Finance

Issue

Should Miami-Dade County capitalize library resources?

Reference:

Capital assets are defined as including land, improvements to land, easements, buildings, building improvements, vehicles, machinery, equipment, works of art and historical treasures, infrastructure, and all other tangible or intangible assets that are used in operations and that have initial useful lives extending beyond a single reporting period. (GASB 34 19)

Library books are capital assets and depreciable, if they are considered to have a useful life of greater than one year. Because most library collections consist of a large number of books with modest values, group or composite depreciation methods may be appropriate. In certain situations, library books may be considered works of art or historical treasures. (GASB 34 Implementation Guide Q # 26)

GASB 34 21 states that capital assets should be depreciated over their estimated useful lives unless they are either inexhaustible or are infrastructure reported using the modified approach.

An inexhaustible capital asset is one whose economic benefit or service potential is used up so slowly that its estimated useful life is extraordinarily long. (GASB 34 Implementation Guide Q # 27)

Evaluation

Currently, the County's Annual Financial Report does not reflect library resources. Between October 1, 1983 and September 30, 2001, the County spent approximately $77,000,000 to purchase library books.

Position

Library resources are information sources that are circulated to students or the general public such as books, journals, periodicals, audio/visual media, computer-based information, manuscripts, maps, documents, and similar items which provide information essential to the learning process or which enhance the quality of academic, professional, or research libraries.

The county will capitalize total annual additions to its library collection and depreciate it over five years.