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<br />NOTE 1- SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED) <br /> <br />B. <br /> <br />Basis of Presentation <br /> <br />The City's basic financial statements are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally <br />accepted in the United States of America. The Governmental Accounting Standards Board is the <br />acknowledged standard setting body for establishing accounting and financial reporting standards <br />followed by governmental entities in the U.S.A. <br /> <br />These statements require that the financial statements described below be presented. <br /> <br />Government-wide Statements: The Statement of Net Assets and the Statement of Activities display <br />information about the primary government (the City) and its component units. These statements include <br />the financial activities of the overall City government, except for fiduciary activities. Certain eliminations <br />have been made as prescribed by GASB Statement No. 34 in regards to interfund activities, payables, and <br />receivables. All internal balances in the Statement of Net Assets have been eliminated except those <br />representing balances between the governmental activities, which are presented as internal balances and <br />eliminated in the total primary government column. These statements distinguish between the <br />governmental and business-type activities of the City. Governmental activities generally are financed <br />through taxes, intergovernmental revenues, and other non-exchange transactions. Business-type activities <br />are financed in whole or in part by fees charged to external parties. <br /> <br />The Statement of Activities presents a comparison between direct expenses and program revenues for <br />each segment of the business-type activities of the City and for each function of the City's governmental <br />activities. Direct expenses are those that are specifically associated with a program or function and, <br />therefore, are clearly identifiable to a particular function. Program revenues include (a) charges paid by <br />the recipients of goods or services offered by the programs, (b) grants and contributions that are restricted <br />to meeting the operational needs of a particular program, and (c) fees, grants, and contributions that are <br />restricted to financing the acquisition or construction of capital assets. Revenues that are not classified as <br />program revenues, including all taxes, are presented as general revenues. <br /> <br />Fund Financial Statements: The fund financial statements provide information about the City's funds, <br />including fiduciary funds and blended component units. Separate statements for each fund category- <br />governmental, proprietary, and fiduciary-are presented. The emphasis of fund financial statements is on <br />major individual funds, each of which is displayed in a separate column. All remaining governmental and <br />enterprise funds are aggregated and reported as non-major funds. <br /> <br />Proprietary fund operating revenues, such as charges for services, result from exchange transactions <br />associated with the principal activity of the fund. Exchange transactions are those in which each party <br />receives and gives up essentially equal values. Non-operating revenues, such as subsidies and investment <br />earnings, result from non-exchange transactions or ancillary activities. Operating expenses for <br />proprietary funds are those expenses that are essential to the primary operations of the funds. All other <br />expenses are reported as non-operating expenses. <br /> <br />c. <br /> <br />Major Funds <br /> <br />GASB Statement No. 34 defines major funds and requires that the City's major governmental and <br />business-type funds be identified and presented separately in the fund financial statements. All other <br />funds, called non-major funds, are combined and reported in a single column, regardless of their fund- <br />type. <br /> <br />Major funds are defined as funds that have assets, liabilities, revenues, or expenditures/expenses equal to <br />ten percent of their fund-type total and five percent of the grand total. The general fund is always a major <br />fund. The City may also select other funds it believes should be presented as major funds. <br /> <br />27 <br />