Budget

Most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) List

1. What is a “fund”?

Basically a fund is a set of accounting records. It contains the Revenue, Expenses, Cash balance, Liabilities, and other financial information for an activity. If you compare Santa Rosa County with a multi-divisional corporation like General Motors, then our funds would equate to the financial records for Buick, Pontiac, Saturn, Chevrolet, etc. divisions. We have Governmental Funds, Special Revenue Funds, Capital Funds, Debt Service and Enterprise (or business – like activities like Landfill and Navarre Beach Water/Sewer Utility) Funds.

2. Where does Santa Rosa County get its money to operate?

Counties, like Cities for that matter, have six general sources of money. They are:

• Taxes & Franchise Fees. This is our major source of operating revenue.
• Licenses & Permits. Includes Business licenses and building permits.
• Intergovernmental. These include Federal & State Grants and State Shared Revenues(which include Sales Taxes and Gas & Motor Fuel taxes)
• Charges for Services. The major source for these are fees charged by the Sheriff (jail bed rental charges to the Federal Government) & Clerk of Court (recording & transcript charges) and other smaller service charges.
• Fines & Forfeits. Fees received for Court fines, traffic tickets, administrative costs and other court-related charges.
• Miscellaneous. The major miscellaneous revenue is Interest Earning on our money in banks and the State Investment accounts. Also includes rent and royalty income from leases.
  
  

3. How much is the County’s annual budget?

The County’s budget varies by year. Refer to the Budget’s page on Santa Rosa County’s website, http://www.santarosa.fl.gov/budget/budget.html for specifics on revenues and expenditures for the current fiscal year.