I need to write a report on CAFR of Charleston County. Its due tomorrow at noon. See attached doc. for more details.

~ thank you,

Use this CAFR of Charleston, SC County to answer below questions: http://www.charlestoncounty.org/departments/finance/files/FY14Cafr/CAFR2014 .pdf Part 1: a a a a a a Governmentwide Statements. What are the titles of the two governmentwide statements? Are total assets larger for governmental activities or businesstype activities? Which function or program has the highest net cost? What kinds of general revenues are available to cover the net cost of governmental activities? Were businesstype activities \"profitable\"? That is, is the excess of revenues over expenses positive? Governmental Funds. Does the report state the basis of accounting used for the General Fund? What types of assets and liabilities are included on the governmental funds balance sheet? Is this reporting consistent with the basis of accounting being followed? Identify which of the major funds, if applicable, are special revenue funds, debt service funds, capital projects funds, and permanent funds. Are you able to determine which funds are considered nonmajor? (Hint: look for supplementary information.) What fund balance categories are being used? Proprietary Funds. List the names of the proprietary fund types included in the financial statements. Do the financial statements provide evidence that all proprietary funds use accrual accounting? Fiduciary Funds. List the names of the fiduciary funds included in the fund financial statements. Identify whether each of these is an agency fund, investment trust fund, pension (and other employee benefit) trust fund, or privatepurpose trust fund. Do the financial statements provide evidence as to what basis of accounting these funds use? Notes to the Financial Statements. Read the notes to the financial statements, so that you can refer to them as needed in subsequent chapters. What significant accounting policies are discussed in the first note? With regard to revenue recognition, how do the notes define the term available for paying current period obligations? Part 2: a Statement of Activities at the Governmentwide Level. Has the government prepared statements in compliance with the GASB financial reporting model? Does the statement of activities appear on one page or two pages? What is the most costly governmental function or program operated by the government? How much of the cost of governmental activities was borne by taxpayers in the form of general revenues? Did the entity increase or decrease its governmental activities unrestricted net position this year? Did the entity increase or decrease its business type activities unrestricted net position this year? a Statement of Revenues, Expenditures, and Changes in Fund Balances for Governmental Funds. 1 Revenues. What system of classification of revenues is used in the governmental fund financial statements? List the three most important sources of General Fund revenues and the most important source of revenue for each major governmental fund. Does the reporting entity depend on any single source for as much as onethird of its General Fund revenues? What Page 103 a proportion of revenues is derived from property taxes? Do the notes clearly indicate recognition criteria for primary revenue sources? Are charts, graphs, or tables included in the statistical section of the CAFR that show the changes over time in reliance on each revenue source? 1 Expenditures. What level of classification of expenditures is used in the governmental fund financial statements (e.g., fund, function or program, organization unit, activity, character, object)? List the three largest categories of General Fund expenditures; list the largest category of expenditure of each major governmental fund. Are charts, tables, or graphs presented in the statistical section of the CAFR to show the trend of General Fund expenditures, by category, for a period of 10 years? Is expenditure data related to nonfinancial measures such as population of the government or workload statistics (e.g., tons of solid waste removed or number of miles of street constructed)? 1 Other Financing Sources (Uses). Are other financing sources and uses reported in a separate section of the statement of revenues, expenditures, and changes in fund balances, below the revenues and expenditures sections? Do the line items indicate the nature of each financing source or use? Budgetary Comparison Schedule or Statement. Does the government present budgetary comparisons as a basic governmental fund financial statement, or as required supplementary information (RSI) immediately following the notes to the financial statements? Is the budgetary comparison title a schedule rather than a statement? Does the budgetary comparison present the original budget and the final amended budget? Does the budgetary schedule present actual data using the budgetary basis of accounting? Has the government presented one or more variance columns? Does the CAFR indicate that budgetary reporting practices differ from GAAP reporting practices? If so, does it explain how the practices differ? Part 3: a a a Governmental Activities, Governmentwide Level. Answer the following questions. (1) Are governmental activities reported in a separate column from businesstype activities in the two governmentwide financial statements? (2) Are assets and liabilities reported either in the relative order of their liquidity or on a classified basis on the statement of net position? (3) Is information on expenses for governmental activities presented at least at the functional level of detail? (4) Are program revenues segregated into (a) charges for services, (b) operating grants and contributions, and (c) capital grants and contributions on the statement of activities? General Fund. Answer the following questions. (1) What statements and schedules pertaining to the General Fund are presented? (2) What purpose is each statement and schedule intended to serve? (3) Are any noncurrent or nonliquid assets included in the General Fund balance sheet? If so, are they offset by equal amounts classified as \"nonspendable\" fund balances? (4) Are any noncurrent liabilities included in the General Fund balance sheet? If so, describe them. (5) Are revenue classifications sufficiently detailed to be meaningful? (6) Has the government refrained from reporting expenses rather than expenditures? Special Revenue Funds. Answer the following questions. (1) What statements and schedules pertaining to the special revenue funds are presented? (2) Are these only combining statements, or are there also statements for individual special revenue funds? (3) Are expenditures classified by character (i.e., current, intergovernmental, capital outlay, and debt service)? (4) Are current expenditures further categorized at least by function? a Part 4: 1 Reporting of Capital Assets. Are capital assets reported as a lineitem in the governmentwide statement of net position? Are nondepreciable capital assets reported on a separate line from depreciable capital assets, or are they separately reported in the notes to the financial statements? Do the notes include capital asset disclosures, such as those for the City and County of Denver shown in Illustration 5-2? Does the disclosure show beginning balances, increases and decreases, and ending balances for each major class of capital assets, as well as the same information for accumulated depreciation for each major class? Are these disclosures presented separately for the capital assets of governmental activities, businesstype activities, and discretely presented component units? Do the notes specify capitalization thresholds for all capital assets, including infrastructure? Do the notes show the amounts of depreciation expense assigned to each major function or program for governmental activities at the governmentwide level? Are the depreciation policies and estimated lives of major classes of depreciable assets disclosed? Do the notes include the entity's policies regarding capitalization of collections of works of art and historical treasures? If collections are capitalized, are they depreciated? Are accounting policies disclosed for assets acquired under capital leases? 1 Other. Is the accumulated cost of construction work in progress recorded as an asset anywhere within the financial statements or notes? Which fund, or funds, account for cash received, or receivables created, from sales of general capital assets? Are the proceeds of sales of general capital assets reported as an other financing source or as revenue? Capital Projects Funds: 1 Title and Content. What title is given to the funds that function as capital projects funds, as described in this chapter? (Street Improvement Funds and Capital Improvement Funds are common titles, although these titles also are often used for special revenue funds that account for ongoing annual maintenance of roadways.) Where does the report state the basis of accounting used for capital projects funds? Is the basis used consistent with GASB standards discussed in this chapter? Are there separate capital projects funds for each project, several funds that account for related projects, or is only one fund used for all projects? 1 Statements and Schedules. What statements and schedules pertaining to capital projects funds are presented? In what respects (headings, arrangement, items included, etc.) do they differ when compared to statements illustrated or described in the text? Are any differences merely a matter of terminology or arrangement, or do they represent significant deviations from GASB accounting and reporting standards for capital projects funds? 1 Financial Resource Inflows. What is the nature of the financial resource inflows utilized by the capital projects funds? If taxsupported bonds or special assessment bonds are the source, have any been sold at a premium? At a discount? If so, what was the accounting treatment of the bond premium or discount? 1 Fund Expenditures. How much detail is given concerning capital projects fund expenditures? Is the detail sufficient to meet the information needs of administrators? Legislators? Creditors? Grantors? Interested residents? For projects that are incomplete at the date of the financial statement, does the 1 Part 5: report compare the percentage of total authorization for each project expended to date with the percentage of completion? For those projects completed during the fiscal year, does the report compare the total expenditures for each project with the authorization for each project? For each cost overrun, how was the overrun financed? Assets Acquired under Capital Leases. Were any general capital assets acquired by the primary government or one or more component units under a capital lease agreement during the year for which you have statements? If so, was the present value of minimum lease rentals recorded as an Expenditure and as an Other Financing Source in a capital projects fund (or in any other governmental fund)? If the primary government or one or more component units leased assets from another component unit, how are the assets, related liabilities, expenditures, and other financing sources reported in the basic financial statements or in another section of the CAFR of the reporting entity? Disclosure of Longterm Debt. Does the report contain evidence that the government has general longterm liabilities? If so, does the report include a list of outstanding taxsupported debt issues; capital lease obligations; claims, judgments, and compensated absence payments to be made in future years; and unfunded pension obligations? Has the government issued any special assessment debt? If the government is obligated in some manner, is the debt reported as a liability in the governmentwide statement of net position? If the government has issued special assessment debt for which it is not obligated in any manner, do the notes discuss this debt? Refer to the enterprise funds statement of net position as well as note disclosures for long term liabilities. Are any enterprise debt issues backed by the full faith and credit of the general government? If so, how are the primary liability and the contingent liability disclosed? 1 Changes in Longterm Liabilities. How are changes in longterm liabilities during the year disclosed? Is there a disclosure schedule for longterm liabilities similar to Illustration 6-1? If any new debt was issued by a governmental fund, are the proceeds of the debt issuance reported in the governmental fund financial statements as an \"other financing source\"? Are interest payments and principal payments due in future years disclosed? If so, does the report relate these future payments with resources to be made available under existing debt service laws and covenants? 1 Debt Limitations. Does the report contain information as to legal debt limit and legal debt margin? If so, is the information contained in the report explained in enough detail, so that an intelligent reader (you) can understand how the limit is set, what debt is subject to it, and how much debt the government might legally issue in the year following the date of the report? 1 Overlapping Debt. Does the report disclose direct debt and overlapping debt of the reporting entity? What disclosures of debt of the primary government are made in distinction to debt of component units? Is debt of component units reported as \"direct\" debt of the reporting entity or as \"overlapping debt\"? Debt Service Funds. 1 Debt Service Function. How is the debt service function for taxsupported debt handledby the General Fund, by a special revenue fund, or by one or more debt service funds? If there is more than one debt service fund, what kinds of bond issues or other debt instruments are serviced by each fund? Is debt service for bonds to be retired from enterprise revenues reported by enterprise funds? 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Investment Activity. Does the CAFR contain a schedule or list of investments of debt service funds? Does the report disclose increases or decreases in the fair value of investments realized during the year? Does the report disclose net earnings on investments during the year? What percentage of revenue of each debt service fund is derived from earnings on investments? What percentage of the revenue of each debt service fund is derived from taxes levied directly for the debt service fund? What percentage is derived from transfers from other funds? List any other sources of debt service revenue and other financing sources, and indicate the relative importance of each source. Capital Lease Payments. If general capital assets are being acquired undercapital lease agreements, are periodic lease payments accounted for as expenditures of a debt service fund (or by another governmental fund)? If so, does the report disclose the portion of capital lease payments considered as interest and the portion considered as payment on the principal? Part 6: Use of Funds. What activities of the government are reported as being administered by internal service funds? (Note: Working capital funds, revolving funds, industrial funds, and intragovernmental service funds are other names used for funds of the type discussed in Chapter 7.) If internal service funds are not used by the reporting entity, does the report disclose how financing and accounting for activities such as purchasing, motor pools, printing, data processing, and other activities commonly used by more than one fund are handled? Does the report state the basis of accounting used for the internal service funds? Fund Disclosure. In the balance sheet(s) or statement(s) of net position displaying information for the internal service fund(s), are assets classified in accord with practices of profitseeking businesses, or are current, capital, and other assets not separately displayed? If there are receivables other than from other funds or other governments, are allowances for estimated uncollectibles provided? Are allowances for depreciation deducted from related capital asset accounts? Are current liabilities and longterm debt properly distinguished in the balance sheet? Are longterm loans from other funds properly distinguished from capital contributions received from other funds? Are budgetary accounts (Estimated Revenues, Appropriations, Encumbrances) used by the internal service funds? From what sources were revenues actually obtained by each internal service fund? How are costs and expenses of each fund classified? Are noncash expenses, such as depreciation, separately disclosed? Do the revenues of each fund exceed the costs and expenses of the period? Compute the net income (or net loss) of each fund in this category as a percentage of its operating revenue for the period. Does the net income (or net loss) for any fund exceed 5 percent of operating revenues? If so, do the statements or the accompanying notes explain how the excess is being used or how the deficiency is being financed? Statement of Cash Flows. Is a statement of cash flows presented for internal service funds? If so, how does the cash provided by operations shown in this statement relate to the revenues and expenses shown in the statement of revenues, expenses, and changes in net position, or other similarly titled operating statement? Are cash flows from financing activities presented separately for noncapital and capitalrelated activities? Is there a section for cash flows from investing activities? Governmentwide Financial Statements. Is there a column for businesstype activities on the statement of net position and statement of activities? Is there any evidence that the internal service fund account balances were collapsed into the Governmental Activities column? If enterprise funds are the predominant participants in the internal service fund, do you see evidence that the internal service fund balances are reported in the Businesstype Activities column of the governmentwide statements? Enterprise Funds. 1 Use of Funds. What activities of the government are reported as being administered by enterprise funds? Does the government own and operate its water utility? Electric utility? Gas utility? Transportation system? Are combining statements presented in the financial section of the CAFR for all enterprise funds, or are separate statements presented for each enterprise fund? Do all enterprise funds use accrual accounting? Are all funds in this category earning revenues at least equal to costs and expenses? If not, how is the operating deficit being financed? Do the notes include segment information on individual enterprise funds where applicable (see \"Required Segment Information\" section of this chapter)? Are sales to other funds or other governments separately disclosed? Are there receivables from other funds or other governments? How are receivables from component units, if any, disclosed? Is there any evidence that enterprise funds contribute amounts to the General Fund in lieu of taxes to help support services received by the enterprise? Is there any evidence that enterprise funds make excessively large contributions to the General Fund or any other funds? 1 Utility Funds. Is it possible to tell from the report whether utilities of this government are subject to the same regulations as investorowned utilities in the same state? (If the utility statements use account titles prescribed by the NARUC and the FERC, as described in this chapter, there is a good chance that the governmentally owned utilities are subject to at least some supervision by a state regulatory agency.) What rate of return on sales (or operating revenues) is being earned by each utility fund? What rate of return on total assets is being earned by each utility fund? Is depreciation taken on the utility plant? Are accounting policies and accounting changes properly disclosed? If so, what method of depreciation is being used? Does each utility account for its own debt service and construction activities in the manner described in this chapter? What special funds or restricted assets are utilized by each utility? 1 Governmentwide Financial Statements. What proportion of the net position of the business type activities are reported as net investment in capital assets, restricted, and unrestricted? Were the businesstype activities profitable; that is, did revenues exceed expenses