Audit says transit authority is off track
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No Comments [ Add Comment ]By LORETTA PARK
Standard-Examiner staff
lpark@standard.net
S
ALT LAKE CITY -- A legislative report slammed the Utah Transit Authority for its high executive salaries, a budget that depends on sales tax, lack of board oversight and unreliable passenger data.
James Behunin, audit supervisor with the Legislative Auditor General, presented the findings Friday to the Legislative Audit subcommittee.
UTA plans to spend $11 billion on new projects in the next 23 years and expects to fund those projects with a quarter-cent sales tax, which is separate from the 0.05 percent sales tax Weber and Davis county commissioners are being asked to impose, Behunin said.
During the late 1990s, most UTA revenue came from federal funding, according to the report. Recently, its funding has been mostly from local sales taxes.
Additional sales tax will be needed to fund the projects UTA has planned for the next 23 years, but even more funding is required for projects requested by communities, according to the audit.
Revenue from sales tax has risen from $53 million in 1997 to $138 million in 2006, according to the report.
John Inglish, UTA manager, said the authority cannot impose a sales tax on its own. It first has to get approval from the Legislature before asking county commissions to put the quarter-cent tax on the ballot for voters to decide.
Inglish said he does not know how this audit is going to influence Davis and Weber county commissioners in deciding whether to impose a 0.05 percent sales tax, authorized by the Legislature to replace funding lost by the removal of sales tax on nonprepared food items.
"I can't speculate on that," he said.
The report also stated that compensation for UTA senior executives, including Inglish, are much higher than those given to senior executives in other mass transit systems.
Inglish would not comment on his compensation and referred questions to Orrin T. Colby, president of UTA's board of trustees.
"There are opinions that it is too much, and some argue it is too little," Colby said.
He said senior executives are responsible for bringing in federal funding and should receive the compensation.
In 2006, according to the report, Inglish received $266,614 in salary, which was $70,606 higher than the average salary of a transit general manager. He also received $39,860 in a bonus and $60,526 in incentives, including life insurance and 401(k) contributions.
UTA officials said the compensation is warranted because the executives increased ridership, improved the efficiency of the system and reached a revenue goal, according to the audit.
Auditors wrote that they questioned whether bonuses should be based on goals because other factors, such as rising gas prices, influence how many people ride TRAX or buses.
How many people use UTA is also questionable, Behunin said. Even though UTA has several ways to count passengers, none of them isreliable.
The previous way UTA counted its ridership on the TRAX system overstated it by 20 percent, he said.
The report recommends UTA correct the problems and develop a consistent method of conducting onboard surveys.
Inglish agreed that the passenger counts and surveys need improvement and said UTA is working on it.
The audit also said the board of trustees lacks independence and relies too much on management.
"Considering in 23 years they plan to spend $11 billion, the Legislature needs to consider strategies to strengthen their oversight of the regional transit system," Behunin said.
After the subcommittee meeting, Behunin said UTA has an annual budget of $200 million and plans to increase its budget to $500 million by 2030.
He said UTA has the largest budget of any special service district.
To read the entire report, go to: www.le.utah.gov/audit/08_03rpt.pdf.
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