SEPTA recently received a prestigious award for its budget presentation – putting it among a small group of public transit agencies to be honored.
For the sixth straight year, SEPTA’s Operating Budget earned the “Distinguished Budget Presentation Award,” from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of the United States and Canada. Recipients were required to meet nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation.
“The award recognizes the work we have done to improve the budget as a document that is detailed, understandable and accessible,” said SEPTA Chief Financial Officer Richard Burnfield. “We are striving to provide this information in a clear, concise and transparent manner.”
To meet these goals, SEPTA has made a number of changes and additions over the years, such as supplementing core budget data with charts and graphs to help explain details about funding, revenue and expenses. The budget document also goes outside the numbers when possible. For example, geographic and demographic details have been incorporated to help illustrate how SEPTA’s Operating Budget funds services in local communities.
SEPTA’s efforts to improve its budget presentation continue, and the authority hopes to meet new challenges and remain a fixture on the GFOA’s annual award list.
For more information, view SEPTA’s Operating Budget at https://www.septa.org/reports/index.html.