Fort Walton Beach — Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, September 30, 2025 — reading text

financial statements for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, are fairly presented in conformity with GAAP. The independent auditor’s report is presented in Section II - Financial Section as the first component of this section of the report. Generally accepted accounting principles require that management provide a narrative introduction, overview, and analysis to accompany the basic financial statements in the form of Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A). This letter of transmittal is designed to complement MD&A and should be read in conjunction with it. The City of Fort Walton Beach’s MD&A can be found immediately following the report of the independent auditor. iv GOVERNMENT PROFILE DATE OF INCORPORATION: June 16, 1941 FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Council & Manager PAVED STREETS: 93.12 miles GEOGRAPHIC AREA: 7.60 square miles SIDEWALKS: 63.67 miles TAXABLE ASSESSED VALUE: $2,197,593,063 WATER & SEWER LINES: 282.82 miles CITY MILLAGE RATE: 4.3282 STORM DRAIN: 43.18 miles POPULATION: 21,120 POLICE STATIONS: 1 FIRE STATIONS: 2 EMPLOYEES: 362 positions, 317.51 FTE’s LIBRARIES: 1 MUSEUMS: 4 SWORN POLICE OFFICERS: 54 18-HOLE GOLF COURSES: 2 FIREFIGHTING PERSONNEL: 44 ACRES OF PARKS: 206 The City of Fort Walton Beach, Florida prides itself on being a small, family-oriented seaside community boasting a downtown area that was home to a significant prehistoric Native American community on the Gulf Coast of Northwest Florida. Situated at the junction of two major highways - US 98 (Miracle Strip Parkway) and SR 85 (Eglin Parkway) - Fort Walton Beach enjoys the benefits of its crossroads location along the coastal portion of the Northwest Florida regional transportation network. The City offers a full- service government providing police and fire protection; cultural and recreational activities including parks, a library, a museum, and two championship golf courses; planning and zoning; public works such as street, sidewalk, right-of-way, and cemetery maintenance; utility services including water, sewer, and stormwater; and garbage and recycling collection to a coastal community of over 20,000 residents. The City has an exciting and romantic history. As early as 600 B.C., Indian tribes were attracted to Fort Walton Beach from the Mississippi and Tennessee River Valleys and the Southeast Georgia coast. The beginning for the City occurred following the War Between the States when Alabama war veteran John Brooks selected a site of 111 acres where he built a three-room cabin in 1867. Other settlers soon followed. By 1884, the population of the area required establishment of a small schoolhouse. In 1902, the first hotel, Brooks House, was built along the sound and shortly thereafter the first post office was built in 1906. The Montgomery, Alabama, Maxwell Field military base First Schoolhouse developed an airfield in Fort Walton in 1933 on 137 acres of land and used it as a bombing and gunnery range. The most significant factor in the City's growth was the creation and later expansion, of that airfield, which is now Eglin Air Force Base (the largest military installation in the world) in 1937, the year the City Charter was adopted. Originally chartered as a municipality under the laws of the State of Florida, actual formation of the City was in 1941 when the Florida Legislature officially named it the Town of Fort Walton. In 1953, the Florida Legislature granted the City a new charter at which time the name was changed to Fort Walton Beach. The name Walton originates from Colonel George Walton, who was Secretary of the East-West Florida Territory in 1822-26 and son of George Walton, signer of the Declaration of Independence and Governor of Georgia. The presence of the military base provided the key economic stimulus for the City's early growth, supplemented by the attractiveness of the location. The City enjoyed a substantial population and economic boom from the 1950's through the end of the 1970's. Subsequently, things started to slow down. The military base became less important to the City's economy than the growing tourism industry. In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s Fort Walton Beach began to experience a decline in economic prosperity, some of which can be attributed to the utility and transportation infrastructure getting older and commercial and residential structures becoming deteriorated. New development began to take place in the surrounding communities. The City, having nearly run out of developable land, started to focus attention on finding ways to induce private enterprise investment in the City and thus capturing a greater share of the local and regional market. v The City’s premier gathering place along the Santa Rosa Sound has been the Landing Park since its purchase in 1986. In Spring 2023, the Landing Park renovations commenced with Phase 1 of this project, with Phase 3 initiated in late 2024, and is slated to be finished in 2026. Building upon that with the complete reconstruction of Brooks Street, including Brooks Bridge Park in 2013, the City’s downtown waterfront was opened to an extent never realized and spurred economic growth downtown. Outside of downtown, the City completed construction of a new recreational complex in 2015 and a new field office complex in 2019, which has added to the attraction of the City. Additionally, a 4,500 square foot Museum addition and a new Beal Cemetery Administration Building were completed in 2025, which have been tremendous additions to the City. In 2026, a 12-acre Preston Hood Athletic Complex expansion broke ground and the Liza Jackson Park waterfront renovations will begin. A “once in a lifetime” project on the horizon, “Around the Mound”, will connect the then newly built Brooks Bridge to Highway 98, around the Heritage Park and Cultural Center. This will allow the City of Fort Walton Beach to have a true “downtown” atmosphere. Fort Walton Beach Landing Rendering The financial reporting entity (the government) includes all the funds and account groups of the City of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, as well as component units. Component units are legally separate entities for which the primary government is financially accountable. Accordingly, the Fort Walton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency is reported as a blended component unit of the City of Fort Walton Beach. The budget process begins in March, which includes Finance staff preparing the new fiscal year's documentation. The City Charter charges the City Manager with the duty of presenting a balanced budget to the City Council. The budget is considered balanced if the total of all available financial resources (either on hand at the beginning of the year or generated during the year) equals or exceeds the total of all financial requirements. In August, the City Manager's proposed budget is presented to City Council for review and discussion. During September, two public hearings to formally adopt the millage (property tax) rate and budget are held per State Statute. The adopted budget is published no later than October 1. In April, the City Council, acting as the Legislative Body of the City, holds at least one (1) strategic planning session, if needed. The goals set during this meeting are used by staff to formulate the budget that is presented to City Council. In June, the tentative millage rate is set, and staff determines Council’s priorities and position on issues specific to development of the operational and capital budgets for the upcoming fiscal year. City Council’s decisions provide the framework under which the budget is prepared to meet City Council’s programmatic objectives within available fiscal resources. The meeting is open to the public and the public is encouraged to attend and participate. Department Directors are responsible for identifying their staffing needs, operational funding needs within budget development parameters, five-year capital requests, as well as corresponding revenue sources to fund their needs. In addition, they must conduct a comprehensive review of departmental goals, objectives, and metrics. vi  The City Charter charges the City Manager with the duty of presenting a balanced budget to City Council. To accomplish this goal, a Budget Committee is formed comprised of the City Manager, Finance Director, and Budget Analyst. The Committee conducts comprehensive meetings with Department Directors to review their budget requests and a collaborative effort is undertaken to achieve City Council and department goals within fiscal constraints. The Budget Committee enlists assistance for areas of specialized interests, such as the Information Technology Director for computer issues; the Administrative Services Director for employee benefits, personnel, and risk management issues; and the Fleet Supervisor for vehicle and equipment replacement schedules. Department goals, objectives, and metrics are also evaluated during budget development to determine the effectiveness of program activities and appropriate funding levels. After the departmental meetings, the Budget Committee finalizes the proposed budget given revenue projections, economic conditions, funding requirements, and City Council program priorities and issues previously identified in the budget process. Once a balanced budget is achieved, it is presented to City Council for consideration. The City Council is required by Florida Statutes and the City Charter to hold public hearings on the proposed budget and adopt a final budget no later than September 30th, the close of the City’s fiscal year. The appropriated budget is prepared by fund, department (e.g. financial services), and division (e.g. purchasing). Department Directors may request transfers of appropriations within a department and between divisions to transfer appropriations between line items, not to increase the total budget or to transfer resources between funds. Transfers of appropriations between funds require the approval of the City Council. The budget may be amended at any time by Resolution of City Council. Budget-to-actual comparisons are provided in the report for each individual governmental fund for which an appropriated annual budget has been adopted. For the General Fund, the Community Redevelopment Agency Fund, and the Beal Memorial Cemetery Perpetual Care Fund, this comparison is presented on pages 78-81 as required supplementary information. For governmental funds with appropriated annual budgets, other than those previously mentioned, this comparison is presented with the combining and individual fund statements and schedules (Section D of this report) which starts on page 96. FACTORS AFFECTING FINANCIAL CONDITION The information presented in the financial statements is best understood when it is considered from the broader perspective of the specific environment within which the City of Fort Walton Beach operates. Local Economy The FY 2025-2026 budget of $65,247,932 is $4.7M, or 7.74%, more than the adopted FY 2024-2025 budget. The increase is primarily due to rising costs of items like materials, utilities, and fuel; as well as the addition of multiple capital improvement projects. The budget is predicated on a millage rate of 4.3282 mills; as a result, ad