Jacksonville has a very busy seaport that since the 19th century has moved goods into and out of the city, creating jobs and wealth for the area.
Anyone interested in learning more about its activity would likely turn to the annual report the Jacksonville Port Authority publishes.
In the 2023 report, a reader would be presented with this information:
“Total operating revenues for fiscal year 2023 were $65,747, a 7% increase over prior year.”
Also, “Cruise operations experienced its first full year of cruise activity since 2019 with a total of 74 cruises and total revenues of $6,501, compared to $2,562 in 2022.”
When I read that I thought to myself, “74 cruises and they only made $6,501? That seems like a pretty small amount.”
I looked at the financial statements and leaned that the actual figure was $6.5 million.
Quite a difference.
The actual financial statements use the standard accounting method of presenting shortened figures with the notation that they are in thousands.
Other figures in the report, however, are inaccurate as written. Few people, other than accountants or lawyers, are likely to check the financial statements and would rely on the text.
I pointed out this anomaly to port officials and was astounded when they just blew it off as unimportant and insisted it was correct.
I checked the previous year’s report and found it was inconsistent. Some numbers were reported accurately. For example: “Total operating revenues of $61.2 million in fiscal year 2022 reflected a slight decline of 1%, compared to prior year results of $61.9 million.”
In 2022 that information was presented clearly. In 2023 it was not.
For comparison, JEA’s annual report is clear: “Total operating revenues decreased approximately $211 million (-13.7%) over the prior year.”
Most laymen reading the JPA annual report will be confused or misinformed — despite the fact that deep in the report under “discussion and analysis” it says, “Monetary amounts are presented in the thousands (000’s), unless noted otherwise.”
Is it a big deal? No, except for the knee-jerk bureaucratic reaction: Defend at all costs and never concede the possibility of error.
Just remember when reading the JPA annual report to add three zeroes to all numbers, except when you don’t.
