Orange County Government has received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for its annual budget. The award is considered the highest form of recognition in governmental budgeting.
“Orange County has been honored with the GFOA Distinguished Budget Award for many years, but this year marks an especially notable achievement,” said Kirk Vaughn, Orange County Budget Director. “Our team received special recognition for the strength of our performance measures and for the clear connection we demonstrated between strategic goals and planned activities. This distinction is only given when all three professional reviewers award the highest possible rating in targeted evaluation areas, underscoring the exceptional quality and clarity of our budget work.”
“This award reflects the dedication of the Board of County Commissioners and staff to maintaining the highest standards of transparency, accountability, and fiscal stewardship,” said Orange County Manager Travis Myren. “We are honored to receive this national recognition.”
To qualify for this award, Orange County’s budget had to meet guidelines that assess whether it serves as a policy document, a financial plan, an operations guide, and a communications device. The document must be rated at least “proficient” in these four categories and across 14 mandatory criteria.
The GFOA represents more than 23,000 public finance officials in the United States and Canada. It is recognized for promoting excellence in government finance.
In addition to its financial achievements, Orange County school districts reported on student readiness in core academic subjects during the 2022-23 school year. For example, among senior students taking the science portion of the ACT exam, 49.2% were considered ready for college according to data from https://www.dpi.nc.gov/. Junior students performed similarly on science assessments with 50.7% meeting college readiness benchmarks as shown at https://www.dpi.nc.gov/. In reading, 56.1% of seniors (https://www.dpi.nc.gov/) and 55% of juniors (https://www.dpi.nc.gov/) were deemed ready for college-level work. For math proficiency on the ACT exam, 46.1% of seniors (https://www.dpi.nc.gov/) and 45.1% of juniors (https://www.dpi.nc.gov/) reached college readiness standards.
More information about Orange County’s budget can be found at https://www.orangecountync.gov/714/County-Budgets.
For media inquiries regarding this recognition or other county matters, contact Kristin Prelipp at kprelipp@orangecountync.gov or call 919-245-2322.
