Objective

To determine whether financial management practices at Stony Brook University’s (Stony Brook) Office of Transportation and Parking Operations (TPO) are appropriate and reasonable. Our audit scope covered the period from January 2, 2014 through December 31, 2018.

About the Program

Stony Brook, located on Long Island, is one of the four university centers operated by the State University of New York. As of fall 2019, about 26,800 students were enrolled. In addition to semester tuition fees, students pay general fees to finance activities that benefit the student body but that are outside the core instructional program. These include the Intercollegiate Athletics, Campus Recreation Facilities, Student Health Services, Technology, and Transportation Fees. These fees totaled about $1,453 per student for the fall 2019 semester. Stony Brook’s Transportation Fee provides support for transit operations across Stony Brook’s campuses and is allocated to Stony Brook’s TPO.

Expenditures associated with these general fees are paid from Income Fund Reimbursable accounts (IFRs). Each IFR must generate enough revenue to cover costs. Stony Brook’s IFR Procedure Manual (IFR Manual) states that expenditures in IFRs must be directly related to the purposes for which income was collected and must fall within the stated purpose of the account. However, because IFR activities are generally funded from current revenues, there is always the risk that revenues will not be sufficient to meet expectations. The IFR Manual states all IFR deficits are to be resolved within one year (with the exception of Service Center IFR accounts, where rates are reviewed every two years).

From January 2, 2014 through April 18, 2018, TPO had 17,110 IFR expenditures totaling approximately $26 million.

Key Findings

We identified control deficiencies in TPO’s management of IFR accounts, expenditures, and collections of revenues that jeopardize its ability to support operations.

• Three of TPO’s 21 IFR accounts have operated with a cash deficit balance for at least four consecutive years. Overall, the Transportation Fee account’s deficit balances ranged from approximately $1.3 million to $3.2 million over a four-year period.
• $429,420 of the approximately $3.4 million in TPO’s expenditures that we reviewed for the period of January 2, 2014 to April 18, 2018 were not properly supported.
• We identified control deficiencies in the revenue collection process for the Administration Parking Garage (Admin Garage) and Metered Parking IFRs. For example, we found 310 unaccounted-for tickets for the Admin Garage for the ten days in our sample.

Key Recommendations

• Eliminate deficits, as required.
• Comply with all laws, contractual agreements, and Stony Brook policies to ensure that expenditures are appropriate and properly supported.
• Examine the discrepancies between the number of pulled and returned parking tickets for the Admin Garage, document the outcome of the examination, and take appropriate action for any violations.