Commission accepts Metro Transit’s 2024 audited financial statements; auditors issue unmodified opinion

Baker Tilly presented the 2024 audit of Metro Transit’s financial statements to the Madison Transportation Commission Aug. 13 and the commission voted unanimously to accept the audit report.

Jody Dobson, the audit principal for Baker Tilly, told the commission the audit work examined internal controls, revenues, disbursements, payroll and grants. After testing and discussions with management, the firm issued an unmodified — commonly called a clean — opinion that the financial statements fairly present Metro Transit’s financial position and results of operations for 2024.

Dobson said the audit process identified restatements to the 2023 transit financial statements that management corrected. The two principal prior‑year corrections involved assets that had been retired but not removed from the books (largely fully depreciated) and the recognition of local versus federal revenue in 2023 so that amounts due from partner municipalities were correctly presented. "There were no audit adjustments identified as part of the audit process. The adjustments that were identified... were adjustments to restate the prior year," Dobson said. She added the adjustments did not affect the firm’s clean opinion.

Dobson noted the impact of recent staffing turnover and thanked Wayne Black — a former Metro Transit finance director who returned in a consulting role — for helping prepare reconciliations and supporting documentation during the audit. She also described a new GASB accounting standard related to compensated absences that required a conceptual change in how liabilities were assessed for benefits like sick leave; the change had only a small impact on balances.

The audit included single‑audit testing for federal and state grants; Baker Tilly reported no compliance issues for the transit grant testing this year. Dobson encouraged readers to consult the management discussion and analysis (pages 4–17 in the final document) for a plain‑English summary of the results.

Alder O'Brien moved to accept the audit report; Alder Martinez Rutherford seconded the motion. The commission carried the motion by unanimous consent.

Documents submitted with the audit show five‑year trends of operating revenues and expenses. Baker Tilly reported that COVID‑era funding affected 2020 and 2023 results and that 2023–24 saw increases in revenues and expenses as federal grant patterns normalized and local partner contributions rose. The presentation identified salaries and benefits as the largest operating expense.

No disagreements with management, no compliance issues and no unresolved matters were reported by the auditors.

The commission’s acceptance places the audit on record and authorizes staff to transmit the documents as appropriate to council and other stakeholders.