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![handle is hein.gao/gaobacuqc0001 and id is 1 raw text is:
REMARKS OF ELMER B. STAATS
COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES
AT THE
73RD ANNUAL jw
MUNICIPAL FINANCE OFFICERS CONFERENCE
IN DETROIT, MICHIGAN
O V JNE 4,ENMN9 ACCOUNTING]
L~OBJECTIVES OF GOVERNMENTAL ACUTNG
lIIIII 11111111lilii
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure
to be here with you today to discuss governmental accounting--
a subject that is much on my mind these days as I am sure it
is on yours.
There has perhaps never been a time in our history in
which so many people have been concerned about how our various
levels of Government keep their books, do their financial
reporting, and set their budget priorities. These concerns
have been spawned by a number of events that I am sure you
are all familiar with. The crisis in New York City's financial
situation in recent years has been directly related to the
accounting and budgeting practices it followed. When the
District of Columbia wanted to borrow its own money--instead
of borrowing from the U.S. Treasury as it had historically
done--we in the General Accounting Office (GAO) and a major
accounting firm agreed that its accounting system was so
poor that the city's financial statements could not be
audited. A major redesign of that system is now in progress.
There have been problems in other cities as well. Problems
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