Gunnison County Administration Department Earns Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA)
Gunnison County, Colorado – This month, the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) announced that Gunnison County, Colorado’s Administration Department received the GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for its 2013 budget. “The County is pleased to accept this award for the fourth straight year. Our budget document preparation is an important event in the year-long cycle of performance based management. The budgeting piece of that management system was implemented in 2011. We have changed our expectation from just receiving the award, to increasing the number of ‘Outstanding’ ratings from the three independent reviewers from year to year. This year we moved the needle from 12 to 26, with more ‘Outstanding’ ratings than any previous year. This is also the first year we received all ‘Proficient’ and ‘Outstanding’ ratings, the top two options on a four-step scale,” said Finance Director Linda Nienhueser.
The award represents a significant achievement by the Administration Department. It reflects the commitment of the County and staff to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting. In order to receive the award, the Administration Department had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation. These guidelines are designed to assess how well an entity’s budget serves as:
-A policy document.
-A financial plan.
-An operations guide.
-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. An important characteristic of budgets that receive this award is that they include performance as well as financial information.
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.
Award recipients have pioneered efforts to improve the quality of budgeting and provide an excellent example for other governments throughout North America.
For more information, contact Finance Director Linda Nienhueser at (970) 641-2203.