Audit Services #1: SACOG/State Transit Funds Audit

SACOG serves as a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) of city and county governments in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties. As the only public agency with members from all 28 jurisdictions in the greater Sacramento region, SACOG plays a unique role as the place where local governments can come together to take on critical issues facing the region and to tackle problems that are too big for any one jurisdiction to solve on its own. SACOG is tasked by state and federal law with long-range planning for the region but also plays an important role in working with local partners to advance more immediate solutions to some of the region’s shared challenges of transportation, housing, air quality, climate change and the protection of the region’s agricultural and natural resources. Starting with the development of the 2024 Blueprint, SACOG has committed to three strategic goals of equity, economy, and environment. For more information, please visit our website: https://www.sacog.org .

SACOG is seeking one or more audit firm(s) to conduct SACOG's annual financial audit, transit funds audits, financial audit of transit agencies and audit for the Capital Area Regional Tolling Authority. SACOG is inviting qualified audit firms to submit for one or more audit services by submitting a separate proposal for each audit service list below. SACOG and/or Partner Agencies will award one contract for each audit service category. The contracts will be awarded for three years term, with the option to extend for two more years for a total of five years.

This is for Audit Services #1: SACOG/State Transit Funds Audit. The selected firm will contract with SACOG to conduct audits for Transportation Development Act Funds (TDA) for SACOG, all fund recipients and financial audits for smaller agencies: Yuba-Sutter Transit Authority (YSTA), Paratransit Inc. (PI) and Unitrans.

Timelines for TDA and Small Transit Operators Financial Audits

Selected firm will perform the specified work for the following fiscal year:

Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2025

Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2026

Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2027

OPTION YEARS:

SACOG has one two-year option to extend the Agreement for the following fiscal years;

Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2028

Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2029

For more information on other audit RFPs, please click on the links below:

Audit Services #2: SACOG Financial Audit
https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/sacog/projects/134831

Audit Services #3: YoloTD Financial Audit
https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/sacog/projects/134843

Audit Services#4: CARTA Financial Audit
https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/sacog/projects/134846

SACOG, as the Regional Transportation Planning Agency (RTPA), administers the various transit funds for transit operations and services, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and streets and roads funding. As such, these funds are required to be audited annually. This includes:

• The Mills-Alquist-Deddeh Act (SB 325) was enacted by the California Legislature to improve existing public transportation services and encourage regional transportation coordination. Known as the Transportation Development Act (TDA) of 1971, this law provides funding to be allocated to transit and non-transit related purposes that comply with regional transportation plans. The Local Transportation Fund (LTF) was created under the Transportation Development Act to provide funding for public transportation. The LTF program only covers the counties of Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba. Funds for the LTF program are derived from ¼-cent of the retail sales tax collected statewide by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA), as statutorily created and authorized successor to the former California State Board of Equalization. The money is returned to each county, through the regional transportation planning agency (RTPA), based upon the sales tax collected in that county.
• Funds for the STA program are provided by the State from the statewide sales tax on motor vehicle fuel (gasoline) and use fuel (diesel). The state allocates 50 percent of STA funds based upon the region’s share of the state population, and 50 percent based upon transit operator revenues for the prior fiscal year as a share of statewide transit operator revenues. SACOG distributes funds to transit operators and jurisdictions within its region for transportation planning, public transportation, and community transit.
• The Senate Bill (SB 1), the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, created a new program, the SGR Program. Funds for the SGR program are provided by the state from the new Transportation Improvement Fee assessed on vehicle registrations starting January 1, 2018. SGR funds are distributed to regions based on the same formula as the STA program. SACOG distributes funds to transit operators for capital assistance to rehabilitate and modernize existing local transportation systems, including the purchase of new vehicles and the maintenance and rehabilitation of transit facilities and vehicles.
• SB 125 (Chapter 54, Statutes of 2023) amended the Budget Act of 2023 to appropriate $4,000,000,000 of General Fund to the TIRCP, $910,000,000 of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) funding, and $190,000,000 of Public Transportation Account (PTA) funding over the life of the program. SACOG as an RTPA was allocated $200,896,191 in TIRCP funding, $30,867,000 in ZETCP GGRF funding, and $6,444,512 in ZETCP PTA funding to distribute to eligible transit. SACOG distributes these funds to transit operators in accordance with the program guidelines ( SB 125 Final Guidelines).

SMALLER OPERATORS:

For more information about the smaller operators, visit their websites below:

Yuba-Sutter Transit Authority: https://www.yubasuttertransit.com/

Paratransit Inc.: https://paratransit.org/

Unitrans: https://unitrans.ucdavis.edu/