Lake County taxpayers can take pride in Laketran’s continuous commitment to fiscal responsibility. Laketran was presented the “Auditor of State Award with Distinction” at the Monday, September 23 board of trustees meeting by Keith Faber, Auditor of State liaison Jake Altman.

Altman shared that only four percent of public agencies statewide achieve this recognition.

“It is clear that Laketran takes the responsibility of receiving taxpayer dollars very seriously,” Auditor Faber said. “This award is an acknowledgment of the hard work they’ve done to keep clean and accurate financial records.”

It is the 24th consecutive year Laketran has received an unqualified opinion with no material citations, material weaknesses, significant deficiencies, Single Audit findings, or any questioned costs.

To earn a “clean” audit report and receive an award, agencies must file timely financial reports in the form of a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) that meets strict requirements. The award was for the audit that covered the 2018 fiscal year, ending December 2018.

“Our staff and leadership team work very closely to be prudent and thorough in our financial practices,” commented Laketran CEO, Ben Capelle. “These audit findings confirm that we operate with high ethical standards and have necessary internal controls to ensure an accurate and accountable use of public funds that comes from the local sales tax levy, the State of Ohio, federal grants and our riders.”

“A clean audit is key to assuring taxpayers that we take our fiduciary duties seriously, and we are using the taxpayers’ funds to prudently provide the services the community expects of us,” said Laketran board president, Brian Falkowski.

Falkowski shared, “I am very proud of Laketran’s management team for this great accomplishment. It supports our objective of accountability to our customers and the community, while doing everything we can within our budget to provide high quality transit service to Lake County residents,”

News Release issued by Ohio Auditor of State, Keith Faber can be found here: https://ohioauditor.gov/news/pressreleases/Details/5291