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Indian River County, Florida Management's Discussion and Analysis For the Year Ended September 30, 2011 The Statement of Activities presents information showing how the government's net assets changed during the most recent fiscal year. All changes in net assets are reported as soon as the underlying event giving rise to the change occurs, regardless of the timing of related cash flows. Thus, revenues and expenses are reported in this statement for some items that will only result in cash flows in future fiscal periods (e.g., uncollected taxes and earned, but unused, vacation leave). Both of the government -wide financial statements distinguish functions of the County that are principally supported by taxes and intergovernmental revenues (governmental activities) from other functions that are intended to recover all or a significant portion 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, culture and recreation, and court related functions. The major business -type activities include a water and sewer utility, a solid waste disposal district, a golf course, and a building department. The government -wide financial statements include not only the Board of County Commissioners, but also the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, Property Appraiser, Sheriff, Supervisor of Elections and Tax Collector. The government -wide financial statements can be found on pages 17-19 of this report. Fund financial statements A fund is a grouping of related accounts that is used to maintain control over resources that have been segregated for specific activities or objectives. The County, like other state and local governments, uses fund accounting to ensure and demonstrate compliance with finance -related legal requirements. All of the funds of the County can be divided into three categories: governmental funds, proprietary funds, and fiduciary funds. Governmental funds. Governmental funds are used to account for essentially the same functions reported as governmental activities in the government -wide financial statements. However, unlike the government -wide financial statements, governmental fund financial statements focus on near-term inflows and outflows of spendable resources, as well as on balances of spendable resources available at the end of the fiscal year. Such information may be useful in evaluating a government's near-term financial requirements. Because the focus of governmental funds is narrower than that of the government -wide financial statements, it is useful to compare the information presented for governmental funds with similar information presented for governmental activities in the government -wide financial statements. By doing so, readers may better understand the long-term impact of the government's near-term financial decisions. Both the governmental fund Balance Sheet and the governmental fund Statement of Revenues, Expenditures, and Changes in Fund Balances provide a reconciliation to facilitate this comparison between governmental funds and governmental activities. The County maintains 36 individual governmental funds. Information is presented separately in the governmental fund Balance Sheet and in the governmental fund Statement of Revenues, Expenditures, and Changes in Fund Balances for the general fund, four special revenue funds, and one capital project fund. All are considered to be major funds. Data from the other 30 governmental funds are combined into a single, aggregated presentation. al