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Indian River County is a Non -Charter County established under the Constitution and the Laws of the State of Florida. This Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) includes the funds of the primary government (the Board of County Commissioners, the Clerk of the Circuit Court, the Property Appraiser, the Sheriff, the Supervisor of Elections and the Tax Collector), the blended component units consisting of the Emergency Services District and the Solid Waste Disposal District and one discretely presented component unit, the Indian River County Housing Authority. These component units were included because generally accepted accounting principles require that organizations for which the County is financially accountable be reported with the primary government (the County) as the reporting entity. This CAFR does not include the Indian River County School District, the Indian River County Mosquito Control District or the Indian River County Memorial Hospital, Local Economy Strong growth in the County continued and has provided the County the opportunity to lower tax rates while still providing a high level of services to County residents and visitors. Property tax values increased 25% from $14.2 billion in 2006 to $17.8 billion in 2007 due to the building boom in 2005 and 2006. Construction activity has subsequently decreased in 2007 due to the fall of the economy, decreasing interest rates, increasing fuel prices, and the downsizing of the northern manufacturing plants. All of these factors contributed to a decrease in new construction with 1,673 permits issued in 2007 for a value of $387.2 million. Our Statistical Schedule 19, on page 194, reflects our peak activity of growth in 2005 and 2006. Even though our construction has slowed, our County population continued to grow. Population growth, which was averaging about 2.15% per year in the 1990s, had increased over 2006 by 3.3%. Indian River County's estimated population can be found on Statistical Schedule 17 on page 192. Total employment for FY 2007 was 57,292 with jobs in government, medical services, financial services, manufacturing, retail, construction and citrus. The unemployment rate increased from 4.7% in 2006 to 7.0% in 2007 due to the decrease in residential and commercial construction and remodeling. Just slightly less than 10% of the total County acreage is dedicated to citrus production. The County is a major producer of citrus in the state with citrus production increasing from 7.5 million boxes in 2006 to 12.3 million boxes in 2007. Long Term Financial Planning The Utilities Department has planned on the addition of several new water distribution and wastewater collection lines to serve new customers. Expansion of the West Regional Wastewater Plant began during fiscal year 2006-2007 at an estimated cost of $21.1 million. Additionally, the North R/O Water Plant expansion is also underway at an estimated cost of $14 million. All of these improvements will be funded by current Utility capacity charges and from the additional customer base they will serve. The widening of a northern artery, County Road 510 has begun. This will increase capacity from two to four lanes from U.S. Highway 1 to County Road 512 at a cost of approximately $80 million. Funding will be provided by traffic impact fees and gas taxes and is estimated to be completed during fiscal year 2011-2012. LZ Im ii W