HomeMy WebLinkAbout670-13 Oppose Mandate for Monthly Audits RESOLUTION NO. 670-13
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF ZEPHYRHILLS,FLORIDA URGING
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.
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 -
f
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, Florida governments are required to meet many reporting requirements,
both at the state and federal level, including reporting to the Florida Department of Financial
Services, Florida Equal Employment Opportunity, Florida Unemployment Compensation,
Florida Retirement System, Federal Affordable Care Act, and payroll taxes and W-2 informatio
to the Internal Revenue Service; and
WHEREAS,the monthly reporting may be prepared on a basis of accounting that may
differ 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 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 t
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 should 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 CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF ZEPHYRHILLS, FLORIDA THAT:
Section 1. The Zephyrhills Mayor and City Council hereby urge 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.
Section 2. A copy of this Resolution shall be sent to the Governor of the State of Florida;
the President of the Florida Senate; and the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.
PAS1Q4D ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Zephyrhills, Florida, this
18th D� of°No\tm`1er 2013yc
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Attest: �z
Linda D-.Boan, City Clerk Lance . Sm , oiirmitPresident
Daniel W. Burgess, Jr., Mayor
Approved as to legal form and legal content
for the sole r ce-f - rhills
osep . Poblick, City Attorney