City Issues FY20 CAFR and PAFR Financial Reports

January 8, 2021

The Portsmouth community can now access the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) and the Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR) for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) on the City of Portsmouth website. The City of Portsmouth prepares the CAFR and PAFR following the close of each fiscal year under the guidance of Director of Finance and Administration Judie Belanger.

The CAFR is the City’s official, audited “full financial disclosure” reporting on the financial health of the City. The PAFR, based on the CAFR, offers the community an engaging and easy-to-understand summary report to help citizens better understand the City’s audited financial statements.

In presenting the CAFR and the PAFR to the public, Director Belanger noted, “The Finance Department works continuously to offer a transparent view into the City’s financial position. We hope the citizens of Portsmouth utilize the PAFR as a document to help explain the more complex aspects of the financial statements.”

For the past several years, the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) has awarded the City its highest recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting for the CAFR, and more recently for the PAFR document, calling both a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.

Click here to read and/or download the CAFR.  
Click here to read and/or download
the PAFR.These online versions of both the PAFR and CAFR are interactive and include easy-to-navigate bookmarks, a clickable table of contents and links to applicable external resources.

The Finance Department has included a “How To” document (click here) to help the public navigate the PAFR document’s unique interactive features.

Hard copies of the CAFR are available for review at the City Clerk’s Office at Portsmouth City Hall, and to borrow from the Portsmouth Public Library. The City Finance Department has a limited number of the print version of the PAFR available on request.