2012 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report - the City of Tukwila

CITY OF TUKWILA: 2012 CAFRNOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTSNOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTSFor the Year Ended December 31, 2012NOTE 1 – SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIESThe City of Tukwila was incorporated on June 29, 1908, and operates under the laws of the State ofWashington applicable to a non-charter optional code city with a Mayor/Council form of government.Tukwila is served by a Mayor and seven council members, all elected at large to four-year terms. TheCity provides what are considered general government services including public safety, streets, parks,planning and zoning, permits and inspection, general administrative, water services, sanitary sewercollection, and storm drainage.The accounting and reporting policies of the City of Tukwila conform to generally accepted accountingprinciples as applied to governmental units. The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) isthe accepted standard setting body for establishing governmental accounting and financial reportingprinciples. The City’s significant accounting policies are described in this note.A. The Reporting EntityAs required by generally accepted accounting principles the financial statements present the City andits component unit, an entity for which the government is considered to be financially accountable. Thediscretely presented component unit is reported in a separate column in the government-wide financialstatements to emphasize that it is legally separate from the government.See Note 8, Joint Ventures, for a discussion of Valley Communications Center, which is a joint publicsafety dispatching authority for five member cities, and South Correctional Entity (SCORE), which is agovernmental administrative agency. Also, see Note 15, Risk Management, for a discussion of theWashington Cities Insurance Authority.The City of Tukwila is a party to the following interlocal agreements;Cascade Water AllianceJail Administration GroupValley Narcotics Enforcement TeamValley Special Weapons and Tactics TeamValley Civil Disturbance UnitMetropolitan Park DistrictRegional Animal Services of King CountyCity of Sea Tac Probation ServicesKing County Reclaimed WatereCity.gov AllianceThe organizations above are separate entities in the State of Washington whereby the City may enterinto these agreements pursuant to, and as authorized by, the Interlocal Cooperation Act under RCW39.34. The City of Tukwila is not financially accountable to these organizations, none of theorganizations have an ongoing financial interest in the City, and the City is not financially dependentupon these organizations.51