Each year, Polco is proud to celebrate local governments with the Best in Governance Awards — the nation's only awards program honoring communities for both resident experience and measurable outcomes. These awards shine a light on the jurisdictions that stand out as the most effective, innovative, and community-centered across the country, as measured through national data.
These Voice of the People awards honor organizations that go beyond asking residents what they want — and invite them to work through the same choices leaders face. In this second of two Resident Engagement features, we're spotlighting the governments and school districts weighing trade-offs with their communities.
About the Resident Engagement Category
Every budget and every plan involves trade-offs. When residents get to try their hand at those decisions, they see the real constraints their government works within, and leaders get clearer, more realistic input to guide them.
These awards celebrate organizations that brought residents into those tough choices over the past year. Through interactive budget simulations, residents balance real budgets by adjusting revenues and spending. Through prioritization exercises, they rank and weigh competing goals and projects. The result is a community that better understands how decisions get made — and decisions that better reflect what residents value most.
- Priorities in Action recognizes the most impactful prioritization engagements.
- Schools of Thought (Prioritize) recognizes school districts with the most impactful prioritization engagements.
- Schools of Thought (Simulation) recognizes school districts with the best budget simulations.
- Trust Through Transparency recognizes the best budget simulation experiences.
2026 Top Performers: Weighing Trade-offs
Voice of the People — Priorities in Action
- Frederick County, Maryland
- City of San Marcos, Texas
- City of Tahlequah, Oklahoma
Voice of the People — Schools of Thought (Prioritize)
- Albemarle County Public Schools, Virginia
- Denver Public Schools, Colorado
- Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District, Alaska
Voice of the People — Schools of Thought (Simulation)
- Anchorage School District, Alaska
- Battle Ground Public Schools, Washington
- Petersburg School District, Alaska
Voice of the People — Trust Through Transparency
- City of Lawrence, Kansas
- Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, California
- Sedgwick County, Kansas
What's Next
The organizations recognized as Top Performers represent the very best in trusting residents with the hard choices — and building stronger budgets and plans because of it. The National Champions in each category will be announced in October.
Congratulations to all of this year's Top Performers. We're honored to showcase your leadership in building stronger, smarter, and more connected communities. Visit our awards page for more information about Polco's Best in Governance Awards.
