Financial Audit

The report presents the results of GAO's audit of the District of Columbia Highway Trust Fund's financial statements for fiscal year 1997. GAO also examines the forecasted statements of the Fund's expected conditions and operations for the next five years. This report presents (1) GAO's opinion on District management's assertion about the effectiveness of the Fund's internal controls as of September 1997 and (2) the results of GAO's evaluation of the District's compliance with laws and regulations during fiscal year 1997 as they relate to the Fund.

GAO noted that: (1) the financial statements were reliable in all material respects; (2) management's assertion about the effectiveness of internal controls was not fairly stated; (3) management asserted that internal controls in place at September 30, 1997, were effective in: (a) safeguarding assets from material loss; (b) assuring that there were no material misstatements in amounts reported in the financial statements; and (c) assuring material compliance with laws and regulations; (4) management's assertion on the effectiveness of internal controls was not fairly stated because of material weaknesses identified in accounting for revenue and capital appropriated expenditures and in computer system general controls; (5) there was a reportable noncompliance with one of the laws GAO tested; and (6) the underlying assumptions made and methodology used to develop the Fund's forecasted statements provided a reasonable basis for such statements, and the statements were presented in conformity with guidelines established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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