R-1237-13 RESOLUTION NO. 1237-13
A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI SHORES VILLAGE COUNCIL URGING MEMBERS OF THE
FLORIDA LEGISLATURE TO OPPOSE LEGISLATION THAT WOULD MANDATE THE USE OF A
UNIFORM CHART OF ACCOUNTS FOR ALL GOVERMENTAL ENTITIES TO REPORT FINACIAL
INFORMATION.
WHEREAS, in 2011 the Florida Legislature passed and the Governor signed, Senate Bill 1292
requiring the chief financial officer to recommend a uniform chart of accounts for reporting financial
information for all state agencies, local governments, educational entities, and entities of higher
education; and
WHEREAS, each entity of the state and local government is different, serves a different purpose
and may use a different basis of accounting; and
WHEREAS, the purpose of the Chart of Accounts Project is to develop a uniform chart of
accounts to be used by all governmental entities for reporting assets, liabilities, equities, revenues and
expenditures; and
WHEREAS,the draft uniform chart of accounts will impact over 2,350 governmental entities; and
WHEREAS, each of the impacted entities are currently accountable to the electorate, citizens
and users of their services; and
WHEREAS, Florida governments are required to meet many reporting requirements, both at the
State and Federal level, including reporting to the Florida Department of Financial Services, Florida Equal
Employment Opportunity, Florida Unemployment Compensation, Florida Retirement System, Federal
Affordable Care Act, and payroll taxes and W-2 information to the Internal Revenue Service; and
WHEREAS, the monthly reporting may be prepared on a basis of accounting that may differ from
the basis of accounting used to prepare the year-end audited financial statements and that the monthly
information will not be validated; and
WHEREAS, the new level of detail required at the object level for monthly reporting is far
greater than the level of detail reported either in the audited financial statements or in the Annual
Financial Report required pursuant to the provisions of Section 218.32(1)(a), Florida Statutes; and
WHEREAS, there will be no attempt to validate any of the data before it is posted for public
viewing and this results in a high risk that the data will be inaccurate, invalid or incomplete; and
WHEREAS, the establishment of a uniform chart of accounts without requiring uniformity in
other areas such as in the basis of accounting and in the accounting treatment of various transactions in
itself will not provide users with any meaningful comparisons between organizations; and
WHEREAS, regardless of the approach taken to implement the provisions of Section 215.89,
Florida Statutes, significant resources will be required to achieve the goals of the chief financial officer;
and
WHEREAS, the cost of implementing the Uniform Chart of Accounts far exceeds any benefit that
taxpayers may accrue; and
WHEREAS,the Miami Shores Village Council believes that transparency and accountability of the
use of public funds to citizens and other stakeholders is paramount but that it must be done while
simultaneously limiting the burden to the entities and preserving the autonomy of each government
entity; and
WHEREAS, we believe that legislation should be enacted that prescribes minimum desired
transparency standards for reporting by local governments, leaving it to the local governments to
include such information on their web sites, and that such legislation should not impose significant
financial burdens on local governments.
NOW,THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MIAMI SHORES VILLAGE COUNCIL that:
Section 1. The Village Council urges members of the Florida Legislature to oppose legislation
that would mandate the use of a uniform chart of accounts for all governmental entities to report
financial information.
Section 2. The Finance Director shall forward a copy of this resolution to the Florida
Governmental Finance Officers Association for dissemination to the Florida Legislative Representatives.
PASSED on this, the 5th , day of November 2013.
Herta Holly, Mayor
ATTEST:
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Barbara A. Estep, MMC
Village Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
L C
Richard Sarafan
Village Attorney