March 21, 2011
Honorable Ashton J. Hayward III
Mayor of the City of Pensacola
P.O. Box 12910
Pensacola, FL 32521
Subject: Port misinformation
Dear Mr. Mayor:
The Port Director told Council Members in late December that the Port had a “very strong” Fiscal Year 2010. The Port Director’s report referenced the City Finance Director’s Fourth Quarter Financial Report. (See attached Port e-mail.)
The official Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR 2010) does not confirm the Port Director’s very favorable views and the Finance Director’s Quarterly Report. Actually, the audited CAFR statements present a much different picture. The Port and Finance Director statements were seriously inconsistent with the CAFR. Attached are my comments on the CAFR Port pages.
The most egregious inconsistency is the Finance Director’s persistent claim that the Port has a “reserve”. The CAFR does not show a Port “reserve”. No such “reserve” exists according to “generally accepted accounting principles”.
The boast of a “reserve” misinforms the public on the Port’s financial condition. In the past, the Finance Director has excused his use of a “reserve” on the basis that quarterly data is unaudited. The use of unaudited data does not give City Hall license to create a false public impression.
City Staff should “tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”.
Sincerely yours,
C. C. Elebash
Retired finance professor
Comments