Here's a brief overview of the Raleigh Finance Department, formatted in HTML:

Raleigh Finance Department

The City of Raleigh's Finance Department is responsible for managing the city's financial resources, ensuring fiscal stability, and promoting transparency in financial operations. It plays a crucial role in supporting the city's overall strategic goals and objectives.

Key Responsibilities

• Budgeting: The department develops and manages the city's annual budget, aligning resource allocation with strategic priorities. This involves forecasting revenues, estimating expenditures, and working with other city departments to prioritize funding needs. The budget process is typically a collaborative effort, involving public input and City Council approval.
• Accounting and Financial Reporting: The department maintains accurate and comprehensive accounting records, adhering to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). It prepares financial reports, including the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), which provides a detailed overview of the city's financial position and performance. These reports are essential for transparency and accountability.
• Treasury Management: The department manages the city's cash flow and investments, ensuring that funds are available when needed and that investments are managed prudently to maximize returns while minimizing risk. They also handle debt management, ensuring compliance with debt covenants and seeking favorable financing terms.
• Purchasing and Procurement: The department oversees the city's purchasing and procurement activities, ensuring fair and competitive bidding processes and compliance with procurement regulations. They strive to obtain the best value for the city's expenditures while promoting ethical and responsible purchasing practices.
• Revenue Collection: The department is responsible for collecting various revenues, including property taxes, sales taxes, and other fees. They work to ensure accurate and efficient revenue collection processes.

Key Objectives

The Raleigh Finance Department aims to:

• Maintain a structurally balanced budget that supports the city's strategic priorities.
• Ensure sound financial management practices and internal controls.
• Promote transparency and accountability in financial operations.
• Provide timely and accurate financial information to decision-makers.
• Maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of financial processes.

Importance to the City

The Finance Department is vital to the smooth and efficient operation of the City of Raleigh. Its work impacts all city services and programs. By ensuring sound financial management, the department enables the city to provide essential services to its residents, invest in infrastructure improvements, and promote economic development.

The department is committed to providing excellent customer service to both internal stakeholders (city departments) and external stakeholders (residents, businesses, and other organizations). They actively seek to improve processes and leverage technology to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.