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Indian River County, Florida Notes To Financial Statements Year Ended September 30, 2012 NOTE 1 —SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Indian River County, Florida, (the "County") is a political subdivision of the State pursuant to Article VIII, Section 1(a) of the Constitution of the State of Florida. Created on June 29, 1925 by an act of Legislature, separating it from St. Lucie County, the County encompasses approximately 497 square �I miles of land with an estimated population of 138,694. The County is governed by the Board of County Commissioners and five elected constitutional officers (Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, Property Appraiser, Sheriff, Supervisor of Elections, and Tax Collector) in accordance with state statutes and regulations. The constitutional officers maintain separate accounting records and budgets from the Board of County Commissioners. The Constitution of the State of Florida, Article VIII, Section 1(d) created the constitutional officers and Article VIII, Section 1(e), created the Board of County Commissioners. The financial statements of the County have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) as applied to governmental units. The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is the standard-setting body for governmental accounting and financial j reporting. The County applies all GASB Pronouncements in the preparation of the financial statements of the enterprise funds as well as all FASB and AICPA Pronouncements. The GASB periodically updates its codification of the existing Governmental Accounting and Financial Reporting Standards which, along with subsequent GASB pronouncements (Statements and Interpretations), constitutes GAAP for governmental units. A. Reporting Entity The concept underlying the definition of the reporting entity is that elected officials are accountable to their constituents for their actions. The reporting entity's financial statements should allow users to distinguish between the primary government (the County) and its component units. However, some component units, because of the closeness of their relationships with the County, should be blended as though they are part of the County. Otherwise, most component units should be discretely presented. As required by generally accepted accounting principles, the financial reporting entity consists of: (1) the primary government (the County), (2) organizations for which the County is financially accountable, and (3) other organizations for which the nature and significance of their relationship with the County are such that exclusion would cause the reporting entity's financial statements to be misleading or incomplete. The County is financially accountable if it appoints a voting majority of the organization's governing body and (a) it is able to impose its will on that organization or (b) there is a potential for the organization to provide specific financial benefits to, or impose specific financial burdens on, the County. The County may be financially accountable if an organization is fiscally dependent on the County regardless of whether the organization has (a) a. separately elected governing board, (b) a governing board appointed by a higher level of government, or (c) a jointly appointed board. Based on these criteria, County management examined all organizations, which are legally separate, in order to determine which organizations, if any, should be included in the County's financial statements. Management determined that the Solid Waste Disposal District and the Emergency Services District were the only organizations that should be included in the County's financial statements as blended component units. 1 44