The Town of Moraga has received its third consecutive Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Distinguished Budget Presentation Award this past December.  The honor was established in 1984. 

    “In public finance circles, this is sort of a big deal,” stated Town Manager Scott Mitnick. “It reflects the Town’s commitment to following ‘Best Management Practices’ with respect to how the local taxpayer’s monies are budgeted, expended, managed, and documented. This recognition also helps the Town retain its AAA credit rating which, in turn, reduces the cost to capital, should the Town need to issue debt in the future.”

    According to GFOA, the award “reflects the commitment of the governing body and staff to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting.”  With over 1,900 participants in the program, each entity was required to meet four nationally recognized guidelines that include a policy document, a financial plan, an operations guide, and a communications device.

    There are 14 mandatory criteria that fall under those guidelines. Among them, each entity must provide a coherent statement of organization-wide, strategic goals and strategies that address long-term concerns and issues. Also, a budget message must be provided that articulates priorities and issues for the upcoming year.  The message should describe significant changes in priorities from the current year and explain the factors that led to those changes.  An overview of significant budgetary items and trends must be provided, and presented within the budget as a separate section (e.g., budget-in-brief).

    Additionally, entities must describe the process for preparing, reviewing, and adopting the budget for the coming fiscal year, and describe the procedures for amending the budget after adoption.  Presenting a summary of major revenues and expenditures is essential, along with other financing sources and uses in order to provide an overview of the total resources budgeted by the organization. It is also mandatory to provide objective measures of progress toward accomplishing the government’s mission as well as goals and objectives for specific departments and programs.

    “The receipt of the GFOA Distinguished Budget Presentation Award demonstrates the Town’s commitment to transparency in budget and finance,” said Administrative Services Director Katie Bruner.  “I would like to thank the Administrative Services Department staff for their hard work in producing the budget book, the Executive Team for a collaborative budget development process, and the Town Manager and Town Council for their support.”