Finance and Audit Committee Meeting - February 6, 2023

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Minutes of the Finance & Audit Committee

Monday, February 6, 2023 @ 11:30 AM

Advisory Board F&A Committee (Virtual Attendance): Colette Aufranc (Chair) of Wellesley, Linda Marshall of Holliston, and Joe Nolan of Wayland

Also participating: Jim Nee (Administrator), John Glynn (CFO), Daniel Fitch (IT), Paula Doucette (Financial Assistant), Bruce Norling (Auditor – virtual attendance), and Jennifer Bassett-Glynn (Auditor – virtual attendance)

1.  Call to order @ 11:30 AM by Ms. Aufranc

2.  Review and approval of June 24, 2022, meeting minutes: A motion was made by Ms. Marshall of Holliston: To approve minutes from the Financial & Audit Committee Meeting of June 24, 2022. Second Ms. Aufranc of Wellesley. Ms. Marshall of Holliston and Ms. Aufranc of Wellesley voted in favor. Mr. Nolan of Wayland abstained.

3.  Public comment:  No public comments or participation.

4.  Discussion of the audit for the year ended June 30^th, 2022: Bruce Norling and Jennifer Bassett-Glynn of Bruce D. Norling, CPA, P.C. discussed the following topics:

• Restatement of prior year net position to record vehicles acquired through the Mobility Assistance Program (MAP). The Committee discussed how this information is obtained and how to appropriately record these vehicles going forward.
• Grants Compliance testing – Auditors have reviewed compliance with grants and noted no problems with MWRTA’s process. MWRTA maintains good records.
• Fare Box Implementation – the auditors reviewed the proposed policies and procedures for fare collection and recording and evaluated MWRTA’s procedures are appropriate and compare well with industry practices at other RTAS they audit.
• Cybersecurity – the auditors evaluated MWRTA’s exposure risk as relatively low and procedures compare well with other RTAs they audit. Nightly backups and firewalls are in place. Equal to any other RTA.
• Review of Management Letter – Norling circulated a draft Management Letter for discussion. Although Management Response is optional, MWRTA should respond with a line or two from the Administrator or CFO.
• Framingham Retirement System Reporting – Reports from the City of Framingham have been delayed which in turn means a delay in preparing and finalizing MWRTAs audited financial statements. Norling outlined an alternative using an actuary to prepare an estimated plan and compare it with the City’s final financial statement, the committee and management will continue to evaluate this option.

5.  Discussion of July - December 2023 results:

Fuel – MWRTA has a yearly fixed-rate Compress Natural Gas (CNG) contract and no pricing contract for gasoline. As we phase out gasoline vehicles, we will expand our CNG vehicles and acquire battery/electric vehicles.

Drivers – Fixed Route: Many routes were taken offline during COVID. All services are being provided. Some routes have been redesigned and reinstated due to frequency usage. Fixed Route is down seven drivers. Demand Response: Drivers have different licensing requirements.

ADA/microtransit services are trending up.

MWRTA will utilize all available grant fundings and will not leave any unused. Fares –Timeline of implementation of fares realistically April/May 2023.

6.  Discuss next meeting date and potential topics: TBD – dependent on completion of Financial Statements

7.  Urgent items not anticipated prior to 48 hours of posting:  No items were presented.

8.  Adjourn @ 12:31 PM

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