County Budget Team Receives Distinguished Award

GFOA Budget Team County of Maui. PC: RYAN PIROS

The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada presented the County of Maui with the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the County’s FY 2018 budget.

This is the 25th consecutive year that the County has received the prestigious award.

Less than 2% of the 1,600 jurisdictions participating in the GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Award program receive a special recognition on performance measures each year nationwide, according to John Fishbein, senior program manager for GFOA.

A budget has to receive “outstanding” ratings on performance measures from all reviewers in order to receive the recognition for excellence in providing objective measures of progress toward accomplishing mission, goals and objectives in specific agencies and organization wide.

“This award confirms that the steps we took to improve transparency and accountability are working well,” said Arakawa. “Thanks to Mayor’s Chief of Staff & former Budget Director Lynn Araki-Regan, the current Budget Director Sandy Baz, Marci Sato, and the rest of the budget office staff for their work in making the FY 2018 budget a strategic policy, financial and operation guide, but also a quality communication tool,” added Arakawa.

The GFOA is a major professional association servicing nearly 19,000 appointed and elected local, state and provincial-level government officials and finance practitioners. It provides training programs, services, publications and other products designed to enhance the skills and performance of those responsible for government fiscal policy and management. The association is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with offices in Washington, DC.