The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) has awarded the city of Kenmore with the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for its 2013-2014 biennial budget. This award is the highest form of recognition in government budgeting.

“We are proud to receive this national award consistently since 2002. The city continually strives to ensure our budget document effectively presents financial and policy-related information in a transparent and understandable manner,” Kenmore Mayor David Baker said.

The award represents a significant achievement by the city. It reflects the commitment of the governing body and staff to meeting the highest principles of government budgeting. In order 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 the city’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 to receive the award, and the fourteen mandatory criteria within those categories, to receive the award.

For budgets including fiscal periods 2012, 1,340 organizations are expected to receive the award. Award recipients have pioneered efforts to improve the quality of budgeting and provide an excellent example for other governments throughout North America.

GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving 17,800 government finance professionals throughout North America. The GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program is the only national awards program in governmental budgeting

A Certificate of Recognition for Budget Presentation from GFOA was also presented to Joanne Gregory, Director of Finance and Administration. In addition, Gregory and Accountant Brian Randall recently received recognition as Professional Finance Officers from the Washington Finance Officers Association (WFOA).