LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada announced that the city of Lakeport has received the association's Distinguished Budget Presentation Award.

The association said the award “represents a significant achievement” for the city.

The award reflects the commitment of the Lakeport City Council and city staff to meet the highest principals of governmental budgeting, the association said.

In order to receive the budget award, the city had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation. The association said the 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.

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

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

That certificate was presented to city Finance Director Dan Buffalo at the Lakeport City Council's Nov. 19 meeting.

For budgets including fiscal period 2012, more than 1,340 entities are expected to receive the award. Award recipients have pioneered efforts to improve the quality of budgeting and provide an excellent example for other governments throughout North America.

The Government Finance Officers Association is a nonprofit professional association serving more than 17,800 government finance professionals throughout North America.

The association's Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program is the only national awards program in governmental budgeting.