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' Indian River County, Florida ' Board of County Commissioners Notes To Financial Statements Year Ended September 30 , 2002 ' NOTE 1 - SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES ' The Board of County Commissioners (the "Board") is a County agency and a local governmental entity pursu- ant to Article VIII, Section 1 (e ) of the Constitution of the State of Florida. For financial statement and report- ing purposes , the Board does not meet the definition of a legally separate organization and is not considered to ' be a component unit. The Board is considered to be a part of the primary government of Indian River County . The financial statements contained herein represent the financial transactions of the Board only . Since the County has implemented GASB Statement No 34 "Basic Financial Statements -and Management ' s Discussion and Analysis -for State and Local Governments" , the format of the Board ' s statements have been prepared in accordance with the presentation requirements of GASB 34 for fund financial statements . ' The following is a summary of the significant accounting principles and policies used in the preparation of the accompanying financial statements . ' 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 Board) and its component units . However, some component units , be- cause of the closeness of their relationship with the Board, should be blended as though they are part of the Board . 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 Board) , (2) ' organizations for which the Board is financially accountable , and (3 ) other organizations for which the nature and significance of their relationship with the Board are such that exclusion would cause the reporting entity ' s financial statements to be misleading or incomplete . The Board 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 Board. The Board may be financially accountable if an organization is fiscally dependent on ' the Board 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, ' Board management examined all organizations which are legally separate in order to determine which organi- zations , if any, should be included in the Board ' 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 Board 's financial statements as component units . Blended Component Units Solid Waste Disposal District (SWDD) - Created pursuant to County Ordinance 87- 67, the Board of County Commissioners serves as the Board for the SWDD and sets the non ad valorem assessment fees for the SWDD . ' Although legally separate , the SWDD is appropriately blended as a proprietary fund type (enterprise) component unit into the primary government. ' 211