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Moffat County Finance Administrator Debra Murray said Thursday that a recent budget award was a culmination of hard work that started when she began her job at the county in 1998.

The county received the Government Finance Officers Association's Distinguished Budget Presentation Award last week.

"When I first came (in 1998) the budget was all numbers," Murray, who will be leaving Moffat County later this month, said. "We worked on it until we were in the place that we could submit it (for contest)."

The county submitted a budget for contest for the first time in 2002 in which it almost won an award and again this year when gained

the honor.

The GFOA has been awarding budgetary recognition since 1984. It is a non-profit professional association serving 14,000 government finance professionals throughout North America. The GFOA's Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program is the only national awards program in governmental budgeting.

"It is kind of like the good housekeeping seal of approval," said John Fishbein, senior manager of technical services for the GFOA.

The GFOA accepts budgets for judging up to three months after budgets have been approved for the current year.

"The goal of our program is to teach and educate," Fishbein said.

Every budget that is submitted is evaluated on four different categories, including:

• A policy document, which addresses the government body's policies and procedures in regard to the budget.
• A financial plan, which shows where the budget is coming from based on the previous year, the current year and fund level balances as well as other differentials.
• A communications device, which is how the county communicates the information in the budget to people looking at it. This includes information such as a table of contents, glossary, graphs, long-term goals, etc.

"It gives you a focus," said Murray of the reason to set budgetary goals, which is part of the requirements for the GFOA contest.

Budget documents must be rated proficient in all four categories to win an award.

In 2001, there were 959 entries and 874 of those won awards.

"Approximately 90 percent of entries win an award," Fishbein said. "But that is not to say it is not important. The award helps the (government's) credit rating."

Murray, who sits on the Colorado GFOA board of education, said the reason Moffat County entered the contest is because it wanted a budget that would help management, residents and interested parties easily figure out what is going on financially and what is scheduled to be done regarding budgetary matters. She has been involved with the GFOA for a while and has attended some of the training sessions that the organization offers.

"I got into government because it needs to be held accountable," Murray said. "You want to have a vision of where you are going and where you are."

Liz King is an intern with the Craig Daily Press. She can be reached at 824-7031 or eking@craigdailypress.com.