Harford County Receives Distinguished Budget Award

From Harford County government:

The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada, has announced that Harford County Government has received the GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the FY 2011 budget. This marks the 25th time Harford County Government has received this prestigious award.

The Distinguished Budget Presentation Award reflects the commitment of Harford County Government in meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting. In order to receive this coveted award, Harford County had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation. These guidelines are designed to assess how well a governmental body’s budget serves as a policy document; financial plan; an operations guide and a communication device.

To receive the GFOA highest recognition, budget documents must be rated “proficient” in all four categories and the fourteen mandatory criteria within those categories.

The GFOA specifically recognized Kimberly Spence, Chief, Division of Budget and Management Research and staff, as the governmental entity responsible for Harford County attaining the award.

Commenting on the award, County Executive David R. Craig stated, “We are delighted to be recognized by a prestigious organization such as the Government Finance Officers Association for our budget. The GFOA gave Harford County 23 outstanding ratings from document reviewers which speaks well of the tremendous effort that the Budget and Management Research staff puts forth in preparing our annual budget document,” Craig stated.

For FY 2009, the GFOA chose 1,214 governmental entities to receive the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award. Those receiving the award from the GFOA have demonstrated exemplary efforts to improve the quality of budgeting and are an example for others to follow.

The Government Finance Officers Association is a nonprofit professional association serving over 17,600 government finance professionals throughout North America. The GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Awards Program is the only national awards program in governmental budgeting.