Executive SummaryAtlanta, the most populous city and capital of the state of Georgia, is also known for being the ninth largest metropolitan area in the country. The city has faced extreme economic challenges in recent years, but is now successfully entering its comeback phase. The City's restoration is due in part to its conservative budgeting practices and procedures and its commitment to restoring the sanctity of the City. Thanks to the vision and leadership of current Mayor Kasim Reed, the city was able to adopt resourceful, balanced budgets and establish a significant cash reserve that helped create a manageable debt burden with future borrowing plans boundaries. The following report will review the City of Atlanta's budget development process and the responsibilities behind administration and management of the budget. The City's spending transparency and internal control standards will also be detailed. A brief budget analysis will be conducted to assess the sources and trends of revenues and expenditures over the past several years and how the forecast helps assess the City's future revenue needs. Finally, any financial challenges of the entity related to long-term outstanding debts, the City's financial ratings and its pension obligations will be discussed. The comparisons are for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012 and June 30, 2011. The presentation of the information will provide a summary of Atlanta's financial condition from the past, present and future as well as the weaknesses the city needs to address. work to move forward. .IntroductionThe city of Atlanta budget follows a comprehensive process that ensures that the city will have a balanced budget that maintains the ...... middle of paper ...... with. The city is aware of these challenges and will continue to address them as effectively as other obstacles. ConclusionDespite the aforementioned challenges, Atlanta is on the path back to tax-free. Based on the processes of revenue and expenditure analysis, budget development and financial management, the City of Atlanta makes very strict efforts to ensure fiscal sustainability. The City has made significant progress over the past three years and its financial situation continues to improve; however, continued progress will not occur without fiscal discipline and long-term strategies requiring proactive decisions and actions over several years. With the progress the City has made to date, current City leadership is committed to delivering on the Mayor's priorities and providing clear and transparent reporting on its financial activities..