POST FALLS - The City of Post Falls' work on its strategic plan and annual financial report hasn't gone unnoticed.

The city was recently honored by separate organizations for its effort on the documents.

The city's strategic plan titled "We Value Post Falls Strategic Plan 2013-2017" won the Planning Excellence Award for Best Practice from the Idaho Chapter of the American Planning Association.

Planning and Economic Development Manager Hilary Anderson accepted the award at a recent planning conference in Idaho Falls.

An advisory committee worked on the plan for a year.

Award criteria include codes, applications of technology, public/private partnerships and growth management guidelines.

The city was praised for the use of SharePoint, a Web-based project management tool, to track progress and ensure implementation of the strategic plan.

The tool will also allow the city to make the strategic plan "report card" available for the public on the city's website in the near future.

For its work on its annual financial report, the city received a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting, awarded by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA).

An Award of Financial Reporting Achievement was also awarded to City Administrator Shelly Enderud, who prepared the document while she was finance director.

"Cities are not required to submit the (report) to GFOA, but cities with good financial practices usually do," Finance Director Jason Faulkner said. "For 15 consecutive years, the city has been recognized for its financial management. This is impressive because many municipal entities try to achieve the (certificate) as a one-time goal."

The GFOA awards are given for meeting the reporting standards and demonstrating a "spirit of full disclosure" to communicate the city's financial story to its citizens.

The report can be viewed at www.postfallsidaho.org.