Sarasota County Comprehensive Annual Financial Report 2019

Major Initiatives - Annual Action Agenda The Sarasota County Strategic Plan outlines five key goals in 2019. The annual action agenda has been developed to support the County’s strategic goals and to provide value to residents simultaneously. The action agenda lays out tactical action items to be prioritized within the Board Policy Agenda and the Management Agenda. Sarasota County’s new strategic planning process has resulted in a Board-directed strategic plan that has provided guidance to staff on actions to be considered in budget planning and agenda setting. In 2019, the Board adopted seven top priority and five high priority Board Policy Agenda items, to include: Top Priorities:  Water Quality  Transportation to Barrier Islands  Jail: Facility and Population  Capital Projects: Review and Priority  Bayfront Plan: Direction and Actions  County Economic Development Policy Incentives  Major Conference Center/Multi-use Facility High Priorities:  Beach Nourishment/Stabilization  EDC: Evaluation and Direction  Visit Sarasota: Evaluation and Direction  Parks Master Plan Review  Innovation Station: Update Report In addition to the Board Policy Agenda, Sarasota County has also adopted a Management Agenda in 2019 to include top, high, and moderate level priorities. The County’s major initiatives have been summarized in the 2019 Action Agenda to include action agenda by goal, status, department, and action type. Awards and acknowledgements The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) awarded a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to Sarasota County for its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2018. This was the thirty-fifth consecutive year that Sarasota County received this prestigious award. In order to be awarded a Certificate of Achievement, a government must publish an easily readable and efficiently organized Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. This report satisfied both generally accepted accounting principles and applicable legal requirements. A Certificate of Achievement is valid for a period of one year only. We believe that our current Comprehensive Annual Financial Report continues to meet the Certificate of Achievement Program requirements and we will submit it to the GFOA to determine its eligibility for another certificate. In addition to being awarded the Certificate of Achievement, Sarasota County was issued the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for fiscal year 2019. This was the twenty-ninth consecutive year that Sarasota County received this award. Sarasota County and the Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller received the Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting (PAFR) recognition from the Government Finance Officers Association for its seventh consecutive IMPACT report for the year ended September 30, 2018. 15