When it comes to presenting its citizens with a bevy of information, no small town in Maine does it better than Southport, according to the Maine Municipal Association.

Southport recently took home the coveted Supreme award from the Maine Municipal Association for its town report. The award was Southport’s first Supreme designation. In 2009 and 2011, Southport finished with the Excellence award, which is akin to third place.

For Sherry Tibbetts, the secretary for the Southport Selectmen, the award is simply recognition of hard work and an effort to make the town’s report not only readable, but accessible.

“It is nice,” she said of the award. “It’s always nice to know that your work is being appreciated. We work hard to make sure everyone is up to date.”

Tibbetts said that while Southport might not be largest town with the biggest budget, the award shows that small towns matter.

“There are a lot of bigger towns that do something splashy,” she said. “It’s nice to know that little towns can get recognized, too.”

The winners were chosen in late August by four judges, with Southport being notified of the award shortly thereafter.

According to Eric Conrad, Maine Municipal Association director of communications, there are 486 member municipalities and more than 250 towns that compete for the award. There are five categories, based on each town’s size and approximately 50 towns per division.

The town reports were broken down and the judges based their decisions on several different factors.

Twenty percent of the judges’ decision was based on appearance, 60 percent on content and 20 percent on utility or usability (how easy the report is to use and digest). The utility portion is decided on whether or not the report has a good table of contents, if it uses breakout boxes and graphs to its advantage and if it is laid out in a clear format.

The highest award is Supreme, followed by Superior then Excellence. Conrad said even being considered for a spot in the top three is an honor, as the process is very competitive.

In Southport’s class, which is for towns with populations between 500 and 999, South Bristol finished with the Superior award and Winter Harbor finished with the Excellence award.