Comprehensive Annual Financial Report - St. Tammany Parish ...

ST. TAMMANY PARISH GOVERNMENT
Notes to the Financial Statements 2010
Sales taxes are due the month after sale and recognized in the month the liability is incurred. All sales taxes received
by the Parish are dedicated for specific purposes outlined below:
a. Pursuant to a tax proposition renewed by the voters on July 16, 2005, the Parish levies a two percent (2%) sales
and use tax in Sales Tax District No. 3 (the District) through November 2031. This District includes all
unincorporated areas of the Parish at the time the proposition was originally passed in 1986. Net proceeds are to
be used for constructing, acquiring, extending, improving, maintaining and/or operating (i) roads, streets and
bridges and (ii) drains and drainage facilities, including acquiring all necessary land, equipment and furnishings
for any of said public works, improvements and facilities, and further including allocations to municipalities
under intergovernmental agreements relating to annexations, revenue sharing areas and growth management
areas.
b. On January 17, 1998, the voters of St. Tammany Parish approved the levy of two one-quarter of one percent tax
(total ½%) propositions. These two levies are to be used for the expansion and operation of a new jail and for
the constructing, improving, operating and maintaining a St. Tammany Parish Justice Complex Center,
respectively. These two ¼% sales taxes are levied parish-wide and are effective through March 2018.
3. Inventories
For Mosquito Abatement District No. 2, inventory is valued at cost. Inventories consist of chemical, field, shop and
laboratory supplies, and vehicle and aviation fuel. The cost is recorded as an expenditure at the time individual
inventory items are purchased. Inventories at year-end are equally offset by fund balance reserves. Inventory at
December 31, 2010 was determined using the first-in, first-out method (FIFO).
Inventory for Water District No. 2 is stated at the lower of cost or market using the FIFO method.
4. Restricted Assets
Primary Government
Restricted assets on the balance sheets of the Sales Tax District No. 3 Debt Service Fund, the Justice Complex Debt
Service Fund and the Jail Debt Service Fund represent the bond sinking funds and bond reserve funds, where
applicable, that are required to be maintained pursuant to their respective Sales Tax ordinances. Restricted assets on
the balance sheet of the Utility Operations Fund represent the bond sinking funds, bond reserve funds, and the Utility
Revenue Bond Depreciation and Contingency funds. Fund balances, in the amount of the bond reserve funds, are
reserved as these funds are legally segregated for a specific future use.
Component Units
The following discretely presented component units have restricted assets reflected within their financial statements:
Water District No. 2 – Resolutions authorizing the issuance of Waterworks Revenue Bonds dated January 7, 1999,
for $500,000 and General Obligation Refunding Bonds dated March 1, 2008 provided for certain restrictions of assets
of Water District No. 2. These requirements have been met as of December 31, 2010. The additional amount of
restricted assets consists of amounts held for meter deposits.
Water District No. 3 – Restricted cash of $32,293 consisted of amounts held for meter deposits.
5. Capital Assets Policy
Capital assets, which include property, plant, equipment, and infrastructure assets (e.g., roads, bridges, sidewalks, and
similar items), are reported in the applicable governmental or business-type activities columns in the governmentwide
financial statements. Capital assets are capitalized at historical cost or estimated cost if historical cost is not
available. Donated assets are recorded as capital assets at their estimated fair value at the date of donation.
The capitalization threshold for infrastructure, such as road improvements, is $25,000 per project or subdivision, if
newly donated. If the entire capital road improvement project is over $25,000, then each road in that project will be
capitalized; likewise, for new roads taken into the maintenance system. For roads donated by subdivision developers,
if the fair value of all of the roads in the new subdivision is over $25,000, then all new roads in that subdivision will
be capitalized. If the value of any road met the threshold of $25,000, it was included in infrastructure regardless of
the time that it was added to road inventory, including those infrastructure assets acquired prior to June 30, 1980.
Only those roads in road inventory which were valued below the threshold were excluded from infrastructure. The
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