Jim Piper, City Finance Director
CRESWELL – For the fourth consecutive year, the City of Creswell this week received the Government Finance Officers Association’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Award.
There are over 1,600 participants in the awards program. In order to receive the budget award, the City 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.
City Manager Michelle Amberg said that some key factors in crafting an award-winning budget related to strategic planning, like the Transportation System Plan, Parks Master Plan, Emergency Preparedness Plan, City Council Strategic Plan, Wastewater System Plan and Water System Plan.
”Clear direction from the council and involvement of citizens throughout the year,” also contributed to its success, Amberg said.
Amberg said that the credit is largely due to ”the city staff who research, plan and develop the numbers, the staff who write the text and design the final document, the Budget Committee and the city council who has set the standard of what they expect in a budget document. Jim Piper, the City’s finance director, coordinates these steps along the way and submits the information every year for the award, Amberg said.
When a Distinguished Budget Presentation Award is granted to an entity, a Certificate of Recognition for Budget Presentation is also presented to the department designated as being primarily responsible for having achieved the award and was presented to Creswell’s finance department.
”While we are proud to receive the recognition we will not stop here,” Amberg said. ”We remain dedicated to developing a budget that will earn this distinction every year in the years to come. I would encourage the community to take a look at our budget document online.”
Manager Amberg also noted that the committee is looking for a great cover photo for this year’s budget and welcome suggestions from the public.
The budget can be found online at ci.creswell.or.us/finance/page/finance-budgets.
