Distinguished Budget Presentation Award

The City of Suffolk has been awarded a Distinguished Budget Presentation Award by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) for the seventh straight year for its’ 2015/2016 fiscal year annual budget. The award reflects the commitment of the governing body and staff to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting.
Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) Logo

Nationally Recognized Guidelines


In order to receive this award, the City of Suffolk had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation. These guidelines assess how well the 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 and the fourteen mandatory criteria within those categories to receive the award.

Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA)


The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) is a major professional association servicing the needs of more than 18,000 appointed and elected local, state and provincial-level government officials and other finance practitioners. The GFOA established the Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program (Budget Awards Program) in 1984 to encourage and assist state and local governments to prepare budget documents of the very highest quality that reflect both the guidelines established by the National Advisory Council on State and Local Budgeting and the GFOA’s best practices on budgeting and then 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.