For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2016
Note 1 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
The financial statements of Great Oaks Career Campuses (“Great Oaks”) have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) as applied to governmental units. The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is the accepted standard‐setting body for establishing governmental accounting and financial reporting principles. The most significant of Great Oaks’ accounting policies are described below. Reporting Entity Great Oaks is a joint vocational school Great Oaks organized under Section 3311.18 of the Ohio Revised Code. Great Oaks provides vocational education for thirty‐six school districts serving the population of approximately 600,000 throughout 2,200 square miles of southwest Ohio. A 35‐member Board of Directors governs Great Oaks, which is supported by a 2.70 mill operating levy on over $17 billion of assessed valuation, funds from the State of Ohio School Foundation Program and State reimbursements for voted property tax revenues eliminated or diverted by subsequent legislation. Great Oaks serves as the career and technical planning Great Oaks for southwest Ohio, providing leadership, work‐force development education, training and resources in collaboration with its partners in business, industry, affiliate districts, local governments and agencies, as well as its community partners and organizations.
The reporting entity is comprised of the primary government. The primary government consists of all funds, departments, boards, and agencies that are not legally separate from Great Oaks. Component units are legally separate organizations for which Great Oaks is financially accountable. Great Oaks is financially accountable for an organization if Great Oaks appoints a voting majority of the organization's governing board and (1) Great Oaks is able to significantly influence the programs or services performed or provided by the organization; or (2) Great Oaks is legally entitled to or can otherwise access the organization's resources; Great Oaks is legally obligated or has otherwise assumed the responsibility to finance the deficits of, or provide financial support to, the organization; or Great Oaks is obligated for the debt of the organization. Component units may also include organizations that are fiscally dependent on Great Oaks in that Great Oaks approves the budget, the issuance of debt, or the levying of taxes. Great Oaks has no component units.
Great Oaks is associated with one organization; Butler Health Plan, which is an insurance purchasing pool. This organization is presented in Note 14 to the basic financial statements.
Basis of Presentation
Government‐wide Financial Statements The statement of net position and the statement of activities display information about Great Oaks as a whole. These statements include the financial activities of the primary government except for fiduciary funds. The statements distinguish between those activities of Great Oaks that are governmental and those that are considered business‐type activities. Great Oaks has no business‐type activities.
The government‐wide statements are prepared using the economic resources measurement focus, which differs from the manner in which the governmental fund financial statements are prepared. Therefore, the governmental fund financial statements include a reconciliation with brief explanations to better identify the relationship between the government‐wide statements and the statements for governmental funds.
Great Oaks Career Campuses
Notes to the Basic Financial Statements
For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2016
The government‐wide statement of activities presents a comparison between direct expenses and program revenues for each function of Great Oaks’ governmental activities. Direct expenses are those that are specifically associated with a service, program or department and are therefore identifiable to a particular function. Program revenues include charges paid by the recipient of the goods or services offered by the program and grants and contributions that are restricted to meeting the operational requirements of a particular program. Revenues which are not classified as program revenues are presented as general revenues, with certain limited exceptions. The comparison of direct expenses with program revenues identifies the extent to which each governmental function is self‐financing or draws from the general revenues of Great Oaks.
Fund Financial Statements All governmental funds are accounted for using a flow of current financial resources measurement focus. With this measurement focus, only current assets and current liabilities generally are included on the balance sheet. The statement of revenues, expenditures and changes in fund balances reports on the sources (i.e., revenues and other financing sources) and uses (i.e., expenditures and other financing uses) of current financial resources. This approach differs from the manner in which the governmental activities of the government‐wide financial statements are prepared. Governmental fund financial statements therefore include reconciliation with brief explanations to better identify the relationship between the government‐wide statements and the statements for governmental funds.
Like the government‐wide statements, all proprietary fund types are accounted for on a flow of economic resources measurement focus. All assets and all liabilities associated with the operation of these funds are included on the statement of net position. The statement of changes in fund net position presents increases (i.e., revenues) and decreases (i.e., expenses) in net total assets. The statement of cash flows provides information about how Great Oaks finances and meets the cash flow needs of its proprietary activities.
Fund Accounting
Great Oaks uses funds to report on its financial position and the results of its operations. Fund accounting is designed to demonstrate legal compliance and to aid financial management by segregating transactions related to certain Great Oaks’ functions or activities. A fund is defined as a fiscal and accounting entity with a self‐balancing set of accounts. The funds of Great Oaks are grouped into the categories governmental and fiduciary. Governmental Funds Governmental Funds focus on the sources, uses and balances of current financial resources. Expendable assets are assigned to the various governmental funds according to the purposes for which they may or must be used. Current liabilities are assigned to the fund from which they will be paid. The difference between governmental fund assets and liabilities is reported as fund balance. The following is Great Oaks’ only major governmental fund:
General Fund ‐ The general fund is used to account for all financial resources except those required to be accounted for in another fund. The general fund balance is available to Great Oaks for any purpose provided it is expended or transferred according to the general laws of Ohio.