City Budget Staff Receives Award for Financial Plan

The City of San Angelo’s Budget Division has received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the City’s 2013-14 fiscal year budget from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada.

The GFOA said the award represents a significant achievement by the City, reflecting a commitment by the City Council and the Budget staff to meet the highest principles of governmental budgeting. Award winners must satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentations that assess how well a 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.

“Winning this award, while a long-standing annual tradition for the City’s Finance Department and Budget Division, is always exciting,” Budget Manager Morgan Chegwidden. “That’s because the award’s criteria have grown increasingly more challenging each year. Our focus is always to produce a budget that provides financial and operational guidance to our staff and transparency for our taxpayers. Because this award comes as we’re in the midst of crafting next year’s budget, it provides a boost of extra motivation to produce a plan that’s even better than the last.”

The City Council will recognize the Budget staff – Chegwidden and senior budget analyst Jeremy Miller – at its June 3 meeting.

The GFOA is a nonprofit professional organization serving nearly 18,000 government finance professionals throughout North America. Its Distinguished Budget Presentation