Tennessee Receives National Award for Excellence in Budget Preparation

NASHVILLE – For the 12th consecutive year, the State of Tennessee has received a national award for its annual state budget document.  The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) presented the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award to the Division of Budget in the Department of Finance and Administration for fiscal year 2009-2010.  It’s the 17th year the state has received the award.

“Exceptional budget documents are essential for citizens and others to be fully informed about the state’s finances and the budget process,” Finance Commissioner Dave Goetz said. “Quality budget documents set the stage for better decision making and accountability.”

According to the GFOA, the award represents a significant achievement, reflecting the commitment of the state to meet the highest principles of government budgeting.  To receive the award, Tennessee satisfied nationally recognized guidelines which assessed the budget document as:

a policy document,

• a financial plan,
• an operations guide, and
• a communications device.

GFOA must rate the budget document “proficient” in all four categories, along with 14 mandatory criteria within those categories.

Tennessee’s Division of Budget produces the annual budget document, making it available to citizens and others on the state’s Web site at www.tn.gov/finance/bud/budget.html.

GFOA (www.gfoa.org) is a nonprofit professional association serving more than 17,600 government finance professionals throughout the United States and Canada.  The group’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program is the only national awards program in governmental budgeting.