Committee orders audits of SFMTA and city general-fund revenues; farmers market audit continued

The Government Audit & Oversight Committee on Feb. 15 approved two audit motions: a limited-scope performance (management) audit of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) and an audit of the city and county of San Francisco’s general fund revenues. The committee called a third item — an audit of the Alameda Farmers Market and the Real Estate Department’s operation of the market — to the call of the chair for further information.

Supervisor David Campos, who sponsored the MTA management-audit request, said the goal is a focused review that can be completed in time to assist budget deliberations. Campos noted the board’s policy of subjecting departments to a management or performance audit at least every eight years; "The last management audit of the MTA took place in July of 1996," he told the committee, and proposed focus areas that could include board oversight, decision-making, internal communications, staff allocation, use of consultants, project delivery and overtime.

Supervisor Ross Mercarimi said the Transportation Authority (TA) may partner financially to compress scope and cost; the proposal discussed an initial target near 1,500 hours for a joint audit, while the budget analyst indicated rolling reports or very focused special projects (for example, overtime) could be produced earlier if needed.

Public commenters urged broad audits of expenditures and revenues rather than lower-priority items. Several callers recommended prioritizing audits of the Department of Public Health and San Francisco General Hospital and questioned using limited staff resources on a farmers market. One commenter, appearing as Mister Wright, alleged that Muni uses welfare recipients to clean buses and described possible unequal-pay concerns; Wright urged the committee to include that point in the audit scope. His comment included a legal reference: "United States Of America's code service, title 7" (as cited by the speaker).

The committee approved Item 2 (general fund revenues audit) and Item 3 (limited-scope SFMTA audit) without objection and continued Item 4 to the call of the chair. Budget analyst staff said a range of scope and hour estimates are possible: the general fund audit could be pared to a 700–800 hour product for targeted topics; the SFMTA audit was discussed in the range of ~1,500 hours for a joint audit if the TA participates and could be phased or rolled out to release early findings by May 1 if feasible.

The committee’s approvals direct the Budget & Legislative Analyst Office to work with supervisors and, as appropriate, the Transportation Authority and the Controller’s Office to refine scope and prioritize topics.