City Budget Receives Top National Award

(KFOR NEWS July 2, 2019) Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird announced that the City has received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the current budget from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). Finance Director Brandon Kauffman said this is the first time the City has received the award, which GFOA says “reflects the commitment of the governing body and staff to meeting the highest principles of government budgeting.”

“I want to commend our Finance Department and those involved in creating this outstanding budget document,” said Mayor Gaylor Baird. “The City budget is very complex, and this recognition lets taxpayers know that our budget professionals are among the best in the nation.”

The GFOA guidelines for the award assess how well the budget serves as a policy document, a financial plan, an operations guide and a communication device. More than 1,600 entities participate in the budget awards program. The award-winning budgets are posted on the GFOA website at gfao.org.

The Finance Department also is responsible for creating the City’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), which is audited by an independent outside agency every year. The GFOA has awarded the City of Lincoln’s CAFR its Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for 35 years.

The GFOA is a professional association serving the needs of more than 19,000 appointed and elected local, state and provincial-level government officials and other finance practitioners.