City of Vernon 03/09

CITY OF VERNON 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 March 2009 March 27, 2009 The Honorable Leonis Mahburg Mayor of the City of Vernon 4305 Santa Fe Avenue Vernon, CA 90058 Dear Mayor Mahburg: The State Controller’s Office audited the City of Vernon’s 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 adjustment to the funds is required; however, we identified a procedural finding relating to the TCRF allocations. 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/vb cc: Rory Burnett, CPA Director of Finance City of Vernon City of Vernon 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 .................................................................................................................... 3 Schedule 1—Reconciliation of Fund Balance ...................................................................... 4 Finding and Recommendation .............................................................................................. 5 City of Vernon Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund and Traffic Congestion Relief Fund Allocations Audit Report Summary The State Controller’s Office audited the City of Vernon’s 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 adjustment to the funds is required; however, we identified a procedural finding relating to the TCRF allocations. 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 expended the Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund and the TCRF and Methodology allocations recorded in the General Fund in compliance with Article XIX of the California Constitution and the Streets and Highways Code. 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; Properly deposited TCRF allocations into an account designated for the receipt of state funds allocated for transportation purposes; -1- City of Vernon Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund and Traffic Congestion Relief Fund Allocations Expended funds exclusively for authorized street-related purposes; and Made available unexpended funds for future expenditures. 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 believe that the evidence obtained provides 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 Traffic Congestion Relief 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 Vernon accounted for and expended its Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund and TCRF allocations recorded in the General 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 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 for the period of July 1, 2000, through June 30, 2007, except for a procedural finding related to the TCRF allocations as described in the Finding and Recommendation section of this report. Follow-Up on Prior The city satisfactorily resolved the findings noted in our prior audit Audit Findings report, issued on March 26, 2002. Views of We issued a draft audit report on August 22, 2008. Roy Burnett, Finance Director, responded by telephone on March 3, 2009, agreeing with the Responsible audit results. Official -2- City of Vernon Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund and Traffic Congestion Relief Fund Allocations 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 March 27, 2009 -3- City of Vernon Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund and Traffic Congestion Relief Fund Allocations Schedule 1— Reconciliation of Fund Balance July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007 Special Gas Traffic Tax Street Congestion Improvement Relief Fund Fund 1 Allocation 2 Beginning fund balance per city $ — $ — Revenues 7,502 700 Total funds available 7,502 700 Expenditures — (700) Ending fund balance per city 7,502 — SCO adjustment 3 — — Ending fund balance per audit $ 7,502 $ — ___________________________ 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 See the Finding and Recommendation section. -4- City of Vernon Special Gas Tax Street Improvement Fund and Traffic Congestion Relief Fund Allocations Finding and Recommendation FINDING— The city recorded the Traffic Congestion Relief Fund (TCRF) allocations in the General Fund. TCRF not recorded in a proper account Streets and Highways Code section 2182(b)(1) specifies that to avoid commingling TCRF allocations with other local funds, a city shall deposit TCRF allocations into an account that is designated for the receipt of state funds allocated for transportation purposes. Recommendation We recommend that the city record the TCRF allocations in either a separate fund or a transportation fund designated for street purposes only. City’s Response The city responded by telephone on March 3, 2009, agreeing with the audit results. -5- State Controller’s Office Division of Audits Post Office Box 942850 Sacramento, CA 94250-5874 http://www.sco.ca.gov C08-GTA-050