Audit of Economic Development Incentive Fund Program, April 2019

3 |  A u d i t o f E c o n o m i c D e v e l o p m e n t I n c e n t i v e F u n d P r o g r a m  A p r i l 2 0 1 9 Background and Objectives The Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller’s  Internal Audit Department and Office of  the Inspector General has completed an audit of the Economic Development Incentive Fund  program. The audit was planned and conducted in conformance with the  International  Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (Standards) . Those standards  require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to  provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We  believe the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions  based on our audit objectives. The purpose of the audit was to review compliance with  applicable Florida Statutes, county ordinances, agreements, and policies and procedures  related to the incentive fund program.  Background  The Economic Development Incentive Fund program was previously managed by the Office of  Economic Development (OED). The incentive fund agreements reviewed in this audit were  entered into under the management of the OED. As of October 1, 2018, the Office of  Government Relations has taken over management of the program and as of the date of this  audit report, has not entered into any incentive fund agreements while under their  management.  The Sarasota Board of County Commissioners (BCC) established County Resolution No. 2010‐ 199, known as the Economic Development Incentive Policy Guidelines, in order to assist in its  determination as to whether a business seeking an economic development incentive grant will  further the economic prosperity and sustainability goals of the County. Since being established  in fiscal year 2010, this resolution has been superseded four times and the current resolution is  County Resolution No. 2017‐145.  This resolution is in accordance with Florida Statute 125.045, and it authorizes the BCC to  expend public funds to attract and retain business enterprises, included making grants to public  and private enterprises for the expansion of business‐focused entities. These companies may  already exist in the community or they may be attracted from outside of the community by  available economic development opportunities.