City receives Distinguished Budget Presentation Award

For the third consecutive year, the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) has awarded the City of Tehachapi with the “Distinguished Budget Presentation Award,” the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting.

A panel of independent professionals reviewed the city’s budget document for the current 2021-2022 fiscal year and not only awarded this prestigious honor but did so without a single implementation recommendation from the panel.

“This is another outstanding achievement for our finance department and for our city as we continue to improve the budget document we use as a playbook for our operations,” said City Manager Greg Garrett. “This award again shows our dedication to transparency, accessibility, and the production of a budget that is easily understood by our residents with transparency that is even more critical in these challenging financial times.”

According to the GFOA, the award represents a significant achievement by the city, reflecting the commitment of the governing body and staff to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting. 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, and a communications device.

Award recipients have pioneered efforts to improve the quality of budgeting and provide an excellent example for other governments throughout North America.

The City of Tehachapi’s award-winning adopted five-year budget document is available online at http://www.liveuptehachapi.com/96/Budget-Financials. Many other GFOA award-winning financial reports are also available for the public to review.