The Government Finance Officers’ Association (GFOA) has presented Greenville Utilities three awards related to how the Finance Department communicates financial information.

GUC won the Distinguished Budget Presentation for the second year in a row. To win the award, the budget document had to go through the scrutiny of three independent reviewers. It had to substantially conform to 90 points of challenging criteria which incorporate guidelines from the National Advisory Council on State and Local Budgeting. This document is an in-depth reporting of GUC’s budget and is designed for those who understand the complexities of running four separate utility services.

At the end of a fiscal year, organizations prepare a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) – a look back at the previous fiscal year. This is the ninth consecutive year GUC has earned a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for its CAFR. To do so, it also had to pass three independent reviewers and substantially conform to the program’s strenuous criteria, which go well beyond the minimum requirements of generally accepted accounting principles.

The Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR) is a document designed to make an organization’s CAFR easier to understand by those who do not have finance or accounting backgrounds. GUC’s PAFR was evaluated by four independent judges in five categories: reader appeal, understandability, distribution methods, creativity, and overall quality. This is the third year in a row GUC has won the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting for its PAFR.

For the seventh year in a row, the Purchasing Section of GUC’s Finance Department received the Sustained Professional Purchasing Award, presented by the Carolinas Association of Governmental Purchasing (CAGP). GUC is one of 15 member agencies in the Carolinas to receive the award. The accolade reflects that GUC conducts business in a professional and ethical manner.

Cleve Haddock, Procurement Coordinator, was instrumental in helping the department obtain this recognition. GUC met a set of complex criteria throughout the award year (2017). CAGP recognized GUC for the use of technology, minority outreach, staff certification, customer training, vendor training, and the use of recycled products.

This year, Cleve has served as President of CAGP. Under his leadership, the CAGP received an Excellence Award for “Inspiring Procurement for the Future” from the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP) at its National Conference.  In addition, the CAGP was also recognized as the winner of the 2018 NGIP Ethics Video Contest for producing a video on ethics.  Check out the video here.

Congratulations to the Finance Department on these outstanding awards! These accomplishments reflect the professionalism and commitment of all the divisions in the Finance Department. It also reflects a high degree of dedication and leadership on the part of our Board of Commissioners.