Santa Fe Irrigation District has earned the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). This is the fifteenth consecutive year SFID has been awarded the highest honor in governmental budgeting. 

“This award recognizes the commitment of our Board and staff to fiscal accountability and transparency,” said Michael. T Hogan, Board President. “As stewards of our community’s water resources, we take great pride in managing our ratepayers’ assets in a responsible way and providing accessible information to our customers.” 

GFOA is a nonprofit association of international public finance officials that establishes best practices for public access and clarity to state and local government finances and policy. The Distinguished Budget Presentation Award recognizes budgets that serve as a public agency’s policy document, financial plan, operations guide and customer communication tool. To win the award, budget documents must be rated “proficient” in all four categories and in twenty-five mandatory criteria within those categories.

The budget award underscores the responsible financial decisions SFID has made in the past year to reduce costs and mitigate impacts to ratepayer. SFID has implemented an updated pension funding policy that resulted in $3 million in savings for ratepayers. In addition, sound investment strategies and adjustments in the past several months increased interest revenue by approximately $1 million. These cost savings will assist in softening potential water rate increases due in part to inflationary pressures, rising wholesale water rates, and loss of local water supply from Lake Hodges.