A letter addressed to Page Mayor Bill Diak begins, “Dear William: We are pleased to notify you that your annual comprehensive financial report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022, qualifies for GFOA’s Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting.”

The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) began in 1906. It serves both the U.S. and Canada.

Of course, Mayor Diak knew who was responsible for earning the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting. It was Page Finance Director Linda Watson. She’s won the award 13 years in a row. The City of Page has won the award every year for the last 23 years. Before Watson, her predecessor Lenore Webber set the pace. 

Every year, Watson provides GFOA with the city’s financial documents.

“They lay out all the criteria for us, and we have to meet that criteria,” said Watson. “It goes before usually three different separate reviewers. So they go through it page by page, number by number, and they rate us. They tell us whether this needs improvement, this is proficient, this is outstanding, et cetera, et cetera.”

“And that's why all those plaques are outside the finance department at City Hall,” said Watson. 

“We display them for the public to see, if they were to come into City Hall and see them. So that's where they’re housed. OK, and what do those awards do for us? Well, some people don’t really think that they’re very important. I was just telling my staff, this is my report card to my manager, our city council and to the public. So that's why it’s important to me. It’s telling them, all those people, hey, we’re trying to be transparent with our numbers. We’re trying to show you that we’re doing a good job in managing our finances, the citizens’ money. We’re the fiduciary for the citizens, and we need to be transparent, and we need to make good, wise decisions where their taxpayer money is going.”

In addition to promoting public trust, the award also assures money lending institutions that Page is diligent in taking care of business.

“If we were to ever need the bond or borrow money as a city, which we’re not doing at this point in time, then the bond holders, they go right to this to see if we’ve gotten this award,” said Watson. “They want to make sure that if they’re going to lend us millions of dollars to do a project that, boy, we’re on top of it, and we have our finances together and are reporting appropriately.”