Sarasota County Comprehensive Annual Financial Report 2019

Governmental activities. Governmental activities resulted in a $2.5 million decrease in net position because of current fiscal year activities.  Revenues related to governmental activities increased by $36.6 million, or 6.8 percent. Key factors that contributed to the increase in revenues are identified below.  Property tax revenues increased by $14.8 million, or 7.0 percent reflective of the increases in taxable assessed property values.  Investment earnings revenue increased by $15.0 million, or 266.9 percent due to a decrease in the level of interest rates from prior fiscal year and conservative duration risk management causing a rise in market value of the portfolio.  Expenses in governmental activities increased approximately $25.5 million, or 4.8 percent. Key factors that contributed to the increase in expenses are identified below.  Public Safety expenses increased by $37.0 million, or 15.5 percent generally due to an increase in personal services from pension and other post-employment benefit expenses.  Culture and Recreation expenses decreased by $12.6 million, or 17.4 percent from the prior fiscal year. During fiscal year 2018, the County made a contribution to the construction of the Atlanta Braves spring training complex which was not annually recurring.  The General Fund transferred out $21.7 million to the Transportation Authority to fund the cost of operations net of revenue collected. Business-type activities. Business-type activities were responsible for $35.1 million of the total growth in Sarasota County’s net position for the current fiscal year.  Revenues for business-type activities increased by $8.2 million, or 3.8 percent. Key factors that contributed to the increase in revenues are identified below. o Charges for services increased by $2.7 million, or 1.6 percent due to overall growth in the County impacting water and wastewater charges. o Capital grants and contributions decreased by $3.5 million or 11.4 percent due to decreases in the receipt of water and waste water impact fees resulting from the timing of construction and development in the County.  Expenses for business-type activities increased by $16.3 million, or 8.5 percent. Key factors that contributed to the increase in expenses are identified below. o The Utility System (water and wastewater utilities) expenses increased by $5.9 million, or 5.7 percent due to increases in operations and maintenance costs related to increased construction in the County and related growth and maintenance of the System. o The Solid Waste System expenses increased by $9.5 million, or 25.2 percent mostly due to landfill closure and post closure costs. Additionally, general and administrative expenses reported an increase due to increased contracted recycling charges. o The Stormwater Utility expenses decreased by roughly $53 thousand, or less than 1.0 percent. o The Transportation Authority expenses increased $1.0 million, or 3.5 percent due to the increase in depreciation and amortization. 36