Des Plaines Receives GFOA’s Budget Award

The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) has announced that the City of Des Plaines is 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.

Under Ms. Wisniewski’s leadership, the award has been granted to the City of Des Plaines for five consecutive years. “The City of Des Plaines is very proud to be the recipient of the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award. Every year the budget document is quite arguably the most important document the City Council considers. It is the culmination of a true team effort,” Wisniewski stated.

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.

Over 1,340 entities are expected to receive the award for budgets including fiscal period 2012. 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 17,800 government finance professionals throughout North America. The GFOA's Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program is the only national awards program in governmental budgeting.