West Des Moines Does it Again – That's 14 Years Running

A news release from the city of West Des Moines:

The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) has announced that the city of West Des Moines has received the GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for its annual budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012. 

This is the 14^th consecutive year the City has received this award.

This award represents a significant achievement by the city. It reflects the commitment of the governing body and staff to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting.To receive the budget award, the city 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 fourteen mandatory criteria within those categories to receive the award. 

For budgets including fiscal period 2011, more than 1,328 entities received the Award. Award recipients have pioneered efforts to improve the quality of budgeting and provide an excellent example for other governments throughout North America.

The Government Finance Officers Association is a nonprofit association serving nearly 17,400 government finance professional throughout North America.  The GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program is the only national awards program in governmental budgeting.