Okaloosa County BOCC — May 20, 2014 — CAFR_13 — reading text

role in our area, is utilizing the vii County water/wastewater countywide service to their benefit by exploring numerous partnerships for service. A number of water/wastewater projects and upgrades occurred throughout the year. Solid Waste continues to place a high priority on new ideas as the County monitors and remediates, as closure costs and long-term maintenance continue to be monitored. The County complies with State mandates for landfill activity throughout the closed landfill facilities in the County. Grant funds enhanced physical environment activity with the assistance from Florida Department of Environmental Protection. About $36,500,000 was spent, plus, as always, a great deal of capital outlay, in the area of Physical Environment initiatives, or approximately 15.4% of total expenditures, for 2013. Transportation Initiatives Transportation needs continue to be an area of vital importance to the citizens of the County. Maintenance and enhancement of existing roadways and bridges continues to be a high priority, as funds become available. Many miles of roadway were resurfaced utilizing the “Cold Mix” and “Overlay” options that continue to be more financially feasible along with some bridge conversion projects in 2013. The Local Option Gas Tax and the Constitutional State Shared Gas Tax were utilized to complete or begin construction on many projects and other maintenance, along with many Emergency Watershed Projects utilizing funds from the USDA Emergency Watershed Program. The area of mass transit continues to be addressed with additional grant-funded projects and the ongoing service of Okaloosa Coordinated Transportation(OCT), a nonprofit agency providing mass transportation opportunities for citizens countywide. The Northwest Florida Regional Airport, along with the General Aviation Airports in Destin and in Crestview at Bob Sikes, continue to be funded with fees for services, including Passenger Facility and Customer Facility Fees, along with a significant portion of State and Federal funding for construction activities. Projects abound at the airport operation, including, taxiway and building renovation around the Regional Airport and taxiway and building renovation at the Bob Sikes airport. About $32,000,000, or approximately 13.5% of total spent, was spent on transportation expenditures in 2013. Economic Environment Initiatives The tourism economy continues to recover and rebound after the area suffered greatly from the devastating oil spill disaster, but with renewed effort and changes in tourism marketing leadership record visitors travel to Okaloosa County. The 70,000 square-foot Emerald Coast Conference Center continues to provide much needed state-of-the-art meeting space in the County for a number of events. Financial assistance to countywide citizens in the form of housing assistance through the Community Development Corporation and assistance related to the many veterans located in the area also are included in Economic Environmental initiatives. Community Redevelopment agencies in several cities within the County utilize portions of Ad Valorem Tax dollars to enhance economic development in those designated areas. About $5,000,000 or approximately 2.1% was spent in the area of economic environment in 2013. Human Service Initiatives The ongoing funding for human service activities by the County included mosquito control, animal welfare, health care, Medicaid, elder services, day care service, viii mental health services and court-related child protection services expenditures. These activities, particularly state aid for Medicare and Medicaid, account for well over half of the dollars spent in this particular functional category. A portion of the operation of the Okaloosa County Health Department is another human service initiative in the County. Over $4,000,000 or approximately 1.7% was spent in the area of Human Service activity in 2013. Culture/Recreation Initiatives Several county and city parks continue to be improved this year with MSTU park funding. These park improvements along with funds used to aid in the creation of artificial reef sights for the area fishermen were enhancements to recreational activities provided for all citizens and tourists attracted to our area. Tourist Development completed one beach renourishment project this year and continues reviewing and analyzing the beach areas needing possible renourishment in the future. An additional penny of Tourist Development Tax continues to be collected to renourish all beaches within the Tourist Development boundary area. Many national magazines proclaim the Okaloosa Island/Destin beaches as the #1 Beach in America, the #1 Beach in the South, as well as, one of the Favorite Family Vacation spots as they have for the past several years consecutively. The Countywide Library Cooperative continued to provide countywide service during this year. About $15,500,000 or approximately 6.6% was spent for culture/recreational activities throughout the year. Future Initiatives Maintaining a high level of service the citizens expect will continue to be a major challenge for the County. The allocation of limited resources for use on enhancements while continuing to provide the expected services for County residents will continue to stretch somewhat limited resources significantly. Facility and space needs continue to be a high priority for the immediate future. Since the Annex Extension facility has been completed, the County has turned its attention to the renovation of the Shalimar Annex in the south end of the County, along with the review of the Courthouse facility in the north end of the County. The primary focus of the renovation of the Annex will be in preparation to alleviate the County of rents they pay to currently house Constitutional and County offices. The County will continue to monitor stormwater needs consistent with the availability of funds. Other major improvements in transportation will be for ongoing and expanding airport projects and continued evaluation of countywide transportation systems. Quality of life issues will continue to be debated in the area of culture and recreation. Receipts from the tourist development tax will continue to provide funding for area beautification and beach ix maintenance, to enhance environmental protection efforts, and to promote tourism in the area. Recreation activities will continue to flourish with funding made available through tourist development and boating improvement funds, pursuing additional grant funds and any other resource the County deems applicable to this critical area of quality of life. FINANCIAL INFORMATION Readers of this report are encouraged to read Management?s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A). The MD&A provides basic financial information about the County and an overview of the County?s activities. The government-wide financial statements, consisting of a statement of net assets and a statement of activities, provide a comprehensive financial picture of the County, split between governmental activities and business-type activities. These statements are prepared using the economic resources measurement focus and the accrual basis of accounting, where all assets, liabilities, revenues, and expenses of the County are reported. The fund financial statements provide information concerning the County?s funds and are prepared from the County?s accounting records. The County?s accounting records for general governmental operations are maintained on a modified accrual basis, with revenues being recorded when available and measurable and expenditures being recorded when the services or goods are received and the liabilities are incurred. Accounting records for the County?s proprietary funds are maintained on the accrual basis. The County?s fiscal year is October 1 to September 30. Section 11.45, Florida Statutes, requires an annual audit of all County agencies. The County has directed that the annual audit be more extensive than that required by Florida Statutes by requiring that the annual audit be a single audit covering all the funds and account groups of the County. This requirement has been complied with, and the unqualified opinion of the auditors has been included in this report. AWARDS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) awarded a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to the County for its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2012. The Certificate of Achievement is a prestigious national award, recognizing conformance with the highest standards for presentation of state and local government financial reports. In order to be awarded a Certificate of Achievement, the County must publish an easily readable and efficiently organized comprehensive annual financial report whose contents conform to program standards, GAAP and applicable legal requirements. A Certificate of Achievement is valid for a period of one year only. We believe our current Comprehensive Annual Financial Report conforms to the Certificate of Achievement Program requirements, and it will be submitted to the GFOA to determine its eligibility for another certificate. A comprehensive annual financial report of this nature could not have been prepared without the dedicated efforts of a considerable number of individuals. I want to especially thank the Clerk and the entire staff of the Finance Department for their invaluable assistance in the preparation of this report. I would also like to thank the members of the County?s independent external auditors. I x would also like to thank the Board of County Commissioners and their staff, and the other Constitutional Officers for their personal interest and dedicated support in planning and conducting the financial operations of the County in a responsible manner. Gary J. Stanford, CPFO, CGFO Finance Officer/Deputy Clerk Okaloosa County Clerk xi  OKALOOSA COUNTY, FLORIDA REPORTING ORGANIZATION CITIZENS OF OKALOOSA COUNTY STATE OF FLORIDA OKALOOSA COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY CLERK OF THE PROPERTY TAX SUPERVISOR OF SHERIFF COMMISSIONERS CIRCUIT COURT APPRAISER COLLECTOR ELECTIONS Okaloosa County Comprehensive Annual Financial Report