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Indian River County, Florida Notes To Financial Statements Year Ended September 30 , 2007 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 miles of land with an estimated population of 139 , 757 . The County is governed by the Board of County Commissioners and five elected constitutional officers (Clerk of the Circuit Court, 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 for 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 reporting . Pronouncements of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB ) issued after November 30 , 1989 are not applied in the preparation of the financial statements of the enterprise funds in accordance with GASB Statement 20 . 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, the Emergency Services District, and the Indian River County Housing Authority were the only organizations that should be included in the County ' s financial statements as component units . 42 �.