Gila County Transportation Excise Tax

In 1994, Gila County voters passed a half-cent sales tax to pay for highway and street improvements and transportation projects. The County has taken some steps to better demonstrate the impact of the transportation excise tax, and is taking additional steps to do so. The County should continue to work toward tracking excise tax expenditures separately from other Road Fund expenditures using its newly implemented accounting system. Further, 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 should work with the County Attorney to determine whether any Road Fund monies were spent inappropriately and how to reimburse the Road Fund if any monies were spent inappropriately.