HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-126RESOLUTION NO. 2013426
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA, URGING
FLORIDA LEGISLATURE TO OPPOSE
MANDATE THE USE OF A
GOVERMENTAL ENTITIES
A MONTHLY BASIS TO
STATE OF FLORIDA.
COMMISSIONERS OF
MEMBERS OF THE
LEGISLATION THAT WOULD
UNIFORM CHART OF ACCOUNTS FOR ALL
TO REPORT FINANCIAL INFORMATION ON
CHE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER OF THE
WHEREAS, in 2011 the Florida Legislature passed and the Governor signed Senate Bill
1292 requiring the Chief Financial Officer to recommend uniform chart of accounts for reporting
financial information for all state agencies, local governments, educational entities, and entities
of higher education; and
WHEREAS, each entity of the state and local government is different, serves a different
purpose and uses a different basis of accounting; and
WHEREAS, the purpose of the Chart of Accounts Project is to develop a uniform chart
of accounts to be used by all governmental entities for reporting assets, liabilities, equities,
revenues and expenditures; and
WHEREAS, the draft uniform chart of accounts will impact over 2350 governmental
entities; and
WHEREAS, each of the impacted entities are currently accountable to the electorate,
citizens and users of their services; and
WHEREAS, the monthly reporting may be prepared on a basis of accounting that may
diffeI from the basis of accounting used to prepare the year-end audited financial statements and
that the monthly information will not be validated; and
WHEREAS, the new level of detail required at the fund and object level for monthly
reporting is far greater than the level of detail reported either in the audited financial statements
or in the Annual Financial Report required pursuant to the provisions of Section 218.32(1)(a),
Florida Statutes; and
WHEREAS, there will be no attempt to validate any of the data before it is posted for
public viewing and this results in a high risk that the data will be inaccurate, invalid or
incomplete; and
WHEREAS, the establishment of a uniform chart
of accounts without requiring
uniformity in other areas such as in the basis of accounting and in the accounting treatment of
various transactions in itself will not provide users with any meaningful comparisons between
organizations; and
WHEREAS, regardless of the approach taken to implement the provisions of Section
215.89, Florida Statutes, significant resources will be required to achieve the goals of the chief
financial officer; and
WHEREAS, the cost of implementing the Uniform Chart of Accounts far exceeds any
benefit that taxpayers may accrue; and
WHEREAS, we believe that transparency and accountability of the use of public funds to
citizens and other stakeholders is paramount but that it must be done while simultaneously
limiting the burden to the entities and preserving the autonomy of each entity of government; and
WHEREAS, we believe that legislation be enacted that prescribes minimum desired
transparency reporting by local governments, leaving it to the local governments to include such
information on their web sites, and that such legislation should not impose significant financial
burdens on local governments.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS OF INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA
Section 1. That the Board of County Commissioners of Indian River County, Florida
urges members of the Florida Legislature to oppose legislation that would mandate the use of a
uniform chart of accounts for all governmental entities to report financial information on a
monthly basis to the Chief Financial Officer of the State of Florida.
Section 2. That a copy of this resolution be sent to Honorable Senator Joe Negron;
Honorable Senator Thad Altman; and Honorable Representative Debbie Mayfield.
This Resolution was moved for adoption by Commissioner Solari, and the motion was
seconded by Commissioner Flescher, and, upon being put to a vote, the vote was as follows:
Chairman Peter D. O'Bryan
Vice Chairman Wesley S. Davis
Commissioner Joseph E. Flescher
Commissioner Bob Solari
Commissioner Tim Zorc
Ave
Ave
Ave
Ave
The Chairman thereupon declared this Resolution duly passed and adopted this 19th day
Af November, 2013.
ATTEST: Jeffrey R. Smith
Clerk of Circuit Court and Comptroller
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA
Board of County Commissioners
By:
Peter D. O'Bryan5
APPR4VE[� AS Tp FORM
AND LEGAL SUFFICIENCY
8Y _
DYLAN REIMGOLO
COUNTY ATTORNEY