GFOA Detailed Criteria Location Guide
Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program
Name of Entity: ____________________________
State/Province: ____________________________
First Submission?
Yes No
Cite specific page references on the lines in response to each question.
Introduction and Overview
* Table of
Contents
Strategic
Goals and
Strategies
#C1. Mandatory: The document shall include a table of contents that makes it easier to locate information in the
document.
1. Is a comprehensive table of contents provided? ________________________________________________
2. Are all pages in the document numbered or otherwise identified? _________________________________
3. Do the page number references in the budget or electronic table of contents agree with the related page
numbers in the budget or electronic submission? _______________________________________________
#P1: The document should include a coherent statement of organization-wide, strategic goals and strategies that
address long-term concerns and issues.
1. Are non-financial policies/goals included? ___________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
2. Are these policies/goals included together in the Budget Message or in another section that is separate from
the departmental sections? ________________________________________________________________
3. Are other planning processes discussed? _____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
#P2: The document should describe the entity’s short-term factors that influence the decisions made in the
development of the budget for the upcoming year.
1.
Are short-term factors addressed? __________________________________________________________
Short-term
______________________________________________________________________________________
organization
2. Does the document discuss how the short-term factors guided the development of the annual budget?
factors
______________________________________________________________________________________
3. Is a summary of service level changes presented? ______________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
#P3. Mandatory: The document shall include a budget message that articulates priorities and issues for the upcoming
year. The message should describe significant changes in priorities from the current year and explain the factors
that led to those changes. The message may take one of several forms (e.g., transmittal letter, budget summary
section).
1. Does the message highlight the principal issues facing the governing body in developing the budget (e.g.,
policy issues, economic factors, regulatory, and legislative challenges)? ___________________________
* Priorities and
______________________________________________________________________________________
Issues
2. Does the message describe the action to be taken to address these issues? ___________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
3. Does the message explain how the priorities for the budget year differ from the priorities of the current year?
_________________________________________________________________________________
4. Is the message comprehensive enough to address the entire entity? ________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
* Budget
Overview
#C2. Mandatory: The document should provide an overview of significant budgetary items and trends. An overview
should be presented within the budget document either in a separate section (e.g., executive summary) or
integrated within the transmittal letter or as a separate budget-in-brief document.
1. Is an overview contained in the budget message/transmittal letter, executive summary, or in a separate
budget-in-brief document? ________________________________________________________________
2. Is summary information on significant budgetary items conveyed in an easy to read format?
______________________________________________________________________________________
3. Is summary information on budgetary trends provided? _________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
1
Financial Structure, Policy, and Process
#O1. Mandatory: The document shall include an organization chart(s) for the entire entity.
1. Is an organization chart provided which shows the entire entity? __________________________________
*Organization
______________________________________________________________________________________
Chart
#F1: The document should include and describe all funds that are subject to appropriation.
1. Is a narrative or graphic overview of the entity’s budgetary fund structure included in the document?
______________________________________________________________________________________
Fund
2.
Does the document indicate which funds are appropriated? (Other funds for which financial plans are
Descriptions
prepared also may be included in the document.) ______________________________________________
and Fund
______________________________________________________________________________________
Structure
3. Does the document include a description of each individual major fund included within the document?
______________________________________________________________________________________
4. If additional or fewer funds are included in the audited financial statements, does the document indicate this
fact? _________________________________________________________________________________
Department/
Fund
Relationship
Basis of
Budgeting
* Financial
Policies
* Budget
Process
#O2: The document should provide narrative, tables, schedules, or matrices to show the relationship between
functional units, major funds, and nonmajor funds in the aggregate.
1. Is the relationship between the entity’s functional units, major funds, and nonmajor funds in the aggregate
explained or illustrated? __________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
#F2: The document shall explain the basis of budgeting for all funds, whether cash, modified accrual, or some other
statutory basis.
1. Is the basis of budgeting defined (eg., modified accrual, cash, or accrual) for all funds included in the
document? _____________________________________________________________________________
2. If the basis of budgeting is the same as the basis of accounting used in the entity’s audited financial
statements, is that fact clearly stated? ________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
3. If the basis of budgeting is not the same as the basis of accounting used in the entity’s audited financial
statements, are the differences described? ____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
#P4. Mandatory: The document should include a coherent statement of entity-wide long-term financial policies.
1. Is there a summary of financial policies and goals? _____________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
2. Do the financial policies include the entity’s definition of a balanced budget? ________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
3. Are all financial policies presented in one place? ______________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
#P5. Mandatory: The document shall describe the process for preparing, reviewing, and adopting the budget for the
coming fiscal year. It also should describe the procedures for amending the budget after adoption.
1. Is a description of the process used to develop, review, and adopt the budget included in the document?
______________________________________________________________________________________
2. Is a budget calendar provided to supplement (not replace) the narrative information on the budget process?
______________________________________________________________________________________
3. Is a discussion of how the budget is amended provided in the budget document available to the public
(including the budgetary level of control)? ___________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
2
Financial Summaries
#F3. Mandatory: The document shall present a summary of major revenues and expenditures, as well as other
financing sources and uses, to provide an overview of the total resources budgeted by the organization.
1. Does the document include an overview of revenues and other financing sources and expenditures and other
financing uses of all appropriated funds? ________________________________________________
* Consolidated
______________________________________________________________________________________
Financial
2.
Are
revenues and other financing sources and expenditures and other financing uses presented either (1)
Schedule
together in a single schedule OR (2) in separate but adjacent/sequential schedules OR (3) in a matrix?
______________________________________________________________________________________
3. Are revenues presented by major type in this schedule (e.g., property taxes, intergovernmental, sales taxes,
fees and charges)? ______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
4. Are expenditures presented by function, organizational unit, or object in this schedule? (For funds other than
the main operating fund of the entity, a presentation by fund normally would satisfy this requirement.)
______________________________________________________________________________________
#F4. Mandatory: The document must include summaries of revenues and other financing sources, and of
expenditures and other financing uses for the prior year actual, the current year budget and/or estimated current
* Three/(Four)
year actual, and the proposed budget year.
Year
1. For annual budgets, are revenues and other financing sources and expenditures and other financing uses for
Consolidated
the prior year, the current year, and the budget year presented together on the same schedule(s) or on
and Fund
schedules presented on adjacent/sequential pages? _____________________________________________
Financial
______________________________________________________________________________________
Schedules
2. Is this information presented for the appropriated funds in total (or for the entity as a whole if no appropriated
funds are included)? __________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
3. Is this information also presented at a minimum for each major fund and for other (i.e. nonmajor) funds in the
aggregate (or for each significant fund and other funds in the aggregate if no appropriated funds are
included)? _____________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
4. For biennial budgets, are revenues and other financing sources and expenditures and other financing uses for
the prior year, the current year, and both budget years presented together on the same schedule(s) or on
separate schedules presented on adjacent/sequential pages? ______________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
* Fund
Balance
#F5. Mandatory: The document shall include projected changes in fund balances, as defined by the entity in the
document, for appropriated governmental funds included in the budget presentation (fund equity if no
governmental funds are included in the document).
1. Does the document include the entity’s definition of “fund balance” (or of “fund equity” if no governmental
funds are included in the entity - frequently the noncapital portion of net assets)?
______________________________________________________________________________________
2. Is the fund balance (equity) information presented for the budget year? _____________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
3. Is there a schedule showing (1) beginning fund balances, (2) increases and decreases in total fund balances
(reported separately), and (3) ending fund balances for appropriated governmental funds?
______________________________________________________________________________________
4. Is this information presented at a minimum for each major fund and for nonmajor governmental funds in the
aggregate? _________________________________________________________________________
5. If fund balances of any major fund or the nonmajor funds in the aggregate are anticipated to increase or
decline by more than 10%, does the document include a discussion of the causes and/or consequences of
these changes in fund balance? ____________________________________________________________
6. If an entity has no governmental funds, is the change in the fund equity presented for (1) the entity as a
whole, (2) the main operating fund, and (3) each significant fund? ________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
7. If an entity has no governmental funds and the fund equity of any significant fund or other funds in the
aggregate is anticipated to change by more than 10%, does the document include a discussion of the causes
3
8.
and/or consequences of any change in fund equity that is greater than 10% in either a significant fund or
other funds in the aggregate? ______________________________________________________________
For biennial budgets is the change in fund equity presented separately for both years of the biennium? ____
______________________________________________________________________________________
#F6. Mandatory: The document shall describe major revenue sources, explain the underlying assumptions for the
revenue estimates, and discuss significant revenue trends.
1. Are individual revenue sources described? ___________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
* Revenues
2. Do the revenue sources that are described represent at least 75 percent of the total revenues of all
appropriated funds? _____________________________________________________________________
3. Are the methods used to estimate revenues for the budget year described (e.g., trend analysis, estimates from
another government or consulting firm)? ________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
4. If revenues are projected based on trend information, are both those trends and the underlying assumptions
adequately described? ____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
Long-range
Financial
Plans
#F7: The document should explain long-range financial plans and its affect upon the budget and the budget process.
1. Are long-range financial plans identified? ____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
2. Do your long-range financial plans extend out at least two years beyond the budget year?
________________________________________________________________________
3.
Is there a concise explanation or illustration of the linkage between the entity’s long-range financial plans
and strategic goals? __________________________________________________________
Capital and Debt
#F8. Mandatory: The document should include budgeted capital expenditures, whether authorized in the operating
budget or in a separate capital budget.
1. Does the document define “capital expenditures”? _____________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
* Capital
2. Does the document indicate the total dollar amount of capital expenditures for the budget year (both budget
Expenditures
years for biennial budgets)? _______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
3. Are significant nonrecurring capital expenditures described along with dollar amounts? (Information in a
separate CIP document does not satisfy this criterion.) __________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
4. If the entity has no significant nonrecurring capital expenditures, is that fact clearly stated in the document?
______________________________________________________________________________________
#F9: The document should describe if and to what extent significant nonrecurring capital investments will affect the
entity’s current and future operating budget and the services that the entity provides.
1. Are anticipated operating costs associated with significant nonrecurring capital investments described and
quantified (e.g., additional personnel costs, additional maintenance costs, or additional utility costs)?
Impact of
(Information
in
a
separate
CIP
document
does
not
satisfy
this
criterion.)
Capital
______________________________________________________________________________________
Investments on
2. Are anticipated savings or revenues expected to result from significant nonrecurring capital investments
Operating
described and quantified (e.g., reduced utility costs, lower maintenance costs)? ______________________
Budget
______________________________________________________________________________________
4
* Debt
#F10. Mandatory: The document shall include financial data on current debt obligations, describe the relationship
between current debt levels and legal debt limits, and explain the effects of existing debt levels on current operations.
1. If the entity has legal debt limits:
Are debt limits described? _________________________________________________
Are the amounts of debt limits expressed in terms of total dollars, millage rates or
percentages of assessed value? ______________________________________________
Are the amounts of debt subject to debt limits identified in the same terms used to describe
the debt limits themselves? __________________________________________
2. If the entity has no legal debt limits, is that fact clearly stated within the budget document? ____________
______________________________________________________________________________________
3. If the entity does not have and does not intend to issue debt, is that fact clearly stated? ________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
4. Is the amount of principal and interest payments for the budget year (two years for biennial budgets) shown
for each major fund (for appropriated funds), for each significant unappropriated fund and for other funds in
the aggregate? ________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
Departmental Information
* Position
Summary
Schedule
#O3. Mandatory: A schedule or summary table of personnel or position counts for prior, current and budgeted years
shall be provided.
1. Is a summary table of position counts provided for the entire entity? _______________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
2. Does the table include the prior year, the current year, and budget year position counts?
______________________________________________________________________________________
3. Are changes in staffing levels for the budget year explained? _____________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
4. If there are no changes in staffing levels, is that item noted? ______________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
#O4. Mandatory: The document shall describe activities, services or functions carried out by organizational units.
* Department 1. Does the document clearly present the organizational units (e.g., divisions, departments, offices, agencies, or
programs)? __________________________________________________________________________
Descriptions
2. Does the document provide descriptions of each organizational unit? ______________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
#O5: The document should include clearly stated goals and objectives of organizational units (e.g., departments,
divisions, offices or programs).
1. Are unit goals and objectives identified? ____________________________________________
Unit Goals
and
________________________________________________________________________
Objectives
2. Are unit goals clearly linked to the overall goals of the entity? ______________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. Are objectives quantifiable? ____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. Are timeframes on objectives noted? _______________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
#O6: The document should provide objective measures of progress toward accomplishing the government’s mission
as well as goals and objectives for specific units and programs.
1. Are performance data for individual departments included in the document? _________________________
Performance
______________________________________________________________________________________
Measures
2. Are performance data directly related to the stated goals and objectives of the unit? ___________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
3. Do performance measures focus on results and accomplishments (e.g., output measures, efficiency and
effectiveness measures) rather than inputs (e.g., dollars spent)? ___________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
5
Document-wide Criteria
#C3: The document should include statistical and supplemental data that describe the organization, its community, and
population. It should also furnish other pertinent background information related to the services provided.
1. Is statistical information that defines the community included in the document (e.g., population, composition
of population, land area, and average household income)? ____________________________
Statistical/
______________________________________________________________________________________
Supplemental
2. Is supplemental information on the local economy included in the document (e.g., major industries, top
Section
taxpayers, employment levels, and comparisons to other local communities)? ________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
3. Is other pertinent information on the community (e.g., local history, location, public safety, education,
culture, recreation, transportation, healthcare, utilities, and governmental structure) included in the
document? _____________________________________________________________________________
#C4: A glossary should be included for any terminology (including abbreviations and acronyms) that is not readily
understandable to a reasonably informed lay reader.
1. Is a glossary that defines technical terms related to finance and accounting, as well as non-financial terms
Glossary
related to the entity, included in the document? _______________________________________________
2. Are acronyms or abbreviations used in the document defined in the glossary? ________________________
3. Is the glossary written in non-technical language? ______________________________________________
#C5: Charts and graphs should be used, where appropriate, to highlight financial and statistical information. Narrative
interpretation should be provided when the messages conveyed by the graphs are not self-evident.
1. Are charts and graphs used in the document to convey essential information (e.g., key policies, trends,
Charts and
choices and impacts)? ____________________________________________________________________
Graphs
2. Do the graphics supplement the information contained in the narratives? ____________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
#C6: The document should be produced and formatted in such a way as to enhance its understanding by the average
reader. It should be attractive, consistent, and oriented to the reader's needs.
1. Is page formatting consistent? _____________________________________________________________
2. Are the main sections of the document easily identifiable? _______________________________________
Understand3. Is the level of detail appropriate? ___________________________________________________________
ability and
4. Are text, tables, and graphs legible? _________________________________________________________
Usability
5. Are budget numbers in the document accurate and consistent throughout the document? _______________
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