The El Paso County Financial Services Department has been recognized for the second year in a row by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for meeting its highest standards in government budget and financial reporting.
County Controller Nikki Simmons shared the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the 2018 Adopted Budget Book on Tuesday with the Board of County Commissioners. The GFOA said in a letter to El Paso County Administration that the award “is the highest form of recognition in government budgeting and represents a significant achievement.”
Simmons said El Paso County adheres to standards established by the National Advisory Council on State and Local Budgeting as well as the GFOA’s best practices when putting together the annual 300-page Budget Book. “It is very detailed, department-by-department, line-by-line on operations, objectives, budget changes, and revenue and expenditure estimates. We want to be as transparent as possible about our planned spending,” Simmons said.
GFOA established the Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program in 1984 to encourage and assist state and local governments to in preparing budget documents of the very highest quality and to recognize individual governments that succeed in achieving that goal. Documents submitted to the Budget Awards Program are reviewed by selected members of the GFOA professional staff and by outside reviewers with experience in public-sector budgeting.
Award recipients are chosen based on guidelines that determine how well an entity’s budget serves as a policy document, a financial plan, an operations guide and a communications device.
El Paso County Chief Financial Officer Sherri Cassidy said the honor reflects the hard work of County staff. “Winning the Budget Presentation Award is always a great honor and a testament to the job the Financial Services team does each and every day. We couldn’t be more proud of the team and the countless hours they’ve dedicated to our mission of transparent, accurate reporting,” Cassidy said.
To see the El Paso County 2018 Adopted Budget Book, go to https://admin.elpasoco.com/wp-content/uploads/Budget/BudgetHearings/2018BudgetHearings/2018OriginalAdoptedBudget/2018-Adopted-Budget-Book.pdf