Lowndes County Finance Department has won the national budget award 17 consecutive times.

VALDOSTA – For the 17th consecutive year, the Lowndes County Commission has received the Government Finance Officers Association Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for its budget.

The award represents a significant achievement by the entity, county officials said in a statement, adding “it reflects the commitment of the governing body and staff to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting. In order to receive the budget award, the entity had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation.”

These guidelines are designed to assess how well an entity’s budget serves:

– A policy document.

– A financial plan.

– An operations guide.

– A communications device.

Budget documents must be rated “proficient” in all four categories and in the 14 mandatory criteria within those categories, to receive the award.

“Our team especially the finance department works extremely hard each year to assemble a budget document of the highest quality, with the goal of making it as informative as possible, yet easily understood by the average citizen,” said Paige Dukes, Lowndes County manager. “We want citizens to clearly see the vast array of important services their county government provides and how their tax dollars are being spent.”

When a Distinguished Budget Presentation Award is granted to an entity, a certificate of recognition for budget presentation is also presented to the individual(s) or department designated as being primarily responsible for having achieved the award.

“We are delighted to receive this award again,” Lowndes County Commission Chairman Bill Slaughter said. “The commission and our staff are committed to best practices in governmental budgeting and transparency.” There are more than 1,700 participants in the budget awards program. The most recent budget award recipients, along with their corresponding budget documents, are posted quarterly 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,” county officials said.

Government Finance Officers Association advances excellence in government finance by providing best practices, professional development, resources, and practical research for more than 20,500 members and the communities they serve.