The City has been awarded the esteemed Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for its Fiscal Year 2015 Biennium budget presentation. The award was presented to the City’s Department of Budget and Strategic Planning by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA). 
 “This award recognizes the hard work, dedication, and excellent performance of our City’s Budget staff,” said Mayor Dwight C. Jones. “They have worked to meet the highest principles and standards of governmental budgeting and strategic planning; skills critical to the professional management of public funds. I thank them for their hard work.” 
 The GFOA established the Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards program in 1984 to encourage and assist state and local governments in preparing budget documents of the very highest quality. Receiving this award represents a significant achievement by the City department as it indicates that the City’s budget presentation received a proficient

Huguenot High School earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification with the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) on Tuesday, March 29. Huguenot High School is the first new high school built in Richmond in almost 50 years. As a STEM-focused school, Huguenot High School offers students modern technology, open learning spaces, and two floors of classrooms. The school is also home to the Huguenot High School Community Center, which offers personal wellness and health services. All of the credits that were ultimately submitted were approved, for a total of 47 points. A final scorecard showing the credits earned is attached showing that the school exceeded the goal of LEED Silver, and most importantly reduced environmental impact and operating costs. Here are some of the highlights of what was accomplished: Potable water use and wastewater volume are reduced by over 40% with low-flow plumbing fixtures (saving almost 770,000 gallons per year), plu