Fort Walton Beach — Comprehensive Annual Financial Report September 30, 2013 — reading text

established a comprehensive internal control framework that is designed both to protect the government’s assets from loss, theft, or misuse and to compile sufficient reliable information for the preparation of the City’s financial statements in conformance with GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). Because the cost of internal controls should not outweigh their benefits, the City’s comprehensive framework of internal controls has been designed to provide reasonable, rather than absolute, assurance that the financial statements will be free from material misstatement. As management, we assert that, to the best of our knowledge and belief, this financial report is complete and reliable in all material respects. The financial statements of the City of Fort Walton Beach have been audited by Warren Averett LLC, a firm of licensed certified public accountants. The goal of the independent audit was to provide reasonable assurance that the financial statements of the City for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2013, are free of material misstatement. The independent audit involved examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements; assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management; and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. The independent auditor concluded, based upon the audit, that there was a reasonable basis for rendering an unmodified opinion that the City of Fort Walton Beach’s financial statements for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2013, 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. The independent audit of the financial statements of the City of Fort Walton Beach was part of a broader, state mandated “Single Audit” designed to meet the special needs of state grantor agencies. The standards governing Single Audit engagements require the independent auditor to iv  report not only on the fair presentation of the financial statements, but also on the audited government’s internal controls and compliance with legal requirements, with special emphasis on internal controls and compliance with legal requirements involving the administration of state awards. These reports are available in the Compliance section of this 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. GOVERNMENT PROFILE DATE OF INCORPORATION: June 16, 1941 FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Council & Manager PAVED STREETS: 93.06 miles GEOGRAPHIC AREA: 7.41 square miles SIDEWALKS: 63.93 miles TAXABLE ASSESSED VALUE: $1,128,838,962 WATER & SEWER LINES: 237.39 miles CITY MILLAGE RATE: 5.7697 STORM DRAIN: 41.64 miles POPULATION: 20,194 POLICE STATIONS: 1 FIRE STATIONS: 2 EMPLOYEES: 344 positions, 291.02 FTE’s LIBRARIES: 1 MUSEUMS: 4 SWORN POLICE OFFICERS: 43 18-HOLE GOLF COURSES: 2 FIREFIGHTING PERSONNEL: 36 ACRES OF PARKS: 182.70 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; utilities service including water, sewer, and storm water; and garbage and recycling collection. 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 Santa Rosa Sound and shortly thereafter the first post office was built in 1906. The Montgomery, Alabama, Maxwell Field military base developed an airfield in Fort Walton in 1933 on 137 acres of land and used it as a bombing First Schoolhouse 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). v 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 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 thus capturing a greater share of the local and regional market. With the purchase of the Fort Walton Landing Park in 1986, which has become the City’s premier gathering place along Santa Rosa Sound, and building upon that with the complete reconstruction of Brooks Street, including the Brooks Bridge Park in 2013, the City’s downtown waterfront was opened up to an extent never before realized and spurred economic growth downtown. Outside of downtown, the City began construction of a new recreational complex, which promises to add to the attraction of the City. New Recreation Complex Brooks Bridge Park 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 annual budget serves as a foundation for the City of Fort Walton Beach’s financial planning and control. The City of Fort Walton Beach prepares a budget designed to meet the highest standards of performance in municipal budgeting. A Budget Policy Workshop is held with City Council in May to determine City Council’s priorities and position on issues critical to development of the operational and capital budgets. City Council’s decisions on the issues presented provide the framework under which the upcoming year’s budget is prepared to meet City Council’s programmatic objectives within available fiscal resources. Department Directors, with the assistance of their division managers, are responsible for identifying their staffing needs and operational funding needs within budget development parameters. In addition, they must conduct a comprehensive review of departmental objectives, accomplishments, and performance measures. A Budget Committee is formed comprised of the City Manager, Finance Director, and Financial Analyst. The Committee conducts comprehensive meetings with Department Directors and Division Managers to review their budget requests and a collaborative effort is undertaken to achieve City Council and department goals. The City Council is required by Florida State Statute and City Charter to hold public hearings on the proposed budget and adopt a final budget no later than September 30, 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 vi  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 and the Community Development Agency Fund, this comparison is presented on page 20 & 21 as part of the basic financial statements for the governmental funds. For governmental funds with appropriated annual budgets, other than those previously mentioned, this comparison is presented in the combining and individual fund statements and schedules, Section D of this report, which starts on page 79. 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 City of Fort Walton Beach currently faces many of the same economic challenges that are affecting the global economy, however economic stabilization is evident. For fiscal year 2013-14, the State of Florida projects an increase for each of the City’s revenue sharing funds, which suggests an uptick in discretionary spending. After five years of declining values, the Okaloosa County Property Appraiser anticipates a 0.8% increase in taxable assessed value for the City. It appears the downward spiral in the real estate market has ended. However, civilian furloughs at Eglin AFB and Hurlburt Field, two of the area’s largest employers, could adversely affect the local economy in the short-term. Eglin Air Force Base is the world’s largest Department of Defense installation, spanning 724 square miles. Defense contractor companies are established throughout the Northwest Florida region. It is estimated that local military bases currently represent a $6.0 billion annual economic impact on the area, with approximately 73% of the local economy supported by the military. Being located on the Gulf of Mexico in Northwest Florida, tourism is a large part of the regional economy. Regional accolades continue to enhance the area’s image, promote visibility, and generate additional tourism and sales tax dollars. Local tourism has benefited from the national shift to vacation sites accessible by driving instead of flying. The Fort Walton Beach-Destin area is a popular drive destination in Florida, according to a