Otay Water District Receives Nat'l Awards Marking Achievement in Government Budgeting

Otay Water District made the following announcement on March 12, 2013:

The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) has presented the Otay Water District with the “Distinguished Budget Presentation Award” for its annual budget. Additionally, the 2012 budget also received special recognition as “Outstanding as a Policy Document” and “Outstanding as a Communications Device”.

In announcing the awards, staff noted this represents a truly significant accomplishment by the District and reflects a strong commitment to meeting the highest principles in governmental budgeting.

For instance, of more than 5,500 budgets submitted to GFOA for review last year, just 13 received special recognition when their budget document was cited as an outstanding communications device, and only 5 were recognized as having an outstanding policy document. The Otay Water District’s 2012 budget received recognition in each of these categories.

“The GFOA has actually started using our budget in its training courses as an example of how to put together a great budget document. So by all accounts, we truly have an excellent document,” said Jose Lopez, Board President, Otay Water District.

In order to receive the awards, the District had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation. These guidelines are designed to assess how well an entity’s budget serves as:
• a policy document
• a financial plan
• an operations guide
• a communications device

Budget documents must be rated “proficient” in all four categories, as well as in fourteen mandatory criteria within these categories.

“Strong credit should be given to the Board of Directors for their commitment to openness and transparency, to management for their direction and support, and to staff for their dedicated and very competent work,” added Lopez.

The GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving more than 17,500 government finance professionals throughout North America. The GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program is the only national awards program in governmental budgeting.