Comprehensive Annual Financial Report - Cobb County

COBB COUNTY GOVERNMENT
Management’s Discussion and Analysis
For the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2007
Governmental Funds
Most of the basic services provided by the County are financed through governmental funds.
Governmental funds are used to account for essentially the same functions reported as governmental
activities in the government-wide financial statements. However, unlike the government-wide statements,
the governmental fund financial statements focus on near-term inflows and outflows of spendable
resources. They also focus on the balances of spendable resources available at the end of the fiscal year.
Such information may be useful in evaluating the government’s near-term financing requirements. This
approach is known as using the flow of current financial resources measurement focus and the modified
accrual basis of accounting. These statements provide a detailed short-term view of the County’s finances
that assists in determining whether there will be adequate financial resources available to meet the County’s
current needs.
The County maintains four governmental fund types: the General Fund; Special Revenue Funds (Fire
District, Law Library, Community Services, Grant, Housing and Urban Development Grant, Senior
Services, Hotel/Motel Tax, Emergency 911, Parking Deck Facility and 800 MHz); Debt Service Fund; and
the Capital Projects Funds (Public Facilities, Parks Bond, Road Sales Tax Extension 1994 and the 2006
SPLOST). Information is presented separately in the governmental fund balance sheet and in the
governmental fund statement of revenues, expenditures and changes in fund balances for the General Fund,
Fire District Fund and the 2006 SPLOST Fund, all of which are considered to be major funds. Data from
the other governmental funds are combined into a single, aggregated presentation based on fund type. The
basic governmental fund financial statements can be found on pages 19-24.
Proprietary Funds
Proprietary funds are used to account for activities that operate similar to those commercial enterprises
found in the private sector. Because these funds charge fees for services provided to outside customers
including local governments, they are known as enterprise funds. Proprietary funds use the accrual basis of
accounting, thus there is no reconciliation needed between the government-wide financial statements for
business-type activities and the proprietary fund financial statements.
The County has six proprietary funds: Water and Sewer Fund, Solid Waste Disposal Fund, Cobblestone
Golf Course Fund, Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre Fund, Public Transit System Fund and the Claims
Internal Service Fund. The Claims Internal Service Fund, which accounts for services performed by a
central service department for other departments or agencies of the governmental unit, are comprised of the
Health and Dental Fund, the Casualty and Liability Fund, and the Workmen’s Compensation Fund. The
proprietary funds provide the same type of information as the government-wide financial statements, only
in more detail. The proprietary fund financial statements provide separate information for the Water and
Sewer Fund and the Solid Waste Disposal Fund, which are considered to be major funds of the County.
The basic proprietary fund financial statements can be found on pages 25-29 of this report.
Fiduciary Funds
The Fiduciary funds are used to account for assets held by the County as an agent for individuals, private
organizations, other governments and other County departments. The County is responsible for ensuring
that the assets reported in these funds are used only for their intended purposes and only by those to whom
the assets belong. These funds are not reflected in the government-wide financial statements because the
resources are not available to support the County’s operations or programs. The accounting used for
fiduciary funds is much like that used for proprietary funds. Cobb County maintains nine fiduciary funds,
called agency funds, for Clerk of State Court, Clerk of Juvenile Court, Sheriff, Clerk of Superior Court,
Clerk of Probate Court, Tax Commissioner, Accounts Payable Fund, Payroll Fund and the Child Support,
Witness and Jurors’ Fees. The basic fiduciary funds financial statements can be found on pages 30-31 of
this report.
5