Local Government Finances - Data Collection and Classification Methodology
Program Contact
Overview
Special District Methodology
Program Contacts:
Don Merrion
Division of Local Government
1313 Sherman Street, Room 521
Denver, Colorado 80203 303.866.3001
don.merrion@state.co.us
Overview: The financial information presented in the Active Colorado Local Government Finances section has been extracted primarily from the local governments’ annual audited financial statements (audits). Information has also been compiled from audit exemption forms submitted in lieu of audited financial statements by qualifying local governments (i.e., entities whose revenues and expenditures are less than $500,000). Additionally, in some cases, “actual” data from local government budgets has been used to provide detail for figures that have been aggregated in the audits or audit exemption forms.
To standardize the presentation of data, information extracted from each local government audit, audit exemption form, and budget has been organized to fit one of two summary reporting models: one designed for counties and municipalities and another, more basic model, designed for special districts. A description of the county and municipal reporting model is presented in the County and Municipal Financial Compendium section under the subheading, Electronic Compendium. The special district summary model is described in the following paragraphs.
Special District Methodology : The special district summary model presents a breakdown of revenues by sources typically available to special districts, including property tax, specific ownership tax, user charges, contributed capital, intergovernmental revenue, and debt proceeds. The expenditure breakdown includes operating expenditures, capital outlay, debt service and intergovernmental transfers. Also included are current assets and liabilities, outstanding debt, amounts of authorized-but-unissued debt, and selected auxiliary data, including mill levy and assessed valuation. Definitions of these and other data elements comprising the special district summary model are presented in the “Special District Data Descriptions” section <click here>.
The process of extracting and summarizing information from special district audits involves consolidating data presented in the various district funds (e.g., general fund, debt service fund, capital projects fund, etc.) and reorganizing the information to fit the special district summary model. For most districts, the end result of this process is a one-column, government-wide report summarizing revenues and expenditures, current assets and liabilities, and long-term debt. Column headings in these reports simply reflect the service being summarized.
In some cases, especially those involving multi-purpose districts, the final summary report may include more than one column of information. This occurs in two instances. The first instance involves districts that provide more than one service, such as water and sanitation districts. If these districts report the financial activity of each service separately in their annual audited financial statements, then each service is also presented separately in the districts’ summary reports. Thus, for example, the summary for a water and sanitation district may include two columns, one summarizing financial activity for water services and one summarizing activity for sanitation services.
The second instance involves districts that operate one or more of their activities as business activities (i.e., self-funding enterprises, such as water or sewer services) and all other activities as governmental activities (i.e., activities, such as road maintenance or open space acquisition, that are not intended to be self-funding). If business activities and governmental activities are reported separately in the districts’ annual audited financial statements, then each activity is also presented separately in the districts’ summary reports. Thus, for example, the summary for a metropolitan district may include two columns, one for its water service (i.e., business activity) and one for its road construction and maintenance activities (i.e., governmental activities). The columns, in this case, would be labeled “Water” and “Governmental,” respectively.
In addition to one-page local government financial summaries, trend analyses are also available in the Active Colorado Local Government Finances section. Trend analyses provide the same information as the one-page financial summaries, but on a multiple-year basis. For each local government of interest, a trend analysis provides the most recent eight years of financial information available in the database.
Users of the one-page financial summaries and trend analyses provided in the Active Colorado Local Government Finances section should bear in mind that the information presented does not necessarily conform to generally accepted accounting principals (GAAP), and, in addition, may be derived, whole or in part, from unaudited sources. Specifically, the summaries for some local governments may be the result of consolidating information from sources that have different measurement focuses (i.e., current financial resources versus economic) and different bases of accounting (i.e., accrual, modified accrual, or cash). Consolidating data from such disparate sources of information may be contrary to GAAP. Furthermore, some local government summaries may include information derived from unaudited sources, including budgets and audit exemption forms. For these reasons, the information contained in the Active Colorado Local Government Finances section should be used for general research purposes only.