East County Water Control District (ECWCD) has received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) for its annual budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2010. This is the second, consecutive year for which ECWCD has received this honor.

The award represents a significant achievement by the District. It reflects the commitment of the governing body and staff to meet the highest principles of governmental budgeting. In order to receive this award, ECWCD had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation. These guidelines are designed to assess how well the District’s budget serves as a policy document, an operations guide, a financial plan and a communications device, officials said.

ECWCD Comptroller Brenda Fallon, has also received a Certificate of Recognition for Budget Presentation for the second, consecutive year for her efforts in achieving the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the District.

Award recipients have pioneered efforts to improve the quality of budgeting and provide an excellent example for other governments throughout North America, said Carla Ulakovic, ECWCD’s community project specialist. For budgets including fiscal period 2009, 1,214 entities received the Award. The GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving more than 17,600 government finance professionals throughout North America. The GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program is the only national awards program in governmental budgeting.

ECWCD preserves and protects water reserves through drainage, conservation, mitigation, navigational and water management practices in Lehigh Acres (eastern Lee County) and the western portion of Hendry County.