Report 2013-130 Recommendation 10 Responses
Report 2013-130: California Public Utilities Commission: It Fails to Adequately Ensure Consumers' Transportation Safety and Does Not Appropriately Collect and Spend Fees From Passenger Carriers (Release Date: June 2014)
Recommendation #10 To: Public Utilities Commission
To ensure that it complies with state law and uses passenger carrier fees appropriately, the commission should implement a process to ensure that passenger carrier fee revenues more closely match related enforcement costs.
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From November 2020
With the Fiscal/Accounting audit protocol, methods and processes implementation, coordination with Program, Accounting and Budgets on monitoring the billing and collections, is done regularly. Revenue and expenditure reports are being shared monthly or as needed to ensure accuracy of balances. Revenues and expenditures are compared during annual drafting of resolution to come up with a reasonable user fee rate. The most current resolution will be voted in December 2020.
- Completion Date: June 2019
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented
The California Utilities Commission implemented a process to ensure that passenger carrier fee revenues more closely match related enforcement costs.
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2019
Accounting coding and Governor's budget has been reconfigured to track expenditures by regulated entity type (transportation carriers in this instance.) Accounting reports are provided monthly (delay now because of FI$Cal implementation) to division staff for review showing coding of expenditures. During drafting of annual resolution setting user fee rate, revenues and expenditures are compared and rate is adjusted. Due to delay in closing the books in Fiscal, Hopefully, in the coming year, Accounting reports will be timely shared to divisions.
- Estimated Completion Date: 6/30/2020
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Pending
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2018
TEB and the Commission's Fiscal Office jointly undertook a comprehensive review at the beginning of FY 17-18 of home based default coding to correspond with areas of specific regulatory activity performed and reflected in CPUC employee time sheets. The exercise has concluded and coding is now accurate.
- Completion Date: July 2017
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Partially Implemented
Although the California Public Utilities Commission (Commission) asserts it fully implemented this recommendation, it did not provide evidence to support its claims of full implementation or that it implemented a process to ensure that passenger carrier fee revenues more closely match related enforcement costs.
- Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From November 2017
The CPUC annually reviews the revenues and expenditures of the passenger carriers and updates the user fee rate accordingly to more align proportionate revenues and expenditures.
- Completion Date: August 2017
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: No Action Taken
Despite repeated requests, commission staff did not provide any documentation supporting its claim that it has fully implemented this recommendation.
- Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2016
The Commission has developed multiple processes to ensure revenue from passenger carrier fees more closely match related enforcement costs, including: modifying accounting coding structure to code revenue and expenditure transactions by industry, annually reviewing user fee rates in coordination with budget forecasting, and increased oversight of position control and personnel expenditures.
- Completion Date: August 2016
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Partially Implemented
The California Utilities Commission did not provide documentation to demonstrate that it has developed multiple processes to ensure that passenger carrier fee revenues more closely match related enforcement costs.
- Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2015
See one-year response.
- Estimated Completion Date: 12/15/2015
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Not Fully Implemented
1-Year Agency Response
The CPUC has developed a draft process and decision-making model for how the agency will annually assess user fees associated with all relevant funds, and is working to incorporate this process into annual fund forecasting processes it is also developing. The final process adopted by CPUC will 1) Clearly identify roles and responsibilities within the agency (Budget Office, Divisions, etc.), 2) Document all methodologies and assumptions used in budget forecasting and user fee analysis, and 3) Become integrated into the agency's annual budget process. The CPUC will incorporate the results of the agency's zero-based budget efforts for Budget Year 2015-16 into the expenditure forecasting for all funds.
- Estimated Completion Date: December 2015
- Response Date: June 2015
California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Partially Implemented
The California Utilities Commission has not yet adopted a final process to ensure that passenger carrier fee revenues more closely match related enforcement costs.
6-Month Agency Response
The CPUC has developed a process and decision-making model for how the agency will annually assess user fees associated with all relevant funds, and is working to incorporate this process into annual fund forecasting processes it has developed. The ultimate process will 1) Clearly identify roles and responsibilities within the agency (Budget Office, Divisions, etc.), 2) Document all methodologies and assumptions used in budget forecasting and user fee analysis, and 3) Become integrated into the agency's annual budget process. The CPUC will incorporate the results of the agency's zero-based budget efforts for Budget Year 2015-16 into the expenditure forecasting for all funds.
Budget forecasting process has been completed for FY 2015; CPUC will consider adjusting transportation user fees (based on materialized revenues and forecasting analysis) for FY 2015-16. Any fee adjustments would occur in December 2015 as part of the Commission's regular user fee resolution adoption process for Fund 0461.
- Estimated Completion Date: December 2015
- Response Date: December 2014
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending
60-Day Agency Response
The CPUC has developed a draft process and decision-making model for how the agency will annually assess user fees associated with all relevant funds, and is working to incorporate this process into annual fund forecasting processes it is also developing. The final process adopted by CPUC will 1) Clearly identify roles and responsibilities within the agency (Budget Office, Divisions, etc.), 2) Document all methodologies and assumptions used in budget forecasting and user fee analysis, and 3) Become integrated into the agency's annual budget process. The CPUC will incorporate the results of the agency's zero-based budget efforts for Budget Year 2015-16 into the expenditure forecasting for all funds.
- Estimated Completion Date: Fall 2014, in conjunction with fund budget forecasting for Budget Year 2015-16
- Response Date: August 2014
California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending
All Recommendations in 2013-130
Agency responses received are posted verbatim.