OTHELLO - A Distinguished Budget Award was presented to the City of Othello by the Washington Finance Officers Association.

"In order to win this award, the budget documents are critiqued by a minimum of two reviewers who return a favorable response," according to a letter from the association to Othello Mayor Shannon McKay.

Finance Director Mike Bailey said the award covers the budget for 2007.

"I think one of the key issues in putting together a budget is to communicate financial information to non-financial people," Bailey said. "I think this document makes a lot of strides in that direction."

He noted the document is not perfect, but it moves well in the direction of communicating to non-financial people.

Bailey said the city received the award in 2006.

The two critiques rated areas of the budget with a "3" for being proficient, with a "2" for not satisfying the criterion and a "1" if the information was not present. The city received multiple "3" scores, with only a few "2" scores.

A plaque was made available to the city at the 52nd annual Washington Finance Officers Association conference in September.