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SFPUC Wins Prestigious Public Finance Award from GFOA

SFPUC Wins Prestigious Public Finance Award
  • SFPUC Communications

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's (SFPUC) Business Services team was recently honored with the 2024 Award for Excellence in Government Finance by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). This prestigious honor highlights an innovative approach to improving the capital planning process, which ensures the long-term health and sustainability of its critical infrastructure. In presenting the award, GFOA cited the SFPUC’s capital planning improvement initiative as a program that exemplified outstanding financial management and offered creative solutions to common challenges.   

“Receiving this esteemed recognition from the GFOA is an honor and a testament to our team’s hard work and ongoing pursuit of excellence. The most recent capital planning process was by far one of the most transparent and collaborative, resulting in significant progress on our capital plan. I’m very proud of our work in ensuring financial sustainability and improving the Commission’s ability to deliver projects,” said Nancy Hom, Assistant General Manager for Business Services and Chief Financial Officer.

SFPUC Wins Prestigious Public Finance Award

A Commitment to Excellence in Infrastructure and Financial Management 

The SFPUC’s systems span thousands of miles of pipes and clean energy transmission lines, multiple treatment facilities and watersheds, among other assets. The Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) serves as a fiscal roadmap, aligning investments to maintain and improve essential services with the agency’s long-term financial health.  With the CIP, the SFPUC can uphold their commitments to employees, communities, and ratepayers.   

Each Capital Improvement Plan covers ten years, and the SFPUC refreshes the plan at least every two years. In 2022, the SFPUC’s Business Services team launched a five-year initiative to enhance its capital planning and budgeting processes. The goal: create a more unified and effective approach to align budgets with delivery capacity, improve project completion rates, and support sustainable infrastructure investments. 

A Collaborative Approach Yields Results 

The program management team and steering committee defined key roles, and the agency got to work. More than 170 team members contributed to this ambitious effort during 2023 alone, working across 12 key focus areas, including governance, financial sustainability, resource planning, and environmental compliance. By breaking down silos and fostering collaboration, SFPUC’s teams have introduced new best practices and developed solutions tailored to the agency’s unique needs. 

“When we started, we set expectations that this was going to take five years and deliberately broke down the project into smaller improvements that could be implemented right away from other efforts that needed a longer runway. Our teams have not only stayed the course with us during the capital planning process -- they are also continuing to change how we work for the better,” said Tricia Yang, Director of Strategy, Innovation, and Change.   

National Recognition for Leadership 

While the SFPUC has previously been recognized by GFOA for financial reports and budget books, this is the first time the agency has won the Award for Excellence. Congratulations to the Program Team!