Loading...
Samarinda, Indonesia Tigard, Oregon Article aid` S� I n il'C d ix t o, -g ernments in East Kalimantan to discuss performance z budgeting and double-entry accounting.Local govern- When the regional autonomy policies of the central gov- menu that attended this presentation expressed keen inter- emment of Indonesia were enacted est in using these systems in their own ' in January 2001,local governments were required to improve the budg- Thrnugn t' f r` sra$WP ' rr; budgeting process. eting and accounting systems ` 4Ica ` th ells 1`' have Future exchanges will focus on .. the action plan areas of citizen par- according to the enabling legisla- r' >�el 'a' tici ation,solid waste, and revenue tion drafted at the central level.At k1t�t�ra` '�' 1 ' ��'`'��` p generation. ' the time,Samarinda—the capital of East Kalimantan Province and ar�" }is§�' levr.';z;E_ ` leader in local government e•0 balan she%i.i to re,, ail thv_- reform—was notre ared to wait sees scar ` ,,Jnd,3 Il ." p p When a delegation from the for the central government to act �'' al,G -tvili ho[onc, ;,ne firs! � Samarinda finance department attend- and instead set out to independently cites"' cin!tesia '` ` `''`' ed the Government Finance Officers r,ir;ci al r.':ana,,p ryient I"!ique,,, improve their systems. Association conference in Denver, The city of Tigard,which has KOTA SAMARINDA FINANCE DIRECTOR, ACJ FITRI Colorado in 2002,the delegation strong management and budgeting members made contact with a Bank of skills,was chosen toartner with p America official who introduced them Samarinda to help city officials make reforms to comply to the electronic payment/transfer system for paying Y with government regulations and improve the city's over- employees.Based on their conversations with this official, all management. Samarinda has set up a partnership with a local bank and now pays its staff through electronic transfers that can be `r Pr7i ;-i e!'s bet A'v,.=„ and Acti;, t€es accessed through an automatic teller machine(ATM). Midway through the partnership,Samarinda and Tigard have made remarkable progress in the areas of accounting and revenue generation. Samarinda finance staff received FY 2003 budget in double-entry accounting format. 4i training in double-entry accounting and converted their Identification of additional revenue sources. FY 2002 budget to this system.Using this budget as an Increased public participation at council meetings example,the finance staff persuaded the city council to and in local government decision making. adopt double-en accounting as the standard for all p �' g Improved solid waste management practices. future budgets in Samarinda,starting with FY 2003. Samarinda subsequently made a presentation to local gov- k q,. qtk M ACCOUNTING with a Bank of America officer who intro- The city of Samarinda is the capital of East duced them to the electronic payment/ Kalimantan Province and a leader in local gov- transfer system for paying employees.Based ernment reform in Indonesia.Anxious to on their conversations with this officer, enhance its management capacity,with a Samarinda set up a partnership with a local specific interest in financial management,the bank and now pays its staff through electronic h city was a perfect match for Tigard,Oregon a transfers that can be accessed through an auto- city with a well-earned reputation for strong matic teller machine(ATM). management and budgeting skills. alx Samarinda successfully adopted double- entry accounting and performance-based The partnership focused on accounting and budgeting systems for its 2003 budget. revenue generation.Samarinda finance staff These systems are now used by all depart- received training in double-entry accounting ments and are an integral part of decision and implemented their FY2002 budget with making and resource allocation. this system.Using this experience as an Samarinda uses several methods to example,the finance staff persuaded the city council to adopt double-entry accounting as encourage citizen participation in the the standard for all city accounting activities. development of the budget. This activity also complimented the city's Samarinda established an electronic work to implement performance-based budg- payment system for its city employees. eting through the local government program (Building Institutions for Good Governance, BIGG) operating in the country. } Samarinda staff's knowledge of advanced finance u -" techniques served them well when a city delegation attended the Government Finance Officers Association confer- ence in Denver,Colorado,in 2002.While there,the delegation members made contact RESOURCE CITIES AND CITYLINKS 20 ,