West Hartford’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget received an award from the Government Finance Officers Association.
By Ronni Newton
The Town of West Hartford’s budget for Fiscal Year 2022 – the current year – has been recognized by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) with a “Distinguished Budget Presentation Award.”
“We are pleased to inform you, based on the examination of your budget by a panel of independent reviewers, that your budget document has been awarded the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for the current fiscal period. This award is the highest form of recognition in governmental budgeting. Its attainment represents a significant achievement by your organization,” a letter from Michele Mark Levine, director, Technical Services Center for GFOA states.
The award is reflective of the town’s commitment to “meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting,” GFOA said, and indicated that the town has satisfied the nationally-recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation.
The budget is assessed on its ability to serve the following four purposes, and must be rated at least “proficient” in all categories and the 14 mandatory criteria within each, GFOA said:
- A policy document
- A financial plan
- An operations guide
- A communications device
The town received an “outstanding” rating from GFOA for incorporating charts and graphs to provide a visual narrative of trends and allocations.
A “Certificate of Recognition for Budget Presentation” has been presented to the town’s Department of Financial Services.
More than 1,700 entities participate in the Budget Awards Program, and the award recipients, along with their documents, are posted on GFOA’s website. “Award recipients have pioneered efforts to improve the quality of budgeting and provide an excellent example for other governments throughout North America,” GFOA stated.
West Hartford’s current budget documents can be found here on the town website.
Planning for the FY2023 budget presentation is well underway. The West Hartford Public School’s budget is scheduled to be presented to the Board of Education by Superintendent Tom Moore on March 1, and the town’s overall budget will be presented to the Town Council on March 8. The budget is scheduled for adoption on Monday, April 25, 2022.
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