County Earns Thirty-Fourth Consecutive Distinguished Budget Presentation Award

Leon County Government is proud to announce that it has been awarded the prestigious Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 (Oct. 1, 2023–Sept. 30, 2024) from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). This achievement marks the thirty-fourth consecutive year that Leon County has been honored with this distinguished accolade from the GFOA.

The GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Award is the only national award in governmental budgeting. The award represents a significant achievement by Leon County as it reflects the commitment of the Leon County Board of County Commissioners and staff to meet the highest principles of financial stewardship. For the second year in a row, Leon County also received special recognition for the Strategic Goals and Strategies category, which signifies that all GFOA reviewers rated the County FY 2024 budget as “outstanding.” The County also received special recognition for the Budget Process category.
 
"This award demonstrates the commitment of the County to always have the most deliberate, transparent, and effective budget process in the nation," said Leon County Commission Chair Carolyn D. Cummings. "A nationally recognized budget process is at the heart of the exceptional work the County performs."

Leon County remains dedicated to providing the most fiscally responsible budget possible each year. This distinguished award recognizes the County’s ability to exercise responsible stewardship of County resources and sound financial management while ensuring the provision of services and community enhancements are done in a fair and equitable manner.

In FY 2024, the budget included the following highlights that positively positioned Leon County for the future:

• No increases in the countywide property tax rates for the twelfth consecutive year, and no increases to the stormwater and solid waste non-ad valorem assessments;
• Dedicating more than $2.3 million to Community Human Services Partnerships (CHSP) agencies to address the community’s most pressing needs;
• Alotting additional funding to United Partners for Human Services (UPHS) to enhance resources available for those experiencing homelessness and increasing funding towards building affordable rental housing for low-income families to further enhance housing resources for County resources;
• Allocating millions of dollars in funding to support strategic, long-term infrastructure investments that maintain core capital assets, including thousands of acres of parks and trails, numerous playgrounds, miles of sidewalks, hundreds of miles of roads, over two million square feet of facilities, hundreds of computers and file servers, and more;
• Distributing capital funding to support the Essential Libraries Initiative and enhance customer experience, technology, and space improvements;
• Restoring the County's reserves after responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and protecting both lives and livelihoods;
• Maximizing all federal and ARPA funding;
• New cost savings and avoidances of $50,000, bringing the total to $63.6 million since FY 2013.

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