WAUKESHA COUNTY Waukesha, Wisconsin

WAUKESHA COUNTY, WISCONSINNOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTSDecember 31, 2010NOTE 1 – SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIESThe accounting policies of Waukesha County, Wisconsin conform to accounting principles generallyaccepted in the United States of America as applicable to governmental units. The accepted standardsettingbody for establishing governmental accounting and financial reporting principles is theGovernmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB).A. Reporting EntityThis report includes all of the funds of Waukesha County. The reporting entity for the County consists of(a) the primary government, (b) organizations for which the primary government is financially accountable,and (c) other organizations for which the nature and significance of their relationship with the primarygovernment are such that their exclusion would cause the reporting entity's financial statements to bemisleading or incomplete. A legally separate organization should be reported as a component unit if theelected officials of the primary government are financially accountable to the organization. The primarygovernment is financially accountable if it appoints a voting majority of the organization's governing bodyand (1) it is able to impose its will on that organization or (2) there is a potential for the organization toprovide specific financial benefits to or burdens on the primary government. The primary government maybe financially accountable if an organization is fiscally dependent on the primary government.A legally separate, tax exempt organization should be reported as a component unit of a reporting entity ifall of the following criteria are met: (1) the economic resources received or held by the separateorganization are entirely or almost entirely for the direct benefit of the primary government, its componentunits, or its constituents, (2) the primary government is entitled to or has the ability to otherwise access amajority of the economic resources received or held by the separate organization (3) the economicresources received or held by an individual organization that the specific primary government, or itscomponent units, is entitled to or has the ability to otherwise access, are significant to the primarygovernment. The discretely presented component unit is reported in a separate column in thegovernment-wide financial statements (see note below for description) to emphasize that it is legallyseparate from the government.Included within the reporting entity is the following Discretely Presented Component Unit:WAUKESHA COUNTY HOUSING AUTHORITYThe government-wide financial statements include the Waukesha County Housing Authority ("HousingAuthority") as a component unit. The Housing Authority is a legally separate organization. The CountyExecutive appoints the board of the Housing Authority. Wisconsin Statutes provide for circumstanceswhereby the County can impose their will on the Housing Authority, and also create a potential financialbenefit to or burden on the County. See Note 13. As a component unit, the Housing Authority's financialstatements have been presented as a discrete column in the financial statements. The informationpresented is for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. Separately issued financial statements of theWaukesha County Housing Authority may be obtained from the Housing Authority's office at 120 CorrinaBlvd., Waukesha, Wisconsin, 53186.B. Government-Wide and Fund Financial StatementsGovernment-Wide Financial StatementsThe statement of net assets and statement of activities display information about the reportinggovernment as a whole. They include all funds of the reporting entity except for fiduciary funds. Thestatements distinguish between governmental and business-type activities. Governmental activitiesgenerally are financed through taxes, intergovernmental revenues, and other nonexchange revenues.43