Santa Clarita Water received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the agency’s 2015/16 budget, which certified that the budget met a high standard in several judged categories.

The agency, known as SCWD, is a division of Castaic Lake Water Agency, or CLWA.

SCW received the award from the Government Finance Officers Association, or GFOA, of the United States and Canada and the California Society of Municipal Finance Officers, or CSMFO, Operating Budget Excellence Award for its FY 2015/16 Budget.  

“Accountability to the public, our ratepayers, starts with a clear annual budget document and related financial reporting,” said Matt Stone, CLWA General Manager. “I commend our budget team for their excellent efforts with the FY 2015/16 budget”,

To receive the GFOA Distinguished Budget Presentation Award, the budget document must be rated “proficient” in all four categories that demonstrate how well the budget serves as a:

(1) policy document

(2) a financial plan

(3) operations guide

(4) communications device

The award reflects the commitment of the governing body and staff to meet the highest principles of governmental budgeting.  

This is the fifth consecutive year in which SCWD has received this award.

Elizabeth Ooms-Graziano, Retail Administrative Officer for Santa Clarita Water Division, received a Certificate of Recognition for Budget Presentation for being primarily responsible for preparing the award-winning budget.

The 2015/16 Budget has been judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program.

Award recipients have pioneered efforts to improve the quality of budgeting and provide an excellent example for other governments throughout North America.  

The GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program is the only national awards program in governmental budgeting.

About the GFOA

The GFOA is a major professional association servicing the needs of more than 18,300 appointed and elected local, state, and provincial-level government officials and other finance practitioners.  The association is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and has an office in Washington, D.C.

The CSMFO Budget Awards Program is designed to recognize those agencies that have prepared a budget document that meets standards that include (1) a minimum score of 50 points (out of 80) in the Excellence in Budgeting section and (2) a score of 20 out of 20 for the Meritorious Budget section.  SCWD’s FY 2015/16 Budget has been judged by impartial review to meet the high standards of the CSMFO program.  This is the fifth consecutive year in which SCWD has received this award.

CSMFO is California’s premier statewide association for finance professionals, with Chapters located throughout the State.  CSMFO seeks to improve the knowledge, skills, and performance of individuals responsible for municipal and other local government fiscal policy and management.

SCWD’s Budget and other financial documents can be found here.

About SCWD:

SCWD is one of four retailers in the Santa Clarita Valley operating a service area that consists of approximately 340 miles of pipelines, which includes a portion of the City of Santa Clarita and unincorporated portions of Los Angeles County in the communities of Saugus, Canyon Country and Newhall. 

SCWD supplies potable water, which consists of imported water purchased from CLWA and groundwater extracted from two local groundwater basins.  SCWD currently provides water service to approximately 30,700 service connections in a service area of approximately 55 square miles with a population of approximately 122,998.

SCWD’s mission is to provide reliable, quality water at a reasonable cost to our customers.

More information can be found at the agency’s website here.

Ed. Note: This is a news release provided by Santa Clarita Water.