Drafter
Clerk 08/18/2008
Title
AN ORDINANCE relating to capitalization threshold, property management, and controllable assets; and amending Ordinance 12045, Section 21, as amended, and K.C.C. 4.56.030.
Body
STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. Capitalization is the recognition of capital outlays as capital assets in the balance sheet or statement of net assets. Capital assets are assets that are used in operations and that have useful lives greater than one year. As capitalization is focused on financial reporting, a capitalization threshold is commonly established in order to exclude numerous low-cost items thereby reducing tracking costs and improving efficiency of the capital assets system.
2. For practical considerations, the established capitalization threshold is also adopted in defining what constitute personal property under the King County Code. However, effective property management acknowledges that certain items ("controllable" items) by their nature or circumstance need to be controlled regardless of their cost such as: a. items that pose a danger to public safety (weapons); b. grant assets required to be tracked by the grantor; and c. "attractive" items that are high-risk for loss. While these items may be appropriately included in the personal property inventory, the associated cost need not be capitalized for financial reporting.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Ordinance 12045, Section 21, as amended, and K.C.C. 4.56.030 are each hereby amended to read as follows:
The fleet administration division of the department of transportation shall keep documentation of the county personal property inventory.
A. The fleet administration division shall review the department and agency inventory reports and investigate any large or unusual lost, stolen or unlocatable inventory amounts. The division shall compare current year amounts with previous years and to what is currently on hand. "Large" shall mean any dolla...

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