(LITTLE ROCK, AR, JULY 6, 2005) The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) recently announced that the City of Little Rock has received the GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for its budget.

 

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 governmental budgeting.  In order to receive the budget award, the entity had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation.  These guidelines are designed to assess how well an entity’s budget serves as: 1) A policy document, 2) A financial plan, 3) An operations guide, and 4) A communications device.

 

Budget documents must be rated “proficient” in all four categories to receive the award.  City Manager Bruce Moore stated, “We are pleased with the hard work done by the Finance Department.   Finance Director Bob Biles, Budget Officer LaVerne Duvall, and the Finance staff do an outstanding job.  It is nice to see them get recognized for their efforts.”

 

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 as being primarily responsible for its having achieved the award.  This has been presented to Silas Roaf, the Budget Management Analyst for the Finance Department.

 

Since the inception of the GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program in 1984, approximately 900 entities have received the Award.  Award recipients have pioneered efforts to improve the quality of budgeting and provide an excellent example of other governments throughout North America.

 

The Government Finance Officers Association is a nonprofit professional association serving 14,000 government finance professionals throughout North America.  The GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program is the only national award program in governmental budgeting.