2011 CAFR Executive Summary - Laserfiche WebLink

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within the South Bend area have a total enrollment of approximately 31,166. Over the years, the University of Notre Dame has provided a stabilizing influence on the economy with a very significant positive economic impact upon the community. In 1820, Pierre Navarre of the American Fur Trading Company was the first settler in the area to become later known as South Bend. South Bend has continued to progress in its growth since 1842, when Father Edward Sorm named his rustic log chapel "Notre Dame du Lac" and began to teach the local Indians. Today, the chapel has grown into the University of Notre Dame. In 1852, H.C. Studebaker started the industry of making wagons and horse drawn buggies that evolved into the manufacturing of the Studebaker automobile. It made the name Studebaker synonymous with the area of South Bend. Another industrial firm that would later become the area's largest began in 1923 when Vincent Bendix began manufacturing automotive brakes. In 1929, the company became the Bendix Aviation Corporation, and now, as Honeywell (formerly AlliedSignal Inc.), is a leading manufacturer of automotive and aerospace products. Other special attractions within the South Bend area include the Olympic-class East Race Waterway and the East Bank area; the renovated Morris Performing Arts Center, which provides for the Broadway Theater League, the South Bend Symphony Orchestra with the Chamber and Pops Orchestras and the Southold Dance Theater and Patchwork Dance Company; the award- winning South Bend Civic Theater; the Studebaker National Museum; the South Bend Regional Museum of Art; the Suite Museum of Art at Notre Dame; the Northern Indiana Center for History; Copshaholm/The Oliver Mansion; the College Football Hall of Fame; Century Center; Potawatomi Zoo; the Morris Conservatory/Muessel-Ellison Tropical Gardens; Healthworks! Kids Museum; the Farmers' Market; and the Belleville Softball Complex. The Coveleski Regional Baseball Stadium (named after South Bend native and Hall of Fame pitcher Stanley Coveleski) is a 5,000-seat facility which opened in 1987 and is rated among the best in minor league baseball. The stadium is home to the South Bend Silver Hawks, a minor league team affiliated with the Arizona Diamondbacks. During 2011, the Silver Hawks were sold to Chicago businessman, Andrew Berlin, who has forged a strong partnership with the City and plans to keep the team in South Bend for many years to come. Additional miscellaneous information about the City of South Bend can be found in the statistical section of this report. Financial, Budgetary and Property Tax Controls The City's management team is responsible for establishing and maintaining an internal control structure designed to ensure that the assets of the government are protected from loss, theft or misuse and to ensure that adequate accounting data is compiled to allow for the preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. The internal control structure is designed to provide reasonable, but not absolute, assurance that these objectives are met. The concept of reasonable assurance recognizes that: (1) the cost of a control should not exceed the benefits likely to be derived; and (2) the valuation of costs and benefits requires estimates and judgments by management. 6