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Governor's Community Achievement Award

Governor’s Community Achievement Awards

Applications Open Jan 2- Feb 13, 2025

Overview

For more than thirty years, Keep Texas Beautiful, in partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), has awarded the prestigious Governor’s Community Achievement Awards to Texas communities for their outstanding overall efforts to keep their communities beautiful.

The GCAA program has recognized outstanding communities since 1969, with TxDOT providing landscaping award funding since 1985. This year, ten winning communities will share $2 million in landscaping awards from the Texas Department of Transportation, with the amount based on population size. The funds are used for landscaping projects along state rights-of-way.

A community’s environmental program is judged on achievements in seven areas:

  • Community Leadership and Coordination
  • Public Awareness and Outreach
  • Environmental Education and Youth Engagement
  • Beautification and Community Improvement
  • Litter Prevention and Cleanup
  • Solid Waste Management
  • Litter Law and Illegal Dumping Enforcement
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WEBINAR

Preparing for the GCAA application

in collaboration with Texas Downtown

Watch Recording
watch the webinar

WEBINAR

Tips for a winning application with help from past winners

 

WATCH RECORDING
register for the webinar

Winner's Reception

On June 19th, the 2024 GCAA winners celebrated at a reception at the Governor’s Mansion.  Texas First Lady Cecilia Abbott and the Keep Texas Beautiful Board of Directors hosted the event. Mrs. Abbott presented each of the ten winning communities a proclamation signed by Governor Greg Abbott. 

The event, sponsored by Arca-Continental Southwest Beverages and Frontier Waste Solutions, celebrated the exceptional efforts of communities across Texas in enhancing their local environments.

Thank you to our Reception Sponsors

American Electric Power Foundation
Community Waste Disposal
The Ebby Halliday & Maurice Acers Endowment Fund

Winners Recognized in Texas Town & City Magazine

Texas Town & City Magazine included an article in their August 2024 issue celebrating the 10 winning communities.

(Clicking each image will enlarge the page.)

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Awards

Ten first-place-winning communities will receive the Governor’s Community Achievement Award. First place winners share $2 million in landscaping funds.

Specific locations of landscape projects will be determined in consultation between the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the winning community. Highway landscape projects will be designed, funded, and contracted by TxDOT at approved sites on the existing state highway system. 

First-place winners will also receive a plaque and provided with a communications toolkit to share the news with the community. Second and third-place winners will receive an award.

Landscaping Awards

by Population Size *2020 census estimates

Category 1:  Up to 3,000          $90,000

Category 2:  3,001-5,500          $110,000

Category 3:  5,501-9,000           $130,000

Category 4:  9,001-15,000         $160,000

Category 5:  15,001-25,000      $180,000

Category 6:  25,001 – 40,000    $210,000

Category 7:  40,001-65,000      $250,000

Category 8:  65,001-90,000     $270,000

Category 9:  90,001-180,000   $290,000

Category 10:  Over 180,000     $310,000

Evaluation

A community’s environmental program is judged on achievements in seven areas:

  • Community Leadership and Coordination
  • Public Awareness and Outreach
  • Environmental Education and Youth Engagement
  • Beautification and Community Improvement
  • Litter Prevention and Cleanup
  • Solid Waste Management
  • Litter Law and Illegal Dumping Enforcement

Eligibility

The 2024 Governor’s Community Achievement Awards will open on January 2, 2025.

The award application must be submitted online with all supplemental materials uploaded and application fees received by Thursday, February 13, 2025, at 5 p.m. CST. 

Late, faxed, or emailed entries will not be accepted. There is an application fee of $25/entry. 

GENERAL GUIDELINES

  • For application questions, the reporting period is from January 1 – December 31, 2024.
  • Your application must be submitted by 5 pm CST, Thursday, February 13, 2025, with all supporting documentation uploaded, and the application fee paid, to be eligible.
  • Population Categories: For 2025 GCAA applications, use the total community population for January 2020 from the Texas Demographic Center census data linked in the toolkit below.

ELIGIBILITY AND JUDGING:

  • All Texas communities are eligible to apply, not just KTB affiliates. One community may not have more than one GCAA application. See the definitions below to see what constitutes as a “community” and a “program”.
  • If cities and counties apply as separate communities, shared program information may not be duplicated.
  • First Place GCAA winners are not eligible to achieve first, second, and third place for 4 years.  For example, first-place GCAA winners in 2020 are able to achieve first, second, or third place beginning in 2025. See the chart below for reference.
Winning Year Eligible Again 
2020 2025
2021 2026
2022 2027
2023 2028

While recent GCAA winners are not eligible to place, they are encouraged to apply in order to achieve the Award of Excellence (scoring 90 points or higher) and Sustained Excellence (receiving the Award of Excellence for 3 consecutive years.)

AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE AND SUSTAINED EXCELLENCE

Judges will recognize all applicants scoring 90 points or above with the Award of Excellence. This prestigious award distinguishes these communities throughout Texas for their outstanding achievements in protecting and enhancing their local environment, exemplifying their efforts as the standard of environmental excellence for communities nationwide.

The Sustained Excellence Award recognizes the communities that have scored 90 or above in the GCAA competition for three consecutive years. Recipients of this esteemed award are recognized for their ongoing commitment to making Texas the cleanest, most beautiful state in the nation.

Toolkit

RESEARCH

Review the 2024 Application Questions
2024 application questions
View the 2024 Questions

2022 CENSUS DATA

The 2024 population categories are based on 2022 census estimates for each community.
access census spreadsheet
ACCESS DATA

APPLICATION TIPS

Review this guide to help you prepare for the online application.

Includes definitions and a list of abbreviations

view the tips
View the Guide
Common Definitions

TXDOT MAPS

Ensure your community has an eligible site
view TXDOT master map
VIEW MAP

PROJECT GUIDELINES

Guidelines for Winning Communities’ Projects
Review Guidelines
View Guidelines

Past Winners

Winners of a 2023 GCAA award celebrate at the check presentation

Congratulations to these Outstanding Communities

2024 Winners

By Population Category

  1. Argyle
  2. Whitesboro
  3. Alpine
  4. Seabrook
  5. Anna
  6. Del Rio
  7. Little Elm
  8. San Marcos
  9. Pearland
  10. Garland

2023 Winners

By Population Category

  1. Collinsville
  2. Chandler
  3. Nolanville
  4. Henderson
  5. Dickinson
  6. Lake Jackson
  7. Burleson
  8. Pflugerville
  9. McAllen
  10. Frisco

2022 Winners

By Population Category

  1. SALADO
  2. RICHWOOD
  3. LUCAS
  4. WOODWAY
  5. KATY
  6. CANYON LAKE
  7. GRAPEVINE
  8. ROWLETT
  9. ALLEN
  10. IRVING

2021 Winners

By Population Category

  1. MUENSTER
  2. SAN SABA
  3. CUERO
  4. ATHENS
  5. GATESVILLE
  6. DUNCANVILLE
  7. FRIENDSWOOD
  8. MANSFIELD
  9. DENTON
  10. McKINNEY

2020 Winners

By Population Catagory

  1. South Padre Island
  2. Weston Lakes
  3. Lago Vista
  4. Levelland
  5. White Settlement
  6. Alvin
  7. The Colony
  8. Harlingen
  9. Tyler
  10. Grand Prairie

The Governor’s Community Achievement Awards are brought to you in partnership with