Lake County, OH – Laketran, the regional public transit authority for Lake County, Ohio received a clean audit for the twenty-first consecutive year.  Laketran received an unqualified opinion, the best opinion available for this type of audit, directly from State of Ohio auditors who oversaw Laketran’s audit and issued the opinion.  No citations were reported in the audit for the year ending 2016.

The agency’s excellent record keeping has earned the Auditor of State Award with Distinction.

“Clean financial books are vital to accountability in government,” Auditor David Yost said in a news release. “Laketran is clearly committed to maintaining accurate records, and I am proud to present it with this award.”

Laketran CFO Lisa Colling issued Laketran’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for FY 2016, which was completed by James G. Zupka, CPA, Inc.

“We are very proud of our track record of 21 years of unqualified opinions with no material findings,” commented Colling.  “Our staff and leadership team work closely to be prudent and thorough in our financial practices.  These audit findings confirm that we are being good stewards of the public funding that comes from our local sales tax levy, the State of Ohio, federal grants and our riders.”

The audit covered the 2016 fiscal year, ending in December 2016.  The operating cost for the agency in 2016 was $13.4 million.

“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. We are doing everything we can within our budget to bring high quality public transportation services to Lake County residents,” Laketran board president, Brian Falkowski commented.

News Release issued by Ohio Auditor of State, David Yost can be found here: http://www.ohioauditor.gov/news/pressreleases/Details/3598