LANCASTER — Antelope Valley Transit Authority’s financial statements for the fiscal year that ended June 30 are in good shape with no findings or questioned costs, according to an independent audit conducted by the Brown Armstrong Accountancy Corp.
As a recipient of federal, state and local funding, the transit agency is required to have an annual audit conducted by independent auditors. The audit covers the agency’s internal controls, tests federal compliance, looks at payroll and other areas to see how it spent its money and whether it did so appropriately.
“Our objective is to obtain reasonable assurance, not absolute assurance,” Ryan Nielsen, engagement partner for Bakersfield-based Brown Armstrong Accountancy Corp., said at the AVTA’s Nov. 25 board meeting. “We take what’s called a ‘risk-based’ approach. We don’t audit every single transaction that flows through the organization throughout the year, but we look at areas that are either high-dollar amounts or high-dollar volumes and assess the relative risks of material misstatement, whether that’s due to human error or fraud, and focus our attention on those areas that pose slightly higher risk.”
The auditing firm pays close attention to areas such as compliance with the provisions of grant agreements and expenditure of those funds, state reporting requirements, salaries and benefits, and expenditure for capital assets.
“It’s not all-inclusive but provides an overview of the majority of the significant audit areas,” he said.
According to Nielsen, AVTA’s financial statements will receive an unmodified, or clean, opinion, which is the highest level of opinion that the auditing firm could provide.
“I mentioned that we expect to issue an unmodified opinion,” he said. “Primarily due to the federal government shutdown, there was a delay in the federal government’s option of what’s known as the compliance supplement; that is the roadmap for conducting compliance audits.”
Because they have not yet received a final stamp of approval on the 2025 compliance supplement, they were prohibited from issuing an opinion.
“I expect they will approve that and we will move forward with issuance of our opinion,” he said.
The draft report shows the AVTA ended the 2024-25 fiscal year with cash and cash equivalents of approximately $44.2 million. Total revenue from all sources was approximately $549 million, a decrease of 22.6% from the previous fiscal year.
The total costs of all AVTA transit services and projects, excluding depreciation expense, were approximately $42.0 million reflecting an increase of just 18.3% over the prior fiscal year, according to the draft report.
The AVTA board voted unanimously to approve the audited financials as presented, and will approve the official report in January.
