Follow-Up Audit of Sarasota County Area Transit (SCAT) Liberty Pass Program, December 2017

3 | A u d i t o f S C A T L i b e r t y P a s s P r o g r a m S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 6 Background and objectives The Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller’s Internal Audit Department and Office of the Inspector General has completed an audit of the Sarasota County Area Transit Liberty Pass Program. The audit was planned and conducted in conformance with the International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (Standards) . Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. The purpose of the audit was to evaluate effectiveness of controls in place to ensure that the intent of the Liberty Pass Program is achieved. Background The Liberty Pass program offered by Sarasota County Area Transit (SCAT) provides a 30-day unlimited bus pass on fixed routes at a cost of $8.00 for eligible riders, a discount of $42.00 when compared to the $50.00 cost of the regular 30-day pass. Eligibility is determined by riders providing appropriate documentation to support that their household income is less than or equal to 150% of the federal poverty guidelines, or that they are homeless or living in a shelter. Currently, determination of eligibility can be done at the SCAT Administration building or at one of the nineteen (19) third party agencies that have signed agreements with SCAT to distribute Liberty Passes. Due to concerns with reduced revenues and the challenges in verifying citizen's eligibility for the Liberty Pass, SCAT management recommended in May 2015 that the Liberty Pass program be discontinued. The Board of County Commissions (BCC) authorized SCAT to proceed with developing a mitigation strategy for the discontinuation of the Liberty Pass program at the public meeting held on May 15, 2015. Following this meeting, SCAT procured a consultant to perform a Fare Equity Analysis, as required by the Federal Transit Administration. This analysis is an assessment to determine whether service or fare changes would result in a negative impact on certain groups of citizens (minority or low-income populations). The survey data obtained in that study revealed that one-fifth of riders use the Liberty Pass and compared to overall ridership that these riders are more likely to have low incomes and depend on transit services. To mitigate the impact to low-income riders, the consultant recommended a phased transition approach for discontinuing the Liberty Pass.