2012 Annual Financial Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY OF CENTERVILLE, MINNESOTA NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS DECEMBER 31, 2012 Note 1: SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES - CONTINUED Capital assets Capital assets, which include property, plant, equipment and infrastructure assets (e.g., roads, bridges, sidewalks, and similar items) are, reported in the applicable governmental or business-type activities columns in the government-wide financial statements. Capital assets are defined by the City as assets with an initial, individual cost of more than $5,000 (amount not rounded) and an estimated useful life in excess of three years. Such assets are recorded at historical cost or estimated historical cost if purchased or constructed. Donated capital assets are recorded at estimated fair market value at the date of donation. In the case of initial capitalization of general infrastructure assets (i.e., those reported by governmental activities) the City chose to include items dating back to June 30, 1980. The City was able to estimate the historical cost for the initial reporting of these assets through back trending (i.e., estimating the current replacement cost of the infrastructure to be capitalized and using an appropriate price-level index to deflate the cost to the acquisition year or estimated acquisition year). As the City constructs or acquires capital assets each period, including infrastructure assets, they are capitalized and reported at historical cost. The reported value excludes normal maintenance and repairs which are essentially amounts spent in relation to capital assets that do not increase the capacity or efficiency of the item or extend its useful life beyond the original estimate. In the case of donations the City values these capital assets at the estimated fair value of the item at the date of its donation. Interest incurred during the construction phase of capital assets of business-type activities is included as part of the capitalized value of the assets constructed. Property, plant and equipment of the City are depreciated using the straight-line method over the following estimated useful lives: Useful Lives Assetsin Years Land improvements4 to 25 Other improvements10 to 20 Buildings and improvements10 to 50 System improvements/infrastructure20 to 50 Machinery and equipment3 to 20 Vehicles3 to 10 Other assets3 to 15 Deferred inflows of resources In addition to liabilities, the statement of financial position will sometimes report a separate section for deferred inflows of resources. This separate financial statement element, deferred inflows of resources, represents an acquisition of net position that applies to a future period(s) and so will not be recognized as an inflow of resources (revenue) until that time. The government has only one type of item, which arises only under a modified accrual basis of accounting that qualifies for reporting in this category. Accordingly, the item, unavailable revenue, is reported only in the governmental funds balance sheet. The governmental funds report unavailable revenues from two sources: property taxes and special assessments. These amounts are deferred and recognized as an inflow of resources in the period that the amounts become available. Compensated absences It is the Citys policy to permit employees to accumulate earned but unused paid time off benefits to a maximum of 208 hours. All paid time off pay is accrued when incurred in the government-wide and proprietary funds. A liability for these amounts is reported in governmental funds only if they have matured, for example, as a result of employee resignations and retirements. Union employees are allowed severance equal to their unused compensatory time. In governmental fund types the cost of these benefits is recognized when payments are made to the employees. The General fund is typically used to liquidate governmental compensated absences. -56-