the
internal service. The service includes the voluntary payment of goods and services that are used
for accounting purposes. The enterprise funds are a section of the business-type activities and

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government financial documents. They include amounts for water, sewers, utility bills, and the
facilitation of parking in the state. The fiduciary funds of the states are prepared under the entire
accrual basis to keep a record of the resources that are outside the government. The highest
expenditure by the state is on wastewater management. The amount is $193,563 for the 2016
financial year. The charges for the wastewater services are $229,300 for the same fiscal year.
The least expensive for the states is towards the nonmajor proprietary. The amount for the
nonmajor proprietary is $12,148 for the 2016 financial years, and the charges for the services
sum up to $37,505 in the same fiscal year (City of Baltimore, 2018). Another key financial
statement in the CAFR of the state is on budgetary allocation. The statement provides detailed
information on how the state’s government allocates and plans for the revenue generated within a
specific financial year.
The budgetary allocation document provides information on the amount in the original
budget, the amount in the final budget, and the amount used in reality. The highest allocation of
the budget is towards the general government. The expense amounts are $358,667, $340,693,
and $305,297 in the original, final, and actual budget, respectively. The least allocation of the
budget is towards social services. The amount allocated to social services is $3,108, $3,108, and
$2,107 in the original, final, and actual budget. Of key importance is the information on debt
administration in the states. The debt administration information is vital, and it provides an
overview of the state’s financial performance within a specific financial year. In 2016 and 2015,
the states’ general bonded debt was $455,909 and $505,649, respectively (City of Baltimore,
2018). From the information, it is evident that there is a decrease in the amount of debt in the
state from 2015 to 2016. Thus, it is clear that the states are performing well in the reduction of

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the debt amount. More so, in the CAFR, there is a section for the unaudited financial documents.
The main purpose of the section is to provide an overview of the state’s financial health.
The financial health is from the revenue generated, the property taxes, and financial
trends, which is the most significant. Also, there is a part of the debt capacity that shows the
various stakeholders the states’ capacity to payout its debt both at the moment and in the future
(Association of Government Accounts, 2018). There is information on the demographic and
economic perspectives in the unaudited section. The information assists the users in having a
much better understanding of the financial activities that the states engage in. Thus, they can
gauge the viability of the revenue generated and the amounts in the various financial documents.

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References

Association of Government Accounts (2018). Resources. Citizen-Centric Reporting (CCR).
Retrieved February 9, 2018 from:
https://www.agacgfm.org/Resources/Performance-Accountability/CCR.aspx
Association of Government Accounts (2018). Resources. Completed Citizen-Centric Report.
Government CCRs. Retrieved February 11, 2018 from:
https://www.agacgfm.org/getattachment/Resources/Performance-
Accountability/CCR/Completed-CCRs/Government-entity-
CCRs/BaltimoreCityCCR2015.pdf.aspx
City of Baltimore (2018). Baltimore City Department of Finance. Documents and Reports.
Baltimore City Annual Financial Reports/Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports
(CAFR). Retrieved February 11, 2018 from:
https://finance.baltimorecity.gov/sites/default/files/finance_baltimorecity_gov/attachments/BC-
CAFR%202016%20072317_0.pdf