REPORT DIGEST

 

ILLINOIS COMMERCE COMMISSION

FINANCIAL AND COMPLIANCE AUDIT

For the Two Years Ended:
June 30, 1999

Summary of Findings:

Total this audit 6
Total last audit 7
Repeated from last audit 3

Release Date:
March 2, 2000

Logo.gif (1870 bytes)

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.
  • The Commission’s property control records were not adequately maintained.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

ILLINOIS COMMERCE COMMISSION

FINANCIAL AND COMPLIANCE AUDIT

For The Two Years Ended June 30, 1999

EXPENDITURE STATISTICS

FY 1999

FY 1998

FY 1997

Total Expenditures (Appropriated)

$31,082,577

$28,436,176

$26,895,535

OPERATIONS TOTAL

% of Total Expenditures

$30,981,870

99.7%

$28,353,861

99.7%

$26,880,601

99.9%

Personal Services
% of Operations Expenditures
Average No. of Employees
Average Salary per Employee

$14,039,896
45.4%
303
$46,336

$13,371,010
47.2%
288
$46,427

$13,000,091
48.4%
280
$46,429

Other Payroll Costs (FICA, Retirement)
% of Operations Expenditures

$4,331,682
13.9%

$3,602,283
12.7%

$3,305,027
12.3%

Single State Registration Program
% of Operations Expenditures

$6,961,878
22.5%

$7,017,378
24.7%

$6,664,231
24.8%

Contractual Services
% of Operations Expenditures

$1,545,266
5.0%

$1,567,954
5.5%

$1,668,135
6.2%

All Other Operations Items
% of Operations Expenditures

$4,103,148
13.2%

$2,795,236
9.9%

$2,243,117
8.3%

REFUNDS TOTAL

% of Total Expenditures

$100,707

.3%

$82,315

.3%

$14,934

.1%

Cost of Property and Equipment

$4,440,000

$4,774,000

$5,359,000

SELECTED ACTIVITY MEASURES

FY 1999

FY 1998

FY 1997

Cases Filed

841

873

717

Cases Resolved

1032

1038

622

Hearings Held

1600

1954

1,183

Percent of Population Served by 9-1-1

98

96

95

AGENCY DIRECTOR(S)

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poor controls over property

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 1999 and 1998.

The balance in the Transportation Regulatory Fund exceeded the statutory limits by $5,127,815 at June 30, 1999 and by $4,514,815 at June 30, 1998. (Finding 1, pages 12-13).

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 fees have been reduced in an attempt to lower the fund balance. However, motor carrier contributions to the Fund have continued to accelerate. Commission personnel believe that anticipated carrier safety initiatives and the threat of elimination of the Single State Registration System will begin to slow the growth of the fund and eventually eliminate the surplus in the future.

PROPERTY CONTROL

The Commission’s property control records were not adequately maintained and prepared in a timely manner. Property records did not contain adequate documentation for numerous deletions during the audit period. Furthermore, many deletions were subtracted more than once, and numerous assets were deleted from the records without proper prior approval from the Department of Central Management Services. These errors totaled $141,000 in FY99 and $134,000 in FY98. (Finding 4, pages 17–18). This finding has been repeated since 1995.

We recommended the Commission implement the necessary controls to ensure the property records are accurate and reconcile with the Commission’s financial records.

Commission officials concurred with our recommenda-tion and stated that corrective action has been taken on all items noted by the audit. (For previous Commission responses, see Digest footnote #1)

OTHER FINDINGS

The remaining findings concerned procedural deficiencies and are 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 auditor’s state the Commission’s financial statements as of June 30, 1999 and June 30, 1998 and for the years then ended.are fairly presented in all material respects.

 

 

____________________________________

WILLIAM G. HOLLAND, Auditor General

WGH:KAL:pp

SPECIAL ASSISTANT AUDITORS

Doehring, Winders & Co. LLP were our special assistant auditors for this audit.

DIGEST FOOTNOTES

#1 PROPERTY CONTROL – Previous Commission Response

1997: "Over the past year, the Commission has implemented several new fiscal controls. The Commission reorganized the budget and accounting office and hired an additional employee who is responsible for property control. The Commission also purchased a new bar code inventory system to enable easier tracking and entry of items added, deleted, and inventoried. The Commission performed a complete physical inventory as of June 30, 1997 and had discrepancies less than the 2% tolerable limit required by Central Management Services Property Control Management."

1995: "We concur with this finding. The Commission notes that its property control records indicated a higher amount of assets than the Comptroller’s records. Therefore, this discrepancy in records should not be interpreted to indicate that the Commission had lost or could not account for equipment.

The Commission is in the process of filling a fiscal officer position in the Administrative Services Division. The addition of this position will redistribute a portion of the workload currently assigned to the agency’s Controller. This will allow sufficient time for existing staff in the Controller’s Office to perform all inventory and property control reconciliation activities in a timely and consistent manner."