Sarasota County Comprehensive Annual Financial Report 2019

Sarasota County, Florida Notes to Financial Statements September 30, 2019 responsibility for the debt issues approved by the Authority but there is a financial benefit or burden relationship. Certain separate legal entities within the County are autonomous organizations with their own governmental powers and constituencies. These entities, which are not included in the financial statements, are as follows: The Cities of Sarasota, Venice and North Port and the Town of Longboat Key - The Cities of Sarasota, Venice and North Port and the Town of Longboat Key are in the boundaries of Sarasota County. Each of these entities has a separately elected board, budgeting, accounting, and reporting requirements. Sarasota County School Board - The School Board operates county-wide and is completely separate and autonomous. It has five elected board members and a superintendent of schools. It operates under regulations prescribed by the State Board of Education and the Florida Statutes. It levies its own taxes and receives a large part of its income from the State of Florida. Sarasota Memorial Hospital - Sarasota Memorial Hospital is an autonomous entity located within the boundaries of Sarasota County. It is operated by its own elected board and has its own taxing authority. It was created by a special act of the Florida Legislature. B. BASIS OF PRESENTATION The County’s basic financial statements contain three components: government-wide financial statements, fund financial statements, and notes to the financial statements. Government-Wide Financial Statements The government-wide financial statements consist of a statement of net position and a statement of activities. These statements report all of the assets, deferred outflows of resources, liabilities, and deferred inflows of resources, revenues, expenses, gains and losses on all of the nonfiduciary activities of the County, providing a consolidated financial picture of the government as a whole. In most cases, the effect of interfund activity has been removed from these statements. Each statement distinguishes between activities that are supported primarily by taxes and intergovernmental revenues (governmental activities) and activities that are intended to recover all or most of their costs through user fees and charges (business-type activities). The governmental activities of the County include general government, public safety, physical environment, transportation, economic environment, human services, and culture and recreation. The business-type activities of the County include the Utility System, Solid Waste System, Stormwater Utility, and the Transportation Authority. The statement of net position reports all financial and capital resources and obligations of the County as a whole. The effects of fiduciary funds are not included as a part of this statement. The difference between assets plus deferred outflows of resources and liabilities plus deferred inflows of resources is reported as net position. The statement of activities presents information showing how the County’s net position changed during the fiscal year. Further, this statement demonstrates the degree to which the direct expenses of a given function or segment is offset by program revenues. Direct expenses are those that are clearly identifiable with a specific function or segment. The effect of administrative and support services’ indirect expense allocations has been eliminated in the government-wide financial statements. Depreciation expense for capital assets that serve all functions is reported as a direct expense of the general government function on the government-wide statement of activities. All interest on general long-term debt is considered indirect and is reported separately in the government-wide statement of activities. Program revenues include 1) charges to customers or applicants for goods, services, or privileges provided and 2) grants and contributions that are restricted to meeting the operational or capital requirements of a particular function or segment. All taxes, and other items not properly included among program revenues, are reported as general revenues. Internally dedicated resources are reported as general revenues rather than as program revenues. 78