Illinois Commerce Commission 2001 Audit

REPORT DIGEST

ILLINOIS COMMERCE COMMISSION

FINANCIAL AND COMPLIANCE AUDIT

For the Two Years Ended:

June 30, 2001

Summary of Findings:

Total this audit 4
Total last audit 6
Repeated from last audit 2

Release Date:
February 21, 2002

State of Illinois

Office of the Auditor General

WILLIAM G. HOLLAND

AUDITOR GENERAL

To obtain a copy of the Report contact:
Office of the Auditor General
Attn: Records Manager
Iles Park Plaza
740 E. Ash Street
Springfield, IL 62703

(217)782-6046 or TDD (217) 524-4646

This Report Digest is also available on
the worldwide web at
http://www.state.il.us/auditor

SYNOPSIS

The Commission’s fund balance in the Transportation Regulatory Fund exceeded the balance permitted by the Illinois Commercial Transportation Law.

{Expenditures and Activity Measures are summarized on the reverse page.}

ILLINOIS COMMERCE COMMISSION
FINANCIAL AND COMPLIANCE AUDIT
For The Two Years Ended June 30, 2001

EXPENDITURE STATISTICS	FY 2001	FY 2000	FY 1999
Total Expenditures (Appropriated)	$37,518,642	$35,589,192	$31,082,577
OPERATIONS TOTAL % of Total Expenditures	$37,493,419 99.9%	$35,514,895 99.8%	$30,981,870 99.7%
Personal Services % of Operations Expenditures Average No. of Employees Average Salary per Employee	$17,023,904 45.4% 319 $53,366	$15,245,088 42.9% 298 $51,158	$14,039,896 45.4% 303 $46,336
Other Payroll Costs (FICA, Retirement) % of Operations Expenditures	$5,731,316 15.3%	$4,796,846 13.5%	$4,331,682 13.9%
Single State Registration Program % of Operations Expenditures	$6,320,987 16.9%	$7,239,228 20.4%	$6,961,878 22.5%
Contractual Services % of Operations Expenditures	$1,816,523 4.8%	$1,897,550 5.3%	$1,545,266 5.0%
All Other Operations Items % of Operations Expenditures	$6,600,689 17.6%	$6,336,183 17.9%	$4,103,148 13.2%
REFUNDS TOTAL % of Total Expenditures	$25,223 .1%	$74,297 .2%	$100,707 .3%
Cost of Property and Equipment	$5,420,000	$4,708,000	$4,440,000

SELECTED ACTIVITY MEASURES	FY 2001	FY 2000	FY 1999
Cases Filed	819	850	841
Cases Resolved	864	793	1,032
Hearings Held	2,209	2,261	1,600
Percent of Population Served by 9-1-1	98	98	98

AGENCY DIRECTOR(S)

During Audit Period: Mr. Charles Fisher
Currently: Mr. Scott Wiseman

The Transportation Regulatory Fund has a fund balance in excess of statutory limitations

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

MOTOR VEHCILE AND TRANSPORTATION REGULATORY FUND BALANCES

The fund balance of the Transportation Regulatory Fund exceeded the fund balance permitted by the Illinois Commercial Transportation Law (625 ILCS 5/18c-1503) for both fiscal years 2000 and 2001.

The balance in the Transportation Regulatory Fund exceeded the statutory limits by $4,378,815 at June 30, 2001 and by $3,933,815 at June 30, 2000. (Finding 1, page 10). This finding has been repeated since 1997.

We recommended the Commission either continue to work to reduce the fund balance in the Transportation Regulatory Fund to a level that is in compliance with State law or work with the legislature to change the current law.

Commission officials agreed with the recommendation and stated that due to the recession that has hit the motor carrier industry, the Commission has experienced a reduction in fee income, which is reducing the fund balance. Additionally, the Commission also expects a $2.7 million drop in the fund balance after a legislative transfer is made from the fund for the Governor’s Technology Initiative program. (For previous Commission responses, see Digest footnote #1)

OTHER FINDINGS

The remaining findings concerned procedural deficiencies and are reportably being given attention by the Commission. We will review progress toward implementation of these recommendations during the Commission’s next compliance audit.

AUDITORS’ OPINION

The auditors state the Commission’s financial statements as of June 30, 2001 and June 30, 2000 and for the years then ended are fairly presented in all material respects.

____________________________________

WILLIAM G. HOLLAND, Auditor General

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SPECIAL ASSISTANT AUDITORS

Clifton Gunderson LLP were our special assistant auditors for this audit.

DIGEST FOOTNOTES

#1 MOTOR VEHICLE AND TRANSPORTATION REGULATORY FUND BALANCES – Previous Commission Response

1999: "We agree that the Transportation Regulatory Fund has accumulated a large surplus. We have reduced fees nearly $3.5 million per year for a cumulative total of over $17 million since 1995. Despite the continued lowering or waiving of fees, motor carrier contributions to the fund have continued to accelerate. The economy is continuing to expand, and there are motor carrier companies operating more trucks in Illinois than ever before. However, because of recent increases in staff and anticipated carrier safety initiatives we believe that the annual growth rate of the fund balance will begin to slow.

There is also the continuing threat of federal elimination of the Single State Registration System. Elimination of that funding would fairly quickly eliminate the fund balance and might eventually necessitate the reinstatement of many intrastate fees."

1997: "We agree that the Transportation Regulatory Fund has accumulated a large surplus. We have reduced our fees nearly $3.5 million per year for a cumulative total of over $9 million since 1995. Despite the staff reduction caused by the Federal Trucking Deregulation and ICC’s continued efforts to cut revenue by repeatedly lowering or waiving fees, motor carrier contributions to the fund have continued to accelerate. This is mostly because the economy is booming. There are more motor companies operating more trucks in or through Illinois than ever before. In addition, implementation of the railroad safety initiatives has been a lengthy process and expenditures for that program have not yet met the new income levels."