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 Budget & Financial Report Archives
Reader’s Guide - City of Jacksonville Budget
The budget begins with the City Manager’s Budget Message that contains key features of the budget as recommended by the Interim City Manager, including the property tax rate, the Mission, Vision and details on Goals adopted by the City Council.
In accordance with the North Carolina General Statutes, the City prepares and adopts the budget on the modified accrual basis of accounting, in which revenues are recorded when the amount becomes measurable, and expenditures are recorded when the liability is actually incurred. Enterprise funds are converted from the modified accrual basis of accounting to the accrual basis at year end for financial reporting purposes. In the accrual basis, revenues are recognized when they are earned and expenses are recognized when they are incurred.
The following chart summarizes when accrual and modified accrual are used for the basis of accounting and the basis of budgeting:
Fund
|
Basis of Budgeting |
Basis of Reporting |
| General |
Modified Accrual |
Modified Accrual |
| Special Revenue |
Modified Accrual |
Modified Accrual |
| Enterprise |
Modified Accrual |
Accrual |
The first section in the document, the Budget Summary, summarizes the total City’s budgeted revenue and expenditure as well as the significant operating funds: General Fund, Water/Sewer Fund, Water/Sewer Capital Project Fund, Solid Waste Fund and Stormwater Fund budgets. The Budget Summary section also includes a listing of the expenditure by fund. Each fund is categorized as either operating or capital project funds and reflects a gross amount as well as the net budget which is less transfers to other funds and prior years’ appropriations. This section also includes a summary of Debt, Consolidated Undesignated Fund Balance and Authorized Positions Listing.
The second section of the budget includes a Revenue Summary of all funds and shows the current year’s amended budget levels as compared to the adopted budget. Details follow this summary and are again identified by fund by category. This section also includes the Property Tax Analysis spanning ten years including the valuation, tax rate and percentage of taxes collected.
The third section of the budget includes information on the Funds that comprise the City-wide budget, and is grouped by function.
City of Jacksonville Annual Financial Report
Reader's Guide - Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR)
After the end of the fiscal year on June 30, the City of Jacksonville undergoes an audit by an independent accounting firm of the City's financial records and procedures. Once the audit is completed, staff prepares a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The entire process takes several months. Once completed, the CAFR is submitted to the City Council, several state and federal agencies, bond rating agencies, and financial institutions.
Award
The CAFR is also submitted each year to the Government Finance Officers Association's (GFOA) Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Award Program. The CAFR Award is the most prestigious national award recognizing conformance with the highest standards for preparation of state and local government financial reports. In order to receive the award, the CAFR must be efficiently organized and easily readable, and must satisfy both generally accepted accounting principles and applicable legal requirements. The City of Jacksonville has received this important award for sixteen consecutive years.
The CAFR is divided into four major sections including the Introductory Section, Financial Section, Statistical Section, and the Compliance Section.
The Introductory Section includes the table of contents, the City Manager's Letter of Transmittal, a copy of the previous year's CAFR Award, and the City's organizational chart and list of principle officials.
The Financial Section includes the Independent Auditor's report, which provides the Auditor's opinion on the financial statements with respect to the financial position of the governmental activities, the business-type activities, each major fund, and the aggregate remaining fund information. This external opinion is the citizens' assurance that the City's financial statements are presented fairly in all material respects. The section includes Management's Discussion and Analysis, which is a narrative analysis of the City's financial performance. It also includes the Basic Financial Statements, which provide a summary overview of the financial position of the City as a whole, as well as the operating results of all funds. They serve as a condensed introduction to the more detailed statements and schedules that follow. The Notes to the Financial Statements provide definitions of terms and additional in-depth information that is not otherwise shown in the individual statements and schedules. The Financial Section breaks down the Major and Non-Major Funds and provides data on all revenues and expenditures.
The Statistical Section reflects social and economic data, financial trends, and the fiscal capacity of the City, and covers up to ten years for comparative purposes.
The Compliance Section is provided by the Independent Auditor and contains opinions regarding the City's compliance and internal control over financial reporting. It also contains reports reflecting Federal, State, and Local matching participation in various projects and programs of the City (grant awards).
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