Director of Finance Awarded

Mayor Vasquez awards Director of Finance, Mr. Joseph Ware

Lemon Grove, CA - At the February 7, 2023, City Council Meeting, The Honorable Mayor Racquel Vasquez presented the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Distinguished Budget Award to the City of Lemon Grove’s Director of Finance, Mr. Joseph Ware. The award represents a significant achievement by the City reflecting the commitment of the City Council and staff to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting.

“On behalf of the Lemon Grove City Council, I would like to congratulate Mr. Ware and his all and mighty staff on receiving this award. Mr. Ware has done an amazing job as Director of Finance in the short time he has been in this position. I am very pleased and proud of Mr. Ware and the rest of our Finance Department for their hard work and dedication to excellence. I know this is the first of many of these achievements,” stated Mayor Vasquez

The Government Finance Officers Association selects award recipients based on the satisfaction of nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation. Budget documents must be rated as being proficient in four categories:

• As a Policy document
• As a Financial plan
• An operations guide
• As a communication tool.

In 1984 the GFOA established the Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program. The program encourages State and local governments to prepare budget documents of the highest quality reflecting both the guidelines established by the National Advisory Council on State and Local Budgeting and the GFOA's best practices on budgeting and then to recognize individual governments that succeed in achieving that goal. Approximately 1,800 governments, including states, cities, counties, special districts, school districts, and more have been recognized for transparency in budgeting.

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