City Manager Todd Venning, on Thursday, announced the City of Newburgh has received North America’s most prestigious award for state and local government budgeting: the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award, conferred by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA). To receive this award, the City is required to satisfy international standards that assess how effective its budget serves as a financial plan, a policy document, an operations guide, and a communications device. 

The GFOA Distinguished Budget Presentation Award adds to a series of recent recognitions received by the Newburgh City Council that confirm the City’s fiscal health under City Manager Todd Venning’s leadership. 

In early June 2023, the City was awarded the GFOA Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the first time in its history. The GFOA Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting.

In August 2022, citing the City’s strong management team, Moody’s Investor Services upgraded the City of Newburgh’s credit rating to A3 from Baa2, and awarded the City its highest governance rating of “G1” - including its highest ratings for institutional structure, policy credibility & effectiveness, and budget management. 

In October 2022, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli analyzed the City of Newburgh’s leading financial indicators including year-end fund balance, cash-on-hand, short-term borrowing, fixed costs, and patterns of operating deficits, and awarded the City a fiscal stress score of “0” – the best possible score – for the third consecutive year. 

In December 2022, the City of Newburgh announced another major step forward in fiscal transparency and community-centered government with the launch of its web-based, mobile-friendly Digital Budget Book and Fiscal Transparency Center. The City of Newburgh’s Fiscal Transparency Center empowers citizens to see precisely how funds are generated and allocated, and better understand how the annual budget impacts the community programs and services they care about most.