The Government Finance Officers Association presented Pierce County Library System with the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award this month. The prestigious and highly coveted award goes to state and local government organizations that prepare budget documents of the very highest quality.

“This is a wonderful acknowledgement of the Library’s leadership and dedication to being good stewards of taxpayers’ investments that pay the Library to serve communities,” said Neel Parikh, executive director of the Library. “It is also a strong recognition of the sound financial practices and planning of the Library’s managers, Finance & Business Director Clifford Jo and Board of Trustees.”

The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) looks at a variety of criteria to determine the merits of local governments’ budgets including the overall structure of the budget document descriptions and accounting for how an organization plans to spend its money, as well as recordings of how an organization spent its money.

Pierce County Library earned the highest rating of “outstanding” for its 2012 budget in many categories including strategic goals and strategies, descriptions of funding plans, and goal setting.

The Government Finance Officers Association enhances and promotes the professional management of governments for public benefit, serving the United States and Canada.

Pierce County Library is the fourth largest library system in Washington state, serving 555,000 people in all of unincorporated Pierce County and 15 cities and towns. Its 2012 operating budget is $26,869,885.