Top GFOA Awards for Budget & Audit

News Story from the Sun Gazette Newspaper

Regional Park Authority Wins 5th Straight Budget Awards

Posted: Friday, September 7, 2012 10:34 am

For the fifth year in a row, the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NVRPA) has won top honors from the Government Financial Officers Association (GFOA) for the agency’s budget and annual financial audit.

Only a small percentage of government agencies have the level of financial transparency to achieve these awards, and even fewer can win these awards consistently over five years, Park Authority officials said.

The GFOA gave the Park Authority a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the agency’s audit, or Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. This award is only given to organizations that receive a “clean audit,” are in full compliance with all new accounting standards and controls, and present their budgets in a manner that is clear and easy to understand.

The GFOA also gave the Park Authority a Distinguished Budget Presentation Award, which the association bestows on organizations that produce budgets that are clear and easy to understand, as well as reflect revenues and expenses.

“It is a great honor to partner with a well-run organization like the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority,” said Susan Datta, Fairfax County’s chief financial officer. “We put a high value on the GFOA Awards as measure of excellence in financial management.”

Park Authority officials said they strive to tie the agency’s budget to its strategic goals and use the budget as a tool to track performance.

“On behalf of the NVRPA Board of Directors, I wish to congratulate the entire staff for all the hard work and intensive planning associated with these top honors,” said NVRPA board chairman Brian Knapp. “In our current five-year strategic plan, the board has attached great importance to developing an annual budget for both operating and capital expenditures that is tied directly to the goals and objectives we have identified for our parks. This is the commitment we have made to our six member jurisdictions, and it is nice to see how the Park Authority has been recognized for five straight years in developing and implementing such innovative and sound budgets.”

Knapp added, “These accolades also reflect the total commitment of our employees spread across 25 parks who are working efficiently and diligently every day to provide recreational experiences to the citizens of Northern Virginia.”