FICPA: State and Local Government

'Strong Mayor' has Foes in 'No Boss' Committee

The No Boss Mayor Committee, a political action committee opposing the proposed Pensacola charter, has raised $6,024 in contributions. Its report, filed with the Escambia County Supervisor of Elections Officer on Tuesday, shows contributions from 22 city residents as of Oct. 30.

Balancing Governmental Budgets Under GASB 54

Fund balance is an important measure that represents the difference between a fund�s assets and liabilities. The overall objective of fund balance reporting is to isolate that portion of fund balance that is unavailable to support the following period�s budget. Because governmental funds� measurement focus is the flow of financial resources, the balance sheet primarily reports assets and liabilities that represent net spendable and available resources for these funds. In many ways, fund balance represents working capital, which can either be used as a liquidity reserve or for spending in future years.

Public-private Contracting in Florida Survives

When the ContractPoint Florida Parks, LLC, members entered a contract with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in 2001, they simply wanted to build and operate cabins in Florida state parks � something the legislature specifically encouraged. Instead, they became enmeshed in protracted litigation that came one Florida Supreme Court vote short of nullifying Florida�s ability to contract. This article examines how an obscure statute was wielded by a state agency, nearly erasing more than 20 years of law barring application of sovereign immunity to breach of contract claims.

Broward Schools Have Too Many Seats

For years, the Broward school district continued building new schools even after student enrollment began to drop, knowing the state would soon put the brakes on the school system's construction program. Now the district faces the politically charged problem of having to shuffle thousands of students to different schools as boundaries are realigned to balance schools with too few and too many students. When board members meet on Tuesday, they will begin to unravel how the district ended up with so much extra space that the state has ordered it to stop building schools.

Teacher Impasse Remains

A hearing on a contract dispute between Santa Rosa County educators and the School Board is going to a second day because salary presentations have yet to be completed. Wages are the main issue for the nearly 2,100 teachers and educational support personnel who want a step raise officials say the district cannot afford. The impasse hearing was suspended late Monday evening after 13 hours of testimony before presentations on the salary issue could be completed.

TCC Officials Address Red Flags Raised in Audit

Tallahassee Community College officials have three areas to address, according to the Florida Auditor General's operational audit of the college. The recently released audit had three red flags or findings for the college. TCC officials need to work on: properly recording students' residency status, offering competitive bids for goods and services and improving procedures for renting college facilities.