Another year of the DBPA for the BRA

By CHLOE LAING Staff Writer

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On Dec. 10, 2024, the Brazos River Authority received notice it has been awarded the Government Finance Officers Association’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the 14th year.

In addition to this award, the BRA also received special recognition for the organization’s Long-Range Operating Financial Plan. According to the GFCA, only 6% of more than 1,700 budget submissions receive this recognition. The BRA is one of only four organizations in Texas to be recognized for their long-range plan.

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The DBPA program promotes transparent budgeting by encouraging and assisting Texas governments in the preparation of budget documents that reflect the highest standard of quality, and honors the guidelines set by the National Advisory Council for state and local budgeting and the GFOA’s best practices for budgeting.

The GFOA is a professional organization in the United States and Canada that represents and supports public finance officials through awards, best practices, initiatives, educational opportunities and professional publications. The primary function of the GFOA is to improve and standardize public finance through a set of guidelines that serve as the industry standard for transparent budgeting.

The budget is created by the BRA’s two-person budget team but aided by cross-department contributions from the entire organization.

“The BRA takes great pride in our work and customer focused service. This award means that we are producing a budget document that exceeds expectations and is useful and informative to our stakeholders,” said the BRA’s Chief Financial Officer Michele Giroir. “We are constantly reviewing our budget to find ways to make it better. We begin by asking ourselves, “If I was interested in learning about the BRA, what information would I want to see?”

To be awarded the DBPA, an organization must comply with more than 80 individual criteria requirements to ensure the budget excels as a policy document, financial plan, operations guide and communication tool.

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“GFOA sets the standard for best practices in governmental financial reporting, so earning the award every year means we are staying up to date with the latest guidance on clear and effective communication of annual operating plan,” Giroir said.

Giroir assures Granbury residents that the BRA is coming for the DBPA again in 2025 and discussed the plans it has for the upcoming year.

“Our focus for 2025 is going to be the continuation of our efforts to develop new water sources for the growing needs in our basin by continuing the work on existing projects and identifying and developing new projects,” she said.

For more information on the Brazos River Authority’s past and present budgets, please visit www. brazos.org/about-us/about-the-bra/financial-information/annual-budget.