Beaufort County has launched its first-ever digital budget book and has been awarded The Distinguished Budget Presentation Award by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for its FY 2023 Budget.

“The Fiscal Year 2022-2023 digital budget book, graphs, tables, and charts contained in the following pages reflect structurally balanced budgets for each fund, which was accomplished without a millage increase to taxpayers,” said Eric Greenway, Beaufort County Administrator. "This book also reflects the extraordinary efforts Budget Staff made to produce a user-friendly document that lends to greater availability of County information and transparency to the citizens of Beaufort County.”

The FY 2023 Annual Budget provides information for understanding the allocation of revenue resources, budgeted expenditures for the upcoming fiscal year, and an understanding of the debt the County has taken on.

To view the Beaufort County FY 2023 Annual Budget, visit https://county-beaufort-sc-budget-book.cleargov.com/4109

GFOA established the Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program (Budget Awards Program) in 1984 to encourage and assist state and local governments in preparing budget documents of the highest quality that reflect the established guidelines for best practices on budgeting.

“To receive Beaufort County’s first-ever Distinguished Budget Presentation Award is an amazing accomplishment for our organization. We are committed to residents to provide fiscal transparency to see where their taxpayer dollars are spent,” said Pinky Harriott, FY23 Budget Director. “In our new Digital Budget Book, the user-friendly link helps navigate each aspect of all our government spending.”

The award represents a significant achievement by the County. It reflects the governing body’s and staff’s commitment to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting. To receive the budget award, the County had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for an effective budget presentation. These guidelines are designed to assess how well the County’s budget serves as:

• a policy document
• a financial plan
• an operations guide
• a communications device

Budget documents must be rated “proficient” in all four categories and have fourteen mandatory criteria within those categories to receive the award.