Appendix_A_-_Findings_from_Recent_External_Audit.pdf

of Directors Sarasota Bay Estua,y Program Sarasota, Florida

INPFPENPFNT AlJPITOR''S 8FP0RT

Report on the Audit of the Financial Statements

Opinions

CS&L

CPAs

We have audited the accompanying financial statements of the governmental activiti es and each maj or fund, of Sarasota Bay Estuary Program (t he Program), as of and for the year ended September 30, 202 5, and the related notes to t he financial statements, which collect ively comprise the Program 's basic financial statements as l isted in the table of contents.

In our opinion, t he financial statements referred t o above present fairly, in all material respects, the respective financial position of the governmental act ivit ies and each major fund of t he Program as of September 30, 202 5, and the respective ctlanges in financial position for t he year then ended in accordance with accounting principles gerneralty accepted in t he United States of America.

lusis for Opinions We conducted our aud it in accordance with audit ing standards generally accepted in the United States o f America and the standards applicable to financial aud its contained in Government Audi ting Standards, issued by the Compt roller General of the United States. Our responsibilit ies under those standards are further described in the Auditor's Responsibilit ies for the Audit of the Financial Statements section of our repon. We are required to be independent of the Program and to meet ou r other ethical responsibiliti es, ~n accordance with t he relevant ethical requirements relat ing to our audit . We believe that the aud it evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinions.

R~sponsibilities of Md/Ja~tMnt for tM FindlK;.f Stat~ments Management is responsible for the preparat ion and fai r p resentation o f the financial statements in accordance with .account ing principl es generally accepted in the United States of Americ.a, and for t he design, implementation, and maintenance of internal control relevant to t he preparation and fa ir presentation o f fi nancial state;ments t hat are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, management is r,eq ui red to evaluate whether there are condit ions or events, considered in t he aggregate, t hat raise substantial doubt about the Program' s ability to continue as a going concern for twelve months beyond the financial statement date, including any cu rrently known informa·.tion that may raise substantial doubt shortly thereafter.

Auditors R~sponsibilities for th~ Audit of tM Financ.idl Srat~m~nts Our object ives are to obtain reasonable assu rance about whether the fi nancial statement s as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditors report that includes ou r opinions.

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APPENDIX A

FINDINGS FROM RECENT EXTERNAL AUDIT

able assurance is a high level of assurance but is not absolute assurance and therefore is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and Covemment Auditing Sundards will atways detect a material mis.statement when it exists. The risk of not detea ing a material misstatement resu:lting from fraud is high,er than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion , forgery.

intentional omissions. m.isrepresentatio ns.. or the owrride of intemal control. Ltisstatements are considered material i£ there is a substantial likelihood that, ind ividually or in the aggregate, they would influence the judgment made by a reasonable user based on the financial statements .

In performing an audit in accordance with g enerally accepted aud iting standards and Government Auditing Standards, we:

• Exercise professional j udgment and maintain professional skepticism throwghout the audit .

• Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements.

'Aihether due to fraud or error, and desig n and l)E,rform audit procedures responsive to those r isks. Such procedures include examining. on a test basis. evidence re-g.arding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements.

• Obtain an understanding of internal contro l relevant to the audit in order to design aud it pr«edurt:$ that are appropriate in the c:irc:umstanc:es, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effea ivenes.s of the Program's interna.1 control.

Accord ingly, no such opinion is expressed .

• Evalua1e the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by management. as well as evaluate the overall presentation of the financial statements.

• Conclude whether. in our judgment. ther,e are conditions or ewnts. considered in the aggregate, that raise substantial doubt about the Program's ability to continue as a going ,concem for a reasonable period of time.

\Ve are requir·ed to communicate with those charged with governance regard ing, among other matters, the planned scol)E, and timing of the audit, significant audit findings. and certain internal contro l- related matters that we identified during the aud it.

R,quiml 51/ppkm,nwy Information Accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America require that the management':s discussion and analysis, budgetary comparison information. schedules of proportionate share of net ~ nsion liability. and contributions and notes. as listed in the table of contents be presented to supplement the basic financial statements. Such infonna.tion is the responsibility of management and . although not a pan of the basic financial state ments, is required by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board who considers it to be an essential part of financial repon ing for placing the basic financial statements in an appropriate operational. economic, or historical context. \Ve haw applied certain limited procedures to the required supplementary information in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America, which consisted o f inquiries of management about th,e methods of preparing the information and comparing the information for consistency with management':s responses to our inquiries. the basic financial statements. and other kna.vledge we obtained d uring our aud it of the basic financial statements. \Ve do not express an ,opinion or provide any assurance on the information because the limited procedures do not provide us with sufficienu evidence to express an opinion or provide any assurance.

- 2 -lnformmon Our aud it was conducted for the purpose of forming opinions on the financial statements that collectively comprise the Progam's basic financial statements. The accompanying schedule of exl)E,nditures of federal a.wards, as required by Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part

200. Umfom1 Administrative Requirements, Cos t Prind p/es. and Audit Requiremen ts for Federal Awards is presented fo r purposes of additional anatysis and is not a req uired part of the basic financial sta tements. Such information is the responsibility of management and was derived from and relates d irectly to the underlying accounting and other records used to prepare the basic sta tements. The information has been subjected to the aud iting procedures applied in the audit of the basic financial statements and certain additional procedures. induding comparing and reconciling such information d irectly to the underlying accounting and other records used to prepare the basic financial sta tements or to the basic financial statements themsetves. and other additicnal proced ures in accordance with aud iting standards generally accepted in the United Sta tes of Americ.a.. In o ur o pinion, the schedule of expend itures of federal awards is fairly stated , in all material respects, in relatio n to the basic financal statements as a whole.

Other Reporting Required by Cot."M1ment Auditing Sundvds In accord ance with Covermmnt Auditing Standards. we have also issued our report d ated January 14, 2026 on our consi:lera tion of the Program's internal contro l over financial reporting and o n our tests of its compliance with certain provisio ns of laws. regulations. contra.as. and grant agreements and other rra tters. The purpose of that report is solely to descr ibe the scope of our testing of internal conuol over financial reporting and compliance and the results of that test ing , and not to provide an o pinion on the effea iveness of the Program's internal control over financial reporting or on ~ompliance. That report is an integral part of an aud it performed in accordance with Covermr:ent Auditing Standards in considering the Program's interral control over financial reporting and compliance.

C s.1-L ePAs:

CS&L Cf'A's, PA

January I 4, 2026 Sarasota, Florida

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I EilfB

Bo;ard of Directors Suuot;a by Estuuy Prognm

Report on the Finllncia..l Stiltements

We have audited the financial statements of Saraso ta Say Estuary Program as of and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025, and have issued our report t hereon dated January 14 , 2026.

Auditor's Responsib ility

We cond ucted our aud it in accordance with auditing standards generally a.ccei:ted in t he United States o f America: the standards applicable to financial a udits contained in Co/ernment Auditing Standard!. issued by the Comptroller General o f t he United States: the audit req uirements o f Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200. Uniform Administrative Requirements. Cost Principles, and Audi.- Requirements For Federal Awards (Uniform Guida.nee): and Chapt er 10.550 , Rules of the Auditor General

Other Reporting Requirements

We have issued our Independent Aud itor' s Rt port on Int ernal Contro l over Financial Reporting and o n Comi:liance and Other Matters Based on an Aud it of Financial Stat ements Performed in Accorda.nce w ith Covc r11n1cn t Aud idtrg Sta,rd,1.rds; Inde pende n t A u d it or' , Re port on Comp lia.n,:e fo r

Each Maj or Federal Program and Report o n Internal Contro l over Compliance: Schedule of Find ings and Questioned Costs : and Independent A<countant' s Report on an examina:;ion conducted in accordance wit h A/CPA Professional Standards. AT-C Section 31 5, regard ing compliance req uiremt nts in accordance with Chapter 10. 550 , Rules of the Aud ito r Genera.I. Disclosures in t hose reports and sched ule. which a.re dated January 14. 20 26. should be considered in conj unction with this management letter.

Prior Audit Findings

Section IO.S54(1)(i)1 .. Rules of the Aud itor General. requires that we determir.e whether or not corrective actions have been taken to add ress f ind ings and recommendations ma.de in t he p reced ing annual financial audit report. There were no recommendations made in the preceding aud it report.

Official Title and Legal Authority

Section 10.SS4(1)(i)4., Rules of t he Auditor General, requires that the name« official titl e and legal authority for t he primary government and each component unit of the reponing entity be d isclosed in t his management letter, unless disclosed in the notes to the financial statements.

This informat ion is disclosed in the notes to the financial statements.

BRADENTON

SARASOTA

TAMPA

1001 3tdt\\·<>ntte \V(st. SUit( iOO I ) I > Rineling 6oul.('11rd, Suit<> 900 101 E.ut Rmncdy Boul.-,,·;'lrd. Sui te I ¼O

- 43 -f<,ldcntoo. FL j4!0) S.w~ot,), Fl. i➔H6 "h:rnp., , Fl H601 pl1 941. i➔S. 1040 pli ~l.~S.➔.4040 1>h Si .J.~90.4490 WWW.CSLCPA.COM in;ancial Condrtion and Management

Sect ion 1 0 .S54(1)(i)5.a. and 1 0 .S56(7), Ru les of the Audito r General. require us to ap p ly ap p rop riat e p rocedures and communicate the results o f our d e terminatio n as to whether o r not Sarasota Bay Estuary Prog ram met one o r more of t he condit ions d escribed in Section 21 8. 503(1 ). Flo rida Stat utes.

and to identify the specific condition(s) me·t. In connection with our audit. we determined that the Sarasota Bay Estuary Prog ram was no t in a sta te o f financial emerg ency. as it d id not meet any o f the conditions described in Sect ion 218 .503(1 ). Flo rid a Stat utes.

Pursuant to Sect ions I0 .5 54(1)(i)5.b . and 10.5 56(8). Ru les of the Aud itor General. we ap plied financial cond ition assessment procedures fo r the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program (the P1'ogram). It is management's responsib ility to monito r the Sarasota Bay Estuary Prog ram' s f inancial condit ion, and our financial conditio n assessment was based in part on rep resentat ions mad e by man agement and the review of financial info rmation p rovided by same.

Sect ion I 0 .5 54(1 )(i)2.. Ru les o f t he Audito r General. req u ires tha t we commu nicate any recommendat ions to improve f inancial management . In connect ion with our audit. we d id no t have any such recommend ations.

Specific Information for an Independent Special District

As req ui red by Sect ion 218 .39(3)(c), Flor ida Stat utes, and Sect ion 10 .SS4(1)(i)7, Rules of the Auditor General, t he Program reponed:

a. The total number of Program employees compensated in the fast pay period of the Program's fiscal year was 5.

b. The total number of i ndependent c•ontractors to whom non- employee comp,ensat ion was paid in t he last month of the Program' s fiscal year was 1.

c. All compensat ion earned by or a¼iarded t o employees, whether paid or accrued, regardless of cont ingency ¼ias S4 l 4 ,593.

d . All compensation earned by or awarded to non-employee independent contractors, whether paid or accrued, regardless of contingency was SS0,520.

e. Each const ruction proj ect with a total cost of at feast S6S,OOO approved by the Program that is scheduled to begin on or after October 1 of the fiscal year being repon ed, together wit h t he total expenditures for such project was SO, as t here were none.

f. A budget variance based on the budget adopted under Section 189.01 6(4), Florida Statutes, before t he beg inning of the fiscal year being reponed if the Program amends a final adopted budget under Sect ion 189.016(6), Flor ida Statutes. The budget var iance schedule is presented on page 28.

Addit ional M1.tters

Sect ion 10.55 4{1}(i)3 .. Ru les of the Aud itor General. req uires us to commu nicate noncom pliance with p rovisions o f contracts o r g rant agreements:, o r fraud . waste, o r ab use. tha t has occurre d. o r is likely to have occur red . that has an effect on the financial statements that is less than mat er ial b ut warrant s the a tten tion o f those charg ed with governance. In connection with our aud it. we d id not have any such find ings.

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Our management letter is intended solely for the info rmation and use of the Legis lative Auditing Committee. members of the Florida Senat e and the Florida House o f Representatives. t he Flo rida Aud itor General. Federal and ot her granting agencies. t he B-oard of Directors. and applicable management. and is not intended to be and should not be used by anyone other than t hese s pecified part.ies.

CS&I. CPAs. P.A.

January 14 , 2026 Sarasota, Florida

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