Des Plaines finance director honored

Des Plaines Receives GFOA's Budget Award

The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) recently announced that the City of Des Plaines was the recipient of the “Distinguished Budget Presentation Award” for its budget document. Dorothy Wisniewski, Director of the Finance for the City of Des Plaines, was identified as being primarily responsible for having achieved the award.

“The City of Des Plaines is very proud to be the recipient of the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award. It is indicative of the quality and professionalism of our Finance Department team under the leadership of Director Dorothy Wisniewski. To have earned this award in consecutive years is commendable,” Des Plaines City Manager Michael Bartholomew said.

The award represents a significant achievement by the entity. 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 as:

• a policy document

• a financial plan

• an operations guide

• 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.

1,289 entities received the award for budgets including fiscal period 2010. According to a GFOA correspondence, “Award recipients have pioneered efforts to improve the quality of budgeting and provide an excellent example for other governments throughout North America.”

GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving over 17,500 government finance professionals throughout North America. The GFOA's Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program is the only national awards program in governmental budgeting.