WASHINGTON, DC - Anthony Pompa, the Deputy Chief Financial Officer and the Controller in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, today announced a delay in the issuance of the District's 1999 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). The CAFR is the city's audited financial report for a given fiscal year. The CAFR for FY'99 is the first one issued under the District's new System of Accounting and Financial Reporting (SOAR). Additional time is needed to fully implement the system and to format the information necessary to produce the CAFR. It is anticipated an additional 45 days may be needed before the report can be issued.

The District's old Financial Management System was antiquated and not Y2K compliant. The time to implement the more up-to-date SOAR system was compressed into one single year rather than the several years it normally takes. The District had to insure it had a Y2K ready system.

A jurisdiction with the functions of both a city and state, the District of Columbia has a very ambitious legislatively mandated schedule for the production of the CAFR. While many states produce the CAFR a full six months after the close of the fiscal year, the District normally produces its report within four months. This year's closing process is taking longer than usual because the District needs to exit the first year of the new system with it full operational. No financial impact is associated with this delay.