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

events, considered in the aggregate, that raise substantial doubt about the City’s ability to continue as a going concern for twelve months beyond the financial statement date, including any currently known information that may raise substantial doubt shortly thereafter. 1 Auditors’ Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditors’ report that includes our opinions. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not absolute assurance and therefore is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and Government Auditing Standards will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control. Misstatements are considered material if there is a substantial likelihood that, individually or in the aggregate, they would influence the judgment made by a reasonable user based on the financial statements. In performing an audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and Government Auditing Standards, we:  Exercise professional judgment and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit.  Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, and design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks. Such procedures include examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements.  Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the City’s internal control. Accordingly, no such opinion is expressed.  Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluate the overall presentation of the financial statements.  Conclude whether, in our judgment, there are conditions or events, considered in the aggregate, that raise substantial doubt about the City’s ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time. We are required to communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit, significant audit findings, and certain internal control-related matters that we identified during the audit. Required Supplementary Information Accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America require that the management’s discussion and analysis, the budgetary comparison information for the General Fund and major special revenue funds, and the schedules related to the pension and OPEB liabilities, contributions, and investment returns, as listed in the table of contents, be presented to supplement the basic financial statements. Such information is the responsibility of management and, although not a part of the basic financial statements, is required by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, who considers it to be an essential part of financial reporting for placing the basic financial statements in an appropriate operational, economic, or historical context. We have applied certain limited procedures to the required supplementary information in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America, which consisted of inquiries of management about the methods of preparing the information and comparing the information for consistency with management’s responses to our inquiries, the basic financial statements, and other knowledge we obtained during our audit of the basic financial statements. We do not express an opinion or provide any assurance on the information because the limited procedures do not provide us with sufficient evidence to express an opinion or provide any assurance. 2 Supplementary Information Our audit was conducted for the purpose of forming opinions on the financial statements that collectively comprise the City’s basic financial statements. The combining and individual nonmajor fund financial statements and schedules are presented for purposes of additional analysis and are not a required part of the basic financial statements. Such information is the responsibility of management and was derived from and relates directly to the underlying accounting and other records used to prepare the basic financial statements. The information has been subjected to the auditing procedures applied in the audit of the basic financial statements and certain additional procedures, including comparing and reconciling such information directly to the underlying accounting and other records used to prepare the basic financial statements or to the basic financial statements themselves, and other additional procedures in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America. In our opinion, the combining and individual nonmajor fund financial statements and schedules are fairly stated, in all material respects, in relation to the basic financial statements as a whole. Other Information Management is responsible for the other information included in the annual report. The other information comprises the introductory and statistical sections but does not include the basic financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinions on the basic financial statements do not cover the other information, and we do not express an opinion or any form of assurance thereon. In connection with our audit of the basic financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and consider whether a material inconsistency exists between the other information and the basic financial statements, or the other information otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If, based on the work performed, we conclude that an uncorrected material misstatement of the other information exists, we are required to describe it in our report. Other Reporting Required by Government Auditing Standards In accordance with Government Auditing Standards, we have also issued our report dated March 27, 2026, on our consideration of the City’s internal control over financial reporting and on our tests of its compliance with certain provisions of laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements and other matters. The purpose of that report is to describe the scope of our testing of internal control over financial reporting and compliance and the results of that testing, and not to provide an opinion on internal control over financial reporting or on compliance. That report is an integral part of an audit performed in accordance with Government Auditing Standards in considering the City’s internal control over financial reporting and compliance. Fort Walton Beach, Florida March 27, 2026 3  MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS As management of the City of Fort Walton Beach, Florida (the City), we offer readers of the City’s financial statements this narrative overview and analysis of the financial activities of the City for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025. We encourage readers to consider the information presented here in conjunction with additional information that we have furnished in our letter of transmittal, which can be found on pages iv - ix of this report. FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS  The assets and deferred outflows of resources of the City exceeded its liabilities and deferred inflows of resources by $99.0 million (total net position). Of this amount, $19.2 million represents unrestricted net position that is available to meet the City’s ongoing obligations to citizens and creditors.  The City’s net position increased by $5.3 million during the fiscal year. Net position for governmental activities rose by $3.4 million, primarily driven by robust market performance that yielded $2.4 million in investment earnings. Business-type activities contributed an additional $1.9 million increase, as revenues exceeded total expenses and transfers. This growth was largely supported by capital grants and contributions; specifically, $786,644 from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) for the Brooks Bridge utility relocation and $227,108 from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) for Martisa Road NW stormwater improvements. Outside of these capital-related grant projects, operating expenses and charges for services remained stable compared to the prior year.  As of the close of the fiscal year, the City’s governmental funds have combined ending fund balances of $39.7 million, a decrease of $4.0 million from the prior year. This decrease is mainly attributable to an increase in the number and scope of planned capital projects completed during the year and in progress at year end.  As of September 30, 2025, committed, assigned, and unassigned fund balance of the General Fund totaled $25.0 million, or 51.6% of the total General Fund expenditures.  The City’s total debt decreased by $1.9 million or 5.2%, during the fiscal year. This decrease is proportional to scheduled principal payments and issuance of leases and subscription liabilities. OVERVIEW OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS This discussion and analysis is intended to serve as an introduction to the City’s basic financial statements, which are comprised of three components: 1) government-wide financial statements, 2) fund financial statements, and 3) notes to the financial statements. This report also contains other supplementary information in addition to the basic financial statements themselves. The focus of financial statements prepared in accordance with the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement No. 34 is on both the City as a whole (government-wide) and on major individual funds. Both perspectives (government-wide and major funds) allow the user to address relevant questions, broaden a basis for comparison (year-to-year or government-to-government), and enhance the City’s accountability. Government-Wide Financial Statements Designed to be corporate-like, the government-wide financial statements consolidate governmental and business-type activities into two columns, which sum to a total for primary government. This provides readers with a broad overview of the City’s finances in a manner similar to a private-sector business. Two statements, the statement of net position and the statement of activities, are utilized to provide information on a government-wide basis. 4  The statement of net position presents information on all the City’s assets and liabilities, with the difference between the two reported as net position. This statement combines and consolidates the governmental funds’ current financial resources (short-term available resources) with capital assets and long-term obligations. Over time, increases or decreases in net position may serve as a useful indicator of the financial position of the City. The statement of activities presents information showing how the government’s net position changed during the most