Skip to main content

An Audit Report on the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County

November 2008

Report Number 09-013

Overall Conclusion

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (Transit Authority) presented financial and performance reports for fiscal year 2007 that were internally consistent and supported by the Transit Authority's information systems.

The Transit Authority also complied with established policies and procedures for travel expenditures, General Mobility Program expenditures, and long-term expansion. However, it should establish formal policies and procedures for (1) verifying quarterly departmental budget information and budget changes and (2) procuring legal services.

Auditors also determined that the Transit Authority has adequate processes to manage its planned long-term expansion for light rail. However, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) noted that the plans for two federally funded light rail corridors call for total borrowing that exceeds the Transit Authority's current debt capacity. The FTA determined that the Transit Authority had demonstrated its technical ability and capacity to develop and manage a third federally funded light rail corridor, but it noted that the schedule for that corridor project was optimistic when compared to the other two corridor projects.

In addition, the Transit Authority consistently implemented recommendations from internal and external audits and reviews.

Contact the SAO about this report.

Download the Acrobat version of this report. (.pdf)

If you prefer an HTML version, follow this link to an Adobe site which converts PDF files to HTML.