District gets high marks on annual financial report and audit

PALATKA, Fla., June 14, 2016 — An external audit of the St. Johns River Water Management District’s financial statements gave the agency high marks for its latest annual financial report and showed the agency in compliance with state law and accounting standards.

“As a public agency, we take very seriously our mandate of financial accountability to Florida’s taxpayers,” said St. Johns River Water Management District Executive Director Dr. Ann Shortelle. “We hold ourselves to the highest standards of financial responsibility and work daily to ensure the integrity of our financial processes.”

Florida law requires that an external audit of the district’s financial statements be performed by an independent certified public accountant firm to ensure that the basic financial statements of the district are fairly presented in conformance with generally accepted accounting principles. The district complies with this requirement each year through publication of several reports contained within the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR).

The district’s Governing Board today accepted the CAFR for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2015, and the external audit report. This most recent independent audit contained no adverse findings and issued no exceptions on the fairness of the district’s financial statements.

The external audit was performed by James Moore and Company, CPAs, under contract to the district. The auditors issued an unqualified opinion (no exceptions) on the fairness of the financial statements. The CAFR also includes their reports on internal controls, which contained no adverse findings.

The CAFR is available on the district’s website at www.sjrwmd.com/financialstatements.