The City of Knoxville has received a Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) for the city's FY 2011-2012 Operating Budget.

The presentation marks the 23rd consecutive year that Knoxville and the city's Finance Department have been recognized by the GFOA for excellence in preparing and presenting the document that outlines how the city uses its resources.

"The award represents a significant achievement by the entity," a GFOA release noted. "It reflects the commitment of the governing body and staff to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting."

To receive the award Knoxville had to meet recognized standards measuring how well its budget serves as a policy document, a financial plan, an operations guide and a communications device according to the GFOA.

The awards are presented to government bodies ranging from city, county and state governments to school systems, utilities and housing authorities among other agencies.

City Finance Director Jim York received a Certificate of Recognition for Budget Presentation - a recognition that goes to the individual primarily responsible for the city's receiving the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award.

"We're always pleased to be recognized by the GFOA because it's important to us to clearly reflect to the taxpayers how the city is using their money," said Mayor Daniel Brown. "This award also means a lot to the city because it's from a professional organization in the field of government finance - people who know when a city is doing things the right way."

Knoxville has the third-longest streak among city governments in Tennessee for consecutive years receiving the GFOA's Distinguished Budget Presentation Award.

The city has also received the GFOA's Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting for its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (also known as a CAFR) for 24 consecutive years.

The CAFR is an inclusive report on the city's financial condition that includes a discussion of the city's financial results for the previous fiscal year.

Basically the difference between the two documents is that an operating budget outlines how the city plans to spend funds during the upcoming year - while a CAFR details what it actually did with its resources during the prior year.

The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada is a nonprofit professional organization with more than 17,000 members.

For more information about the City's budget please visit http://www.knoxvilletn.gov/budget.