City of Kirkland Receives GFOA Distinguished Budget Presentation Award

Published on October 13, 2021

GFOA Distinguished Budget Award Image

Media Contact:
Joy Johnston
Interim Communications Program Manager
jjohnston@kirklandwa.gov
(425) 979-6562

City Also Earns Clean Audit Report

KIRKLAND, Wash. – The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) recently announced that City of Kirkland received GFOA's Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for its 2021-2022 Budget. In addition, the State Auditor’s Office gave the City a clean, unmodified opinion on all audits for the 14th year in a row.

According to the GFOA, the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award is the highest form of recognition in governmental budgeting. It represents a significant achievement and reflects the commitment of the governing body and staff to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting. In order to receive the budget award, the City of Kirkland had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation which assess how well the budget serves as a policy document, a financial plan, an operations guide, and a communications device.

“The budget provides a solid framework for how the City will provide services to the community and achieve goals now and into the future,” said Kirkland City Councilmember Jon Pascal. “We build the budget around principles of fiscal responsibility, equity, public safety, and resiliency and we invite the community to participate in the process since ultimately, this is the community’s budget.  We are honored to be recognized for achieving an effective and high-quality budget.”

The City of Kirkland received additional good news about its financial processes when it received another clean audit during the exit conference for the City’s annual state audit last month. The purpose of the annual audit is to provide the community with an independent and transparent examination of how the City uses public funds. The State Auditor’s office noted that there were no material misstatements corrected during the audit process and highlighted the timely responses received throughout the audit from the accounting staff. The City also received praise for its work on the CARES Act funding which was all correctly supported, documented, and in compliance with all requirements of this new federal program.

The City Council acknowledged the City’s completion of a clean audit for 2020 and received the GFOA Distinguished Budget Presentation Award at the October 5, 2021 city council meeting. To learn more about the budget process and view the 2021-2022 Budget documents, visit www.kirklandwa.gov/budget.

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