For the fourth time this decade, the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners has received the Government Finance Officers Association’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for its budget.
The award represents a significant achievement by the county, a spokesman for the GFOA said, noting that it reflects the commitment of the governing body and staff to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting.
To receive the budget award, the county had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation. These guidelines are designed to assess how well the county’s budget serves as a policy document, a financial plan, an operations guide, and a communications device.
Budget documents must be rated “proficient” in all four categories, and the 14 mandatory criteria within those categories, to receive the award.
When a Distinguished Budget Presentation Award is granted to an entity, a Certificate of Recognition for Budget Presentation is also presented to the individual or department designated as being primarily responsible for its having achieved the award. This has been presented to Finance Director Alicia Vaughn.
Whitfield County has received the budget award in 2011, 2013, 2014, and 2015.
For budgets beginning in 2013, 1,424 participants received the award. Recipients have pioneered efforts to improve the quality of budgeting and provide an excellent example for other governments throughout North America, according to a GFOA.
The Government Finance Officers Association is a major professional association servicing the needs of more than 18,000 appointed and elected local, state, and provincial-level government officials and other finance practitioners.
It provides top quality publications, training programs, services, and products designed to enhance the skills and performance of those responsible for government finance policy and management.
The association is headquartered in Chicago, with offices in Washington, D.C. The GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program is the only national awards program in governmental budgeting.
For the past 12 years since 2002, Whitfield County also has received the CAFR award, which is the GFOA’s “Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Finance Reporting.” The county has applied for the award for 2014 and is awaiting word from the organization.
The CAFR award is presented by GFOA to government units and public employee retirement systems whose comprehensive annual financial reports (CAFRs) achieve the highest standards in government accounting and financial reporting.