Both of the government-wide financial statements distinguish functions of Sarasota County that are principally supported by taxes and intergovernmental revenues (governmental activities) from other functions that are intended to recover all or a significant portion of their costs through user fees and charges (business-type activities). The governmental activities of Sarasota County include general government, public safety, physical environment, transportation, economic environment, human services, and culture and recreation. The businesstype activities of Sarasota County include the Utility System, Solid Waste System, Stormwater Utility and Transportation Authority. The government-wide financial statements can be found on pages 44-47 of this report. Fund financial statements. A fund is a grouping of related accounts that is used to maintain control over resources that have been segregated for specific activities or objectives. Sarasota County, like other state and local governments, uses fund accounting to ensure and demonstrate compliance with finance-related legal requirements. All of the funds of Sarasota County can be divided into three categories: governmental funds, proprietary funds, and fiduciary funds. Governmental Funds. Governmental funds are used to account for essentially the same functions reported as governmental activities in the government-wide financial statements. However, unlike the government-wide financial statements, governmental fund financial statements focus on near-term inflows and outflows of spendable resources, as well as on balances of spendable resources available at the end of the fiscal year. Such information may be useful in evaluating a government’s near-term financing requirements. Because the focus of governmental funds is narrower than that of the government-wide financial statements, it is useful to compare the information presented for governmental funds with similar information presented for governmental activities in the government-wide financial statements. By doing so, readers may better understand the long-term impact of the government’s near-term financing decisions. Both the governmental fund balance sheet and the governmental fund statement of revenues, expenditures, and changes in fund balances provide a reconciliation to facilitate this comparison between governmental funds and governmental activities. Sarasota County maintains many individual governmental funds. Information is presented separately in the governmental fund balance sheet and in the governmental fund statement of revenues, expenditures, and changes in fund balances for the General Fund, the Emergency Services Special Revenue Fund, the Capital Revenue Programs Special Revenue Fund, Federal, State and Local Grants Fund, Infrastructure One-Cent Sales Tax Capital Projects Fund, and the Debt Proceeds Capital Projects Fund, all of which are considered to be major funds. Data from the remaining governmental funds are combined in a single, aggregated presentation. Individual fund data for each of these non-major governmental funds is provided in the form of combining statements elsewhere in this report. Sarasota County adopts an annual budget as described in Note 2 to the financial statements. A budgetary comparison statement has been provided for the General Fund and each major special revenue fund to demonstrate compliance with this budget. The budgetary comparison schedules for any non-major governmental fund, which is required to adopt an annual budget is presented in the combining statements elsewhere in this report. The basic governmental fund financial statements can be found on pages 48-55 of this report. Proprietary Funds. Sarasota County maintains two different types of proprietary funds. Enterprise funds are used to report the same functions presented as business-type activities in the government-wide financial statements. Sarasota County uses enterprise funds to account for its Utility System (water and wastewater utility services), Solid Waste System (solid waste disposal facilities), Stormwater Utility (Stormwater facilities) and Transportation Authority (public transportation activities). Internal service funds are an accounting device used to accumulate and allocate costs internally among Sarasota County’s various functions. 30
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzM3Mjg=