City of Rolling Hills Estates 09/08

CITY OF ROLLING HILLS ESTATES Audit Report SPECIAL GAS TAX STREET IMPROVEMENT FUND July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007 TRAFFIC CONGESTION RELIEF FUND ALLOCATIONS July 1, 2000, through June 30, 2007 J C OHN HIANG California State Controller September 2008 J C OHN HIANG California State Controller September 19, 2008 The Honorable Frank V. Zerunyan Mayor of the City of Rolling Hills Estates 4045 Palos Verdes Drive North Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274 Dear Mr. Zerunyan: The State Controller’s Office audited the City of Rolling Hills Estates’ Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund for the period of July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007. We also audited the Traffic Congestion Relief Fund allocations recorded in the General Fund for the period of July 1, 2000, through June 30, 2007. Our audit disclosed that the city accounted for and expended its Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund and Traffic Congestion Relief Fund allocations recorded in the General Fund in compliance with requirements and that no adjustment to the funds are required; however, we identified a procedural finding. If you have any questions, please contact Steven Mar, Chief, Local Government Audits Bureau, at (916) 324-7226. Sincerely, Original signed by JEFFREY V. BROWNFIELD Chief, Division of Audits JVB/wm cc: Douglas R. Prichard, City Manager City of Rolling Hills Estates Michael Whitehead Director of Administrative Services City of Rolling Hills Estates City of Rolling Hills Estates Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund and Traffic Congestion Relief Fund Allocations Contents Audit Report Summary ............................................................................................................................ 1 Background ........................................................................................................................ 1 Objective, Scope, and Methodology ................................................................................. 1 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 2 Follow-Up on Prior Audit Findings ................................................................................. 2 Views of Responsible Official ........................................................................................... 2 Restricted Use .................................................................................................................... 2 Schedule 1—Reconciliation of Fund Balance ...................................................................... 3 Finding and Recommendation .............................................................................................. 4 City of Rolling Hills Estates Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund and Traffic Congestion Relief Fund Allocations Audit Report Summary The State Controller’s Office audited the City of Rolling Hills Estates’ Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund for the period of July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007. We also audited the Traffic Congestion Relief Fund (TCRF) allocations recorded in the General Fund for the period of July 1, 2000, through June 30, 2007. Our audit disclosed that the city accounted for and expended its Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund and TCRF allocations recorded in the General Fund in compliance with requirements and that no adjustments to the funds are required; however, we identified a procedural finding. Background The State apportions funds monthly from the highway users tax account in the transportation tax fund to cities and counties for the construction, maintenance, and operation of local streets and roads. The highway users taxes derive from state taxes on the sale of motor vehicle fuels. In accordance with Article XIX of the California Constitution and Streets and Highways Code section 2101, a city must deposit all apportionments of highway users taxes in its Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund. A city must expend gas tax funds only for street-related purposes. We conducted our audit of the city’s Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund under the authority of Government Code section 12410. Government Code section 14556.5 created a Traffic Congestion Relief Fund in the State Treasury for allocating funds quarterly to cities and counties for street or road maintenance, reconstruction, and storm damage repair. Cities must deposit funds received into the city account designated for the receipt of state funds allocated for transportation purposes. The city recorded its TCRF allocations in the General Fund. We conducted our audit of the city’s TCRF allocations under the authority of Revenue and Taxation Code section 7104. Objective, Scope, Our audit objective was to determine whether the city accounted for and and Methodology expended the Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund and the TCRF allocations recorded in the General Fund in compliance with Article XIX of the California Constitution, the Streets and Highways Code, and Revenue and Taxation Code section 7104. To meet the audit objective, we determined whether the city: • Properly deposited highway users tax apportionments and other appropriate revenues in the Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund; • Expended funds exclusively for authorized street-related purposes; and • Made available unexpended funds for future expenditures. -1- City of Rolling Hills Estates Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund and Traffic Congestion Relief Fund Allocations We conducted this performance audit in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We did not audit the city’s financial statements. We limited our audit scope to planning and performing the audit procedures necessary to obtain reasonable assurance that the city accounted for and expended the Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund and the TCRF allocations recorded in the General Fund in accordance with the requirements of the Streets and Highways Code and Revenue and Taxation Code section 7104. Accordingly, we examined transactions, on a test basis, to determine whether the city expended funds for street purposes. We considered the city’s internal controls only to the extent necessary to plan the audit. Conclusion Our audit disclosed that the City of Rolling Hills Estates accounted for and expended its Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund in compliance with Article XIX of the California Constitution and the Streets and Highways Code for the period of July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007. Our audit also disclosed that the city accounted for and expended its Traffic Congestion Relief Fund allocations recorded in the General Fund in compliance with Article XIX of the California Constitution, the Streets and Highways Code, and Revenue and Taxation Code section 7104 for the period of July 1, 2000, through June 30, 2007, except as described in the Finding and Recommendation section of this report. The finding required no financial adjustment to the city’s accounting records. Follow-Up on Prior Our prior audit report, issued on June 25, 1999, disclosed no findings. Audit Findings Views of We discussed the audit results with Michael Whitehead, Director of Administrative Services, by telephone on September 3, 2008. Responsible Mr. Whitehead agreed with our finding and will implement our Official recommendation. Restricted Use This report is intended for the information and use of city management and the SCO; it is not intended to be and should not be used by anyone other than these specified parties. This restriction is not intended to limit distribution of this report, which is a matter of public record. Original signed by JEFFREY V. BROWNFIELD Chief, Division of Audits September 19, 2008 -2- City of Rolling Hills Estates Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund and Traffic Congestion Relief Fund Allocations Schedule 1— Reconciliation of Fund Balance July 1, 2000, through June 30, 2007 Special Gas Tax Street Improvement TCRF Fund 1 Allocations 2 Beginning fund balance per city $ 42,338 $ — Revenues 552,935 59,887 Total funds available 595,273 59,887 Expenditures (595,273) (59,887) Ending fund balance per city — — SCO adjustment — — Ending fund balance per audit $ — $ — ___________________________ 1 The city receives apportionments from the state highway users tax account, pursuant to Streets and Highways Code sections 2105, 2106, 2107, and 2107.5. The basis of the apportionments for Sections 2105, 2106, and 2107 varies, but the money may be used for any street purpose. Streets and Highways Code section 2107.5 restricts apportionments to administration and engineering expenditures, except for cities with populations of fewer than 10,000 inhabitants. Those cities may use the funds for rights-of-way and for the construction of street systems. 2 Government Code section 14556.5 created a Traffic Congestion Relief Fund (TCRF) in the State Treasury for allocating funds quarterly to cities and counties for street and road maintenance, reconstruction, and storm damage repair. The TCRF allocations were recorded in the General Fund. The audit period was July 1, 2000, through June 30, 2007. -3- City of Rolling Hills Estates Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund and Traffic Congestion Relief Fund Allocations Finding and Recommendation FINDING— The city records its Traffic Congestion Relief Fund (TCRF) allocations and expenditures in the General Fund, a non-transportation type fund that TCRF allocations is not specifically designated for the receipt of state funds allocated for recorded in the transportation purposes. General Fund Revenues and Taxation Code section 7104(d) states that funds received under this section (Traffic Congestion Relief Program funds) shall be deposited as follows in order to avoid the commingling of those funds with other local funds: “(1) In the case of a city, into the city account that is designated for the receipt of state funds allocated for transportation purposes.” Recommendation The city should account for TCRF transactions (allocations and expenditures) in a fund designated for the receipt of state funds for transportation purposes, such as the city’s Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund. City’s Response The city concurs with the finding and will implement the recommendation. -4- State Controller’s Office Division of Audits Post Office Box 942850 Sacramento, CA 94250-5874 http://www.sco.ca.gov C08-GTA-013