AGENDA #1b
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the Town of Chapel Hill’s 2004-05 Budget Report
DATE: February 14, 2005
BACKGROUND
The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) has announced that the 2004-05 Budget Report for the Town of Chapel Hill qualifies for a Distinguished Budget Presentation Award. Considered the highest form of recognition in governmental budgeting, it has been awarded six times previously to Chapel Hill.
Award guidelines are designed to assess how well an entity’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.
When a Distinguished Budget Presentation Award is granted, a Certificate of Recognition for Budget Preparation is also presented to the individual or department designated as being primarily responsible for its having achieved the award. This has been presented to Finance Director Kay Johnson.
Of the 541 municipal budgets in North Carolina for this fiscal period, only 22 cities submitted budgets for peer review. Of these, 18 received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award.
While Chapel Hill met the challenging standards to qualify for this award, it also received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from GFOA in October of 2004. It was the 19th year the Town received this certificate. Only 19 cities in North Carolina received both awards for the last budget reporting period.
GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving 14,000 government finance professionals throughout North America.
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