Gila County Transportation Excise Tax

This audit questions the appropriateness of some expenditures made with monies restricted for street and highway purposes or transportation projects, including excise tax revenue.  The County needs to determine the magnitude of monies spent inappropriately and reimburse the Gila County Road Fund with revenue from its General Fund or other unrestricted sources.  In addition, the impact of the excise tax on solving the County’s transportation problems is unclear because the County lacks key documents that could help demonstrate impact.  The County is taking some steps that will allow it to more clearly demonstrate impact, such as developing a process for tracking excise tax expenditures separately from other Road Fund expenditures, and should continue its efforts.