Sarasota County receives distinguished budget award

Sarasota County has received the "Distinguished Budget Presentation Award" for its fiscal year 2012 budget. The county has won the award for 22 consecutive years. The award is the highest professional recognition in governmental budgeting and is presented by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA).

The GFOA cited the county budget for demonstrating the highest principles of government accounting. The award was presented to Sarasota County's Office of Financial Planning and Steve Botelho, Interim Chief Financial Planning Officer.

Sarasota County met nationally recognized guidelines that assess how well a budget serves as a policy, financial and operations document, as well as a source for public information. Budget documents must be "proficient" in all four categories to receive the award.

"This award shows the county's continued commitment to professional budgeting standards and to public transparency in budget information," Botelho said, in a news release. Sarasota County budget and financial information are available on the financial transparency page of the county website at www.scgov.net.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].