Audit Report

Maryland Department of Transportation

Maryland Transit Administration

March 2022

OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE AUDITS

DEPARTMENT OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
MARYLAND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
 Joint Audit and Evaluation Committee
Senator Clarence K. Lam, M.D. (Senate Chair) Delegate Carol L. Krimm (House Chair)
Senator Malcolm L. Augustine Delegate Steven J. Arentz
Senator Adelaide C. Eckardt Delegate Mark S. Chang
Senator George C. Edwards Delegate Nicholas P. Charles II
Senator Katie Fry Hester Delegate Andrea Fletcher Harrison
Senator Cheryl C. Kagan Delegate Trent M. Kittleman
Senator Benjamin F. Kramer Delegate David Moon
Senator Cory V. McCray Delegate Julie Palakovich Carr
Senator Justin D. Ready Delegate Elizabeth G. Proctor
Senator Craig J. Zucker Delegate Geraldine Valentino-Smith

To Obtain Further Information

Office of Legislative Audits
The Warehouse at Camden Yards
351 West Camden Street, Suite 400
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
Phone: 410-946-5900
Maryland Relay: 711
TTY: 410-946-5401 ꞏ 301-970-5401
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.ola.state.md.us

To Report Fraud
The Office of Legislative Audits operates a Fraud Hotline to report fraud, waste, or abuse involving State
of Maryland government resources. Reports of fraud, waste, or abuse may be communicated anonymously
by a toll-free call to 1-877-FRAUD-11, by mail to the Fraud Hotline, c/o Office of Legislative Audits, or
through the Office’s website.

Nondiscrimination Statement
The Department of Legislative Services does not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, color, creed,
marital status, national origin, race, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability in the
admission or access to its programs, services, or activities. The Department’s Information Officer has been
designated to coordinate compliance with the nondiscrimination requirements contained in Section 35.107
of the United States Department of Justice Regulations. Requests for assistance should be directed to the
Information Officer at 410-946-5400 or 410-970-5400.
 March 11, 2022

Senator Clarence K. Lam, M.D., Senate Chair, Joint Audit and Evaluation Committee
Delegate Carol L. Krimm, House Chair, Joint Audit and Evaluation Committee
Members of Joint Audit and Evaluation Committee
Annapolis, Maryland

Ladies and Gentlemen:

We have conducted a fiscal compliance audit of the Maryland Department of

Transportation – Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) for the period
beginning December 23, 2016 and ending June 30, 2020. MTA is responsible for
the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Baltimore metropolitan area
transit system and for commuter services in suburban areas of the State.

Our audit disclosed MTA lacked sufficient controls to ensure that union payroll
and pension payments were proper. Specifically, personnel transactions, such as
changes to pay rates, were not always reviewed by an independent employee. In
addition, MTA lacked procedures to ensure timesheets were approved by
employees’ immediate supervisors or to ensure pension payments were not made
to deceased individuals (either retirees or beneficiaries). Furthermore, MTA did
not periodically review user access to the automated personnel and payroll system
to identify employees with unnecessary or incompatible access and it had not
obtained the most recent report on the results of the independent control review of
the union payroll and pension processing services. MTA also did not take
comprehensive steps to ensure that programming errors in its new cloud-based
union payroll and pension processing system were corrected or that it had
recovered related overpayments.

Our audit also disclosed that MTA did not perform an independent verification of
bus fare collections from the initial record of receipt to amounts deposited in its
bank account to ensure collections were deposited intact and timely.
Based on our current audit assessment of significance and risk to our audit
objectives, our audit included a review to determine the status of 7 of the 11
findings contained in our preceding audit report. We determined that MTA
satisfactorily addressed 6 of these findings. The remaining finding is repeated in
the report.

The Maryland Department of Transportation’s response to this audit, on behalf of

MTA, is included as an appendix to this report. We reviewed the response to our
findings and related recommendations, and have concluded that the corrective
actions identified are sufficient to address the audit issues. While MTA generally
agrees with the recommendations in this report, we identified two areas in the
response questioning certain conclusions included in our analysis. Consequently,
we have included “auditor’s comments” to further explain our position.

We wish to acknowledge the cooperation extended to us during our audit by

MTA. We also wish to acknowledge the Maryland Department of
Transportation’s and MTA’s willingness to address the audit issues and to
implement appropriate corrective actions.

Respectfully submitted,

Gregory A. Hook, CPA

Legislative Auditor

2
 Table of Contents

Background Information 4

Agency Responsibilities 4
Special Review Report Update 4
Resource Sharing Agreements 5
Status of Findings From Preceding Audit Report 5

Findings and Recommendations 7

Union Payroll
* Finding 1 – MTA had not established adequate controls over 8
certain aspects of its union personnel, payroll, and pension processes.

Finding 2 – MTA did not ensure that programming errors in its new 10
cloud-based system were corrected or recover related overpayments.

Finding 3 – MTA did not have sufficient procedures to ensure 10

pension payments were not made to deceased individuals.

Finding 4 – MTA lacked assurance that adequate information 11

technology security and operational controls existed over its union
payroll and pension processing system.

Bus Fare Collections

Finding 5 – MTA did not perform an independent verification that 12
all bus fare collections were subsequently deposited.

Audit Scope, Objectives, and Methodology 14

Agency Response Appendix

* Denotes item repeated in full or part from preceding audit report

3
 Background Information

Agency Responsibilities

The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), a transportation business unit of the

Maryland Department of Transportation, is responsible for the construction,
operation, and maintenance of the Baltimore metropolitan area transit system and
for commuter services in suburban areas of the State. Transit modes in operation
primarily include the Metro subway, bus, light rail, and the Maryland Area
Regional Commuter service. MTA is headquartered in Baltimore City and
maintains a workforce of approximately 3,400 employees. According to State
records, during fiscal year 2020, MTA’s operating and capital expenditures
totaled approximately $1.59 billion. These expenditures were funded by special
funds totaling approximately $812.2 million, federal funds totaling approximately
$766.5 million (including $260.5 million in COVID-related funding), and
reimbursable funds totaling approximately $16.1 million.

Special Review Report Update

We issued a special report, dated January 2019, on our examination of allegations

received through our fraud, waste, and abuse hotline regarding possible violations
of State laws, regulations, and policies involving
an MTA management employee. The special
report included four findings related to the
aforementioned MTA management employee
and a related vendor, including possible
violations of State ethics law, violations of State
procurement regulations and MTA policy, and
poor contract administration procedures and
controls. Based on the nature and entirety of
these findings, we referred certain matters to the
Office of the Attorney General – Criminal
Division. After the issuance of the special
report, the MTA management employee
separated from State service in January 2019.

During our current audit, we reviewed three procurements totaling $3.8 million
that involved the aforementioned related vendor, as well as the contract
monitoring process, and did not identify any reportable conditions.

4
Resource Sharing Agreements (RSAs)

On August 3, 2018, we issued a performance audit report on Telecommunication

Resource Sharing Agreements which contained several findings related to MTA.
This audit report included a number of findings related to selected agencies, but
emphasized the need for the Department of Information Technology to exercise
greater oversight of the RSAs entered into by State agencies in general. The
performance audit included the following select findings related to MTA.

 MTA did not maintain comprehensive lists of their agreements,

 MTA did not treat certain agreements as resource sharing resulting in lost
opportunities to maximize compensation,
 MTA did always include adequate provisions in its agreements to protect the
State,
 MTA executed and renewed resource sharing agreements without proper
approvals, and
 MTA allowed telecommunications companies to continue using State
resources after agreements had expired.

The Maryland Department of Transportation, on behalf of MTA, agreed to the

findings and recommendations in the August 2018 report.

Status of Findings From Preceding Audit Report

Based on our current assessment of significance and risk relative to our audit
objectives, our audit included a review to determine the status of 7 of the 11
findings contained in our preceding audit report dated November 20, 2018 (prior
audit findings 4, 6, 7, and 10 were not reviewed). As disclosed in Figure 1, we
determined that MTA satisfactorily addressed 6 of those 7 findings. The
remaining finding is repeated in this report.

5
 Figure 1
Status of Preceding Findings
Preceding Implementation
Finding Description
Finding Status
MTA used certain contracts as a means to obtain services that were
outside the scope of those contracts, circumventing competitive
Finding 1 procurement requirements, and related task orders lacked details of Not repeated
contract deliverables. Increases in hourly rates charged were excessive
based on MTA guidelines.
MTA did not always adhere to State procurement regulations with
Finding 2 respect to sole source procurements, contract award requirements, and Not repeated
bid documentation, and certain monitoring efforts were not adequate.
Proper internal controls were not established over the processing of
Finding 3 Not repeated
purchasing and disbursement transactions.
MTA used interagency agreements to circumvent State procurement Not repeated
Finding 4
regulations that require competitive bidding. (Not followed up on)
MTA did not follow up on the results of a review conducted by its
Office of Audits regarding payments made to and deliverables required
Finding 5 from a State university under an interagency agreement. The review Not repeated
disclosed, for example, approximately $725,000 in payments that
should be recovered.
Interagency agreements were not adequately monitored. Task orders
were not sufficiently detailed to allow for adequate monitoring and Not repeated
Finding 6
certain payments were not consistent with or were not provided for in (Not followed up on)
the related task orders.
MTA lacked adequate controls to ensure that only eligible individuals Not repeated
Finding 7
received Program services. (Not followed up on)
MTA had not established adequate controls over its union payroll and
Repeated
Finding 8 pension processes. All payroll employees had capabilities granting
(Current Finding 1)
them complete control over payroll transactions.
MTA did not adequately control and account for collections received at
Finding 9 its Consignment Center and Transit Store, and bus fare collections Not repeated
were not always deposited timely.
MTA did not ensure that all equipment purchases were properly Not repeated
Finding 10
recorded in its detailed equipment records. (Not followed up on)
Malware protection for MTA’s computers was not sufficient to provide
Finding 11 the MTA with adequate assurance that its computers were properly Not repeated
protected.

6
 Findings and Recommendations

Union Payroll

Background
The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) maintains labor agreements with
each of its three labor unions, which set forth employment terms for these
employees (including wages and pension benefit calculations). MTA is
responsible for all aspects of its union payroll and pensions, including tracking
employee pay rates and hours worked, maintaining pension and leave records,
posting adjustments to the payroll and pension records, and processing weekly
payroll payments via check or direct deposit. As noted in Figure 2, during
calendar year 2019, union payroll and pension expenditures totaled approximately
$240.6 million.

Figure 2
Union Payroll and Pension Expenditures
Calendar Year 2019
Number of Total
Labor Union Employees Expenditures
(as of 12/31/19) (in Millions)
Local 1300 – Bus and Rail Operators and
2,218 $178.1
Maintenance Employees
Local 1859 – MTA Police 169 14.1
Local 2 – Clerical Support Employees 168 8.7
Total Union Payroll 2,555 $200.9
Pensions (Local 2 and Local 1300)* 1,990 39.7
Total Union Payroll and Pension 4,545 $240.6
Source: MTA Payroll Reports

* Excludes Local 1859, since MTA police participate in the Law Enforcement
Officers’ Pension System administered by the Maryland State Retirement Agency.
The employers’ pension contribution is billed by the Agency to MTA, and not
processed through MTA’s union payroll system.

MTA contracted with a vendor to operate and maintain a cloud-based system used
to process payroll and pension payments for the MTA union employees and
pensioners. MTA transitioned from its legacy payroll system to the service
provider in April 2019. During the period October 2017 through June 2020 MTA
paid the vendor approximately $400,000 for these services.

7
Finding 1
MTA had not established adequate controls over certain aspects of its union
personnel, payroll, and pension processes.

Analysis
MTA had not established adequate controls over certain aspects of its union
personnel, payroll, and pension processes.

Supervisor Reviews of Personnel and Payroll Transactions Were Not Sufficient

MTA did not ensure that critical personnel and payroll transactions were subject
to a documented independent supervisory review and approval. For example, the
employee responsible for reviewing system reports of personnel transactions
(such as, changes to pay rates) also processed 1,096 of the 6,642 personnel
transactions occurring from May 2019 to June 2020. Furthermore, the reviews
were not documented. A similar condition regarding a lack of independent
supervisory review over payroll transactions was commented upon in our
preceding audit report.

Time Records Were Not Always Approved by Immediate Supervisors

Although certain timesheets were approved by MTA Payroll Department
employees in order to process payroll timely, MTA did not generate a report to
identify timesheets needing subsequent electronic approval by the employee’s
immediate supervisor. We obtained payroll approval records for all 2,719 union
employees for the pay period ending June 20, 2020. We selected 25 employees
with timesheets that were approved by the Payroll Department and confirmed that
none of the 25 timesheets were subsequently approved by the employee’s
immediate supervisor. Since the Payroll Department employees do not have
direct knowledge of the employee’s hours, the activity should be subject to
retroactive review by the employee’s immediate supervisor.

Terminated Employees Were Not Always Removed from Payroll Timely

Terminated employees were not always removed from the payroll system timely,
resulting in certain individuals continuing to receive unwarranted payments after
their termination dates. We obtained a report of 164 employees terminated during
the period April 2019 through April 2020, who remained on the MTA payroll
after termination, and selected 5 who remained on the payroll system for the
longest duration after termination, while receiving payments subsequent to their
termination date. These five employees were not removed from the payroll
system from four to five months after their employment ended, and received
payments totaling $4,555, ranging from $525 to $1,326 each.

8
After we brought this issue to its attention, MTA agreed that these payments were
improper. A similar condition was commented upon in our preceding audit
report.

Reviews of User Access Were Not Performed

MTA did not periodically review user access to the cloud-based personnel and
payroll system to identify employees with unnecessary or incompatible access.
Our test of critical access capabilities assigned to approximately 3,100 employees
as of November 2019 disclosed that 22 employees had the ability to prepare and
approve their own timesheets with no independent review and approval.
However, we were unable to obtain a system report to aid in identifying instances
of any of the 22 employees preparing and approving their own timesheet. Our
test of timesheets for these 22 employees for one pay period in June 2020
disclosed that they were all properly approved by an independent party.

The State of Maryland Information Technology Security Manual requires

agencies to perform system access reviews at least annually. The Manual also
requires agencies to strictly control and audit the access to confidential
information to support the concept of “least privilege.”

Recommendation 1
We recommend that MTA
a. ensure that independent supervisory personnel perform a documented
review to verify the propriety of critical personnel and payroll
transactions (repeat);
b. institute a policy requiring immediate or retroactive supervisory
approval of time recorded by its employees, including those initially
approved by the Payroll Department;
c. establish a process that ensures terminated employees are immediately
removed from the payroll system and take appropriate action to recover
any related improper payments, including those noted above (repeat);
and
d. perform periodic independent documented reviews of personnel and
payroll system user access and take appropriate corrective action for any
improper or unnecessary user access.

9
Finding 2
MTA did not ensure that programming errors in its new cloud-based system
were corrected or recover related overpayments.

Analysis
MTA did not take comprehensive steps to ensure that programming errors in its
new cloud-based union payroll and pension processing system were corrected or
recover related overpayments.

MTA advised us of certain programming errors it identified in May and July 2019
that had resulted in overpayments to 188 employees totaling approximately
$76,000. However, as of September 2020, MTA could not provide
documentation showing these overpayments had been recovered. Further, since
172 of the aforementioned errors occurred during one pay-period, MTA could not
document that it investigated the full extent of programming errors beyond the
errors previously identified, resulting in the potential for additional errors from
other pay-periods going undetected. Our limited review of 25 payroll transactions
totaling $126,979 to active employees during the period May 2019 through April
2020, disclosed questionable payments to 7 employees totaling $17,850. For
example, one employee was paid $12,962; however, the documentation provided
by MTA supported payment of $1,178. Initially, in November 2020 MTA
management advised us they were not able to explain the propriety of these
payments, but they believed the primary cause to be programing errors.
Ultimately, in October 2021 (11 months later) MTA management advised us that
their investigation of the 7 payments concluded that they believed the payments
were appropriate; although we did not assess the correctness of that conclusion.

Recommendation 2
We recommend MTA determine the full extent of programming errors and
recover any identified payroll overpayments caused by these errors.

Finding 3
MTA did not have sufficient procedures to ensure pension payments were
not made to deceased individuals. We identified payments to 14 individuals
totaling $81,610 subsequent to their reported date of death.

Analysis
MTA did not have sufficient procedures to ensure pension payments were not
made to deceased individuals (either retirees or beneficiaries). MTA management
advised us that they typically relied on notices from the public, for example the
pensioners’ dependent, to discontinue pension payments due to death, rather than

10
routinely obtaining death information from a reliable comprehensive source, such
as a government agency. During our audit period MTA performed one match in
June 2017 of its pensioner data to information maintained by the federal Social
Security Administration to identify deceased pensioners, which found no
deceased pensioners receiving pension payments.

We obtained MTA records of all pension payments as of April 30, 2020, and
performed a match of MTA pensioner information with Maryland Department of
Health – Vital Statistics Administration’s (VSA) death records as of September 3,
2020, which is limited to the deaths that occurred in Maryland. Our review
disclosed MTA paid $81,610 to 14 pensioners or beneficiaries for whom VSA
records indicated had died between February 2019 and May 2020.

After we brought this issue to MTA’s attention, we were advised that MTA was
unaware of the deaths of 10 of these individuals, with payments totaling
approximately $71,349. For the remaining 4 individuals, MTA advised us that
they had previously been notified of their death. However, of as December 2020,
MTA could not document that any effort had been made to recover payments
totaling $10,261 made subsequent to the 4 individuals’ dates of death.

Recommendation 3
We recommend that MTA
a. perform periodic (such as quarterly) matches to identify deceased
individuals; and
b. investigate the match results in consultation with legal counsel, and
pursue recovery of any improper payments (including those noted above),
documenting the actions taken.

Finding 4
MTA lacked assurance that adequate information technology security and
operational controls existed over its union payroll and pension processing
system that was hosted, operated, and maintained by a service provider.

Analysis
MTA lacked assurance that adequate information technology security and
operational controls existed over its union payroll and pension processing system
that was hosted, operated, and maintained by a service provider. Specifically, as
of May 2020, MTA had not obtained the most recent report on the results of the
independent control review (referred to as a System and Organization Control –
SOC 2 Type 2 review) of MTA’s union payroll and pension processing services
that were contracted with a service provider. At our request, MTA subsequently

11
obtained the most recent SOC 2 Type 2 review report, dated February 28, 2020.
The report covered the period from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019. Our
review concluded that the aforementioned SOC report did not disclose any
significant control weaknesses.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants has issued guidance for
various reviews of service organizations. Based on this guidance, service
organizations (like the aforementioned service provider) may contract for an
independent review of controls and the resultant independent auditor’s report is
referred to as a SOC report. The aforementioned SOC 2 Type 2 report includes
the results of the auditor’s review of controls placed in operation and tests of
operating effectiveness for the period under review and could include an
evaluation of system security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality,
and/or privacy.

Recommendation 4
We recommend that MTA, for its union payroll and pension processing
system,
a. timely obtain and review copies of SOC 2 Type 2 reports, and verify that
the related service provider implemented all critical report
recommendations; and
b. document the aforementioned reviews and retain them for future
reference.

Bus Fare Collections

Finding 5
MTA did not perform an independent verification that all bus fare
collections were subsequently deposited.

Analysis
MTA did not perform an independent verification of bus fare collections from the
initial record of receipt to amounts deposited in its bank account. Bus fare
collections are placed into locked safes, which are transported daily to MTA’s
secured central money room where they are opened and the funds are counted and
prepared for bank deposit. According to MTA records, during fiscal years 2019
and 2020, cash bus fare collections totaled $25.6 million and $16.81 million,
respectively.

1
MTA halted bus fare collections during March 2020 through the end of the fiscal year due to
COVID-19 concerns.

12
Three MTA employees performed various tasks, which collectively were intended
to serve as a deposit verification. One employee compared the original
recordation of collections to documentation of the money room cash count, a
second employee compared the cash count to the deposit ticket prior to deposit,
and a third employee compared the bank records to the deposit amount recorded
in the State’s Financial Management Information System. However, the second
employee had access to the related cash and the ability to alter the documentation
of the cash count, and therefore was not independent. As a result, there was a
lack of assurance that all collections were deposited intact.

The Comptroller of Maryland’s Accounting Procedures Manual requires that a

reconciliation of the initial record of collections to the amounts deposited be
performed by an employee independent of the cash receipts function.

Recommendation 5
We recommend that MTA perform and document an independent
verification of bus fare collections from the initial record of receipt to
amounts deposited in its bank account. We advised MTA how to achieve the
necessary segregation of duties using existing personnel. For example,
Finance Department personnel could perform an independent verification
since its employees do not have access to collections.

13
 Audit Scope, Objectives, and Methodology
We have conducted a fiscal compliance audit of the Maryland Department of
Transportation – Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) for the period
beginning December 23, 2016 and ending June 30, 2020. The audit was
conducted in accordance with generally accepted government 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 that the evidence obtained
provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit
objectives.

As prescribed by the State Government Article, Section 2-1221 of the Annotated

Code of Maryland, the objectives of this audit were to examine MTA’s financial
transactions, records, and internal control, and to evaluate its compliance with
applicable State laws, rules, and regulations.

In planning and conducting our audit, we focused on the major financial-related

areas of operations based on assessments of significance and risk. The areas
addressed by the audit included procurements and disbursements for capital
projects and operating expenditures, cash receipts, payroll, and information
security and control. The scope of the work performed in each of these areas was
based on our assessments of significance and risk. Therefore, our follow-up on
the status of the findings included in our preceding audit report was limited to
those findings that were applicable to the current audit scope for each area.
Further, we reviewed certain procurements and contract monitoring to follow up
on the findings in our Special Review on Allegations Related to Possible
Violations of State Laws, Regulations, and Policies Involving an MTA
Management Employee dated January 7, 2019.

Our audit did not include certain payroll support services (such as processing of
personnel transactions and maintenance of employee leave records) provided by
the Maryland Department of Transportation – Secretary’s Office (MDOT) to
MTA for its non-union management payroll. These payroll support services are
included within the scope of our audit of MDOT. Our audit also did not include
an evaluation of internal controls over compliance with federal laws and
regulations for federal assistance programs and an assessment of MTA’s
compliance with those laws and regulations because the State of Maryland
engages an independent accounting firm to annually audit such programs
administered by State agencies, including MTA.

14
Our assessment of internal controls was based on agency procedures and controls
in place at the time of our fieldwork. Our tests of transactions and other auditing
procedures were generally focused on the transactions occurring during our audit
period of December 23, 2016 to June 30, 2020, but may include transactions
before or after this period as we considered necessary to achieve our audit
objectives.

To accomplish our audit objectives, our audit procedures included inquiries of

appropriate personnel, inspections of documents and records, tests of transactions,
and to the extent practicable, observations of MTA operations. Generally,
transactions were selected for testing based on auditor judgment, which primarily
considers risk, the timing or dollar amount of the transaction, or the significance
of the transaction to the area of operation reviewed. As a matter of course, we do
not normally use sampling in our tests, so unless otherwise specifically indicated,
neither statistical nor non-statistical audit sampling was used to select the
transactions tested. Therefore, unless sampling is specifically indicated in a
finding, the results from any tests conducted or disclosed by us cannot be used to
project those results to the entire population from which the test items were
selected.

We also performed various data extracts of pertinent information from the State’s
Financial Management Information System, and MDOT’s Financial Management
Information System (such as revenue and expenditure data). The extracts are
performed as part of ongoing internal processes established by the Office of
Legislative Audits and were subject to various tests to determine data reliability.
We determined that the data extracted from these sources were sufficiently
reliable for the purposes the data were used during this audit.

We also extracted data from MTA’s new automated union personnel, payroll, and
pension system, as well as the bus fare system for the purpose of testing payroll,
pension, and cash receipt transactions. We performed various tests of the relevant
data and determined that the data were sufficiently reliable for the purposes the
data were used during the audit. Finally, we performed other auditing procedures
that we considered necessary to achieve our audit objectives. The reliability of
data used in this report for background or informational purposes was not
assessed.

MTA’s management is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective

internal control. Internal control is a process designed to provide reasonable
assurance that objectives pertaining to the reliability of financial records;
effectiveness and efficiency of operations, including safeguarding of assets; and
compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations are achieved. As

15
provided in Government Auditing Standards, there are five components of
internal control: control environment, risk assessment, control activities,
information and communication, and monitoring. Each of the five components,
when significant to the audit objectives, and as applicable to MTA, were
considered by us during the course of this audit.

Because of inherent limitations in internal control, errors or fraud may

nevertheless occur and not be detected. Also, projections of any evaluation of
internal control to future periods are subject to the risk that conditions may
change or compliance with policies and procedures may deteriorate.

Our reports are designed to assist the Maryland General Assembly in exercising
its legislative oversight function and to provide constructive recommendations for
improving State operations. As a result, our reports generally do not address
activities we reviewed that are functioning properly.

This report includes findings relating to conditions that we consider to be

significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal control that could
adversely affect MTA’s ability to maintain reliable financial records, operate
effectively and efficiently, and/or comply with applicable laws, rules, and
regulations. Our report also includes findings regarding significant instances of
noncompliance with applicable laws, rules, or regulations. Other less significant
findings were communicated to MTA that did not warrant inclusion in this report.

The response from the Maryland Department of Transportation, on behalf of

MTA, to our findings and recommendations is included as an appendix to this
report. As prescribed in the State Government Article, Section 2-1224 of the
Annotated Code of Maryland, we will advise the Department regarding the results
of our review of its response.

16
APPENDIX
 Maryland Department of Transportation
Maryland Transit Administration

Agency Response Form

Union Payroll

Finding 1
MTA had not established adequate controls over certain aspects of its union personnel,
payroll, and pension processes.

We recommend that MTA

a. ensure that independent supervisory personnel perform a documented review to verify
the propriety of critical personnel and payroll transactions (repeat);
b. institute a policy requiring immediate or retroactive supervisory approval of time
recorded by its employees, including those initially approved by the Payroll
Department;
c. establish a process that ensures terminated employees are immediately removed from
the payroll system and take appropriate action to recover any related improper
payments, including those noted above (repeat); and
d. perform periodic independent documented reviews of personnel and payroll system
user access and take appropriate corrective action for any improper or unnecessary
user access.

Agency Response
Analysis
Please provide None.
additional comments as
deemed necessary.

Recommendation 1a Agree Estimated Completion Date: 01/01/2022

Please provide details of MTA HR implemented monthly audits of critical data changes in the
corrective action or payroll system and transactions are reviewed by someone other than the
explain disagreement. processor.

Recommendation 1b Agree Estimated Completion Date: 12/21/2021

Please provide details of MTA engaged a cross functional team to implement a solution for
corrective action or timecard approvals. Implementation was 100% completed for the pay
explain disagreement. period ending December 18, 2021 and 100% of timecards have been
field-approved since then. This process will continue for all future pay
periods.

Page 1 of 7
 Maryland Department of Transportation
Maryland Transit Administration

Agency Response Form

Recommendation 1c Agree Estimated Completion Date: 3/31/2022

Please provide details of MTA Human Resources processes terminations when properly
corrective action or completed personnel action forms are received. Human Resources will
explain disagreement. work with all supervisors and offices across MTA to ensure timely
notification (and documentation) of terminations. There are
circumstances allowed per the collective bargaining agreements that
require an employee to remain active due to the grievance and appeal
processes. As a result, we will ensure adequate documentation is
maintained when these arise.
Recommendation 1d Agree Estimated Completion Date: 3/31/2022
Please provide details of MTA is working with the payroll system vendor to standardize working
corrective action or reports. MTA Payroll and Human Resources will review reports as
explain disagreement. necessary to make updates regularly as changes occur to staffing and
develop a quarterly review process to complete a full access review. The
expected first full review will be completed by the end of March 2022.

Page 2 of 7
 Maryland Department of Transportation
Maryland Transit Administration

Agency Response Form

Finding 2
MTA did not ensure that programming errors in its new cloud-based system were
corrected or recover related overpayments.

We recommend MTA determine the full extent of programming errors and recover any
identified payroll overpayments caused by these errors.

Agency Response
Analysis
Please provide MTA disagrees that there were programming errors in the payroll system
additional comments as which inappropriately paid employees. MTA reviewed the examples
deemed necessary. provided by OLA and provided OLA with documentation that the
programming and payments for these employees were accurate.
Recommendation 2 Agree Estimated Completion Date: 6/30/2022
Please provide details of MTA agrees that overpayments were made to the 188 employees noted;
corrective action or however, these payments were the result of not following standard
explain disagreement. protocols for updates which include a process of developing a project for
all changes input into the payroll system, testing and formal approval
followed by implementation. This particular payment issue occurred at
the beginning of the payroll system implementation during the
transitional period and the standard procedure may not have been
followed, but that will not occur in the future now that processes have
been standardized. In order to recover the payments, MTA is working
with various State agencies and its legal counsel to develop a process for
recouping these overpayments-

Auditor’s Comment: Although MTA disagrees with our analysis, during our field work
they advised us that the overpayments were the result of programming errors and they
were not able to provide us support for the cause of these errors. Nonetheless, MTA does
agree that errors occurred resulting in employee overpayments, and their response
indicates they have corrected the issues that caused the errors.

Page 3 of 7
 Maryland Department of Transportation
Maryland Transit Administration

Agency Response Form

Finding 3
MTA did not have sufficient procedures to ensure pension payments were not made to
deceased individuals. We identified payments to 14 individuals totaling $81,610 subsequent
to their reported date of death.

We recommend that MTA

a. perform periodic (such as quarterly) matches to identify deceased individuals; and
b. investigate the match results in consultation with legal counsel, and pursue recovery of
any improper payments (including those noted above), documenting the actions taken.

Agency Response
Analysis
Please provide None.
additional comments as
deemed necessary.

Recommendation 3a Agree Estimated Completion Date: 3/31/2021

Please provide details of MTA Human Resources established an arrangement with a vendor to
corrective action or conduct periodic review of active pensioners to identify deceased
explain disagreement. individuals. The first audit was completed in March 2021 and will be
completed semi-annually going forward.
Recommendation 3b Agree Estimated Completion Date: 06/30/2022
Please provide details of Once audit results are reviewed, payments will be immediately
corrective action or discontinued for deceased pensioners. A process for investigating and
explain disagreement. recovering any improper payments will be established according to the
protocols for recovery of overpayments being developed by the Office of
Finance as noted in Finding 2.

Page 4 of 7
 Maryland Department of Transportation
Maryland Transit Administration

Agency Response Form

Finding 4
MTA lacked assurance that adequate information technology security and operational
controls existed over its union payroll and pension processing system that was hosted,
operated, and maintained by a service provider.

We recommend that MTA, for its union payroll and pension processing system,
a. timely obtain and review copies of SOC 2 Type 2 reports, and verify that the related
service provider implemented all critical report recommendations; and
b. document the aforementioned reviews and retain them for future reference.

Agency Response
Analysis
Please provide None.
additional comments as
deemed necessary.

Recommendation 4a Agree Estimated Completion Date: 6/25/2021

Please provide details of The project manager for the payroll system and IT will annually request
corrective action or a SOC 2 report for the software and ensure all corrective actions for
explain disagreement. noted controls are addressed and critical recommendations implemented
by the service provider.
Recommendation 4b Agree Estimated Completion Date: 6/25/2021
Please provide details of MTA will document the annual SOC reviews and retain the
corrective action or documentation for future reference.
explain disagreement.

Page 5 of 7
 Maryland Department of Transportation
Maryland Transit Administration

Agency Response Form

Bus Fare Collections

Finding 5
MTA did not perform an independent verification that all bus fare collections were
subsequently deposited.

We recommend that MTA perform and document an independent verification of bus fare
collections from the initial record of receipt to amounts deposited in its bank account. We
advised MTA how to achieve the necessary segregation of duties using existing personnel.
For example, Finance Department personnel could perform an independent verification
since its employees do not have access to collections.

Agency Response
Analysis
Please provide MTA believes the background and analysis documented in the Finding
additional comments as does not depict the entire deposit verification and reconciliation process.
deemed necessary. There are more than three employees involved in the deposit verification
and reconciliation that include multiple individuals preparing and
confirming deposit values and reporting accuracy. Additionally, this in-
depth process also includes procedures performed by individuals in
separate areas and offices within MTA from receipt of funds to the
reconciliation of funds to the bank account.

Upon further discussions with OLA and MTA’s rebuttal of the finding,
OLA advised that their main concern within the reconciliation process
was what they perceive as a lack of independence due to the second
employee’s access to cash and the spreadsheet documenting the count.

With multiple individuals preparing and confirming deposit values and

reporting accuracy, multiple failures would have to occur for one
individual to circumvent the process to both take money from the count
without being detected and adjust the financial reports without the
discrepancy being identified. These controls, signoffs, and reviews
establish a process where the ability of any employee to both access cash
and alter documentation is extremely low.

Observations or a physical walkthrough of the bus fare collections

process would have assisted OLA in obtaining an understanding of the
controls; however, safety protocols due to COVID while fieldwork was
occurring did not allow for onsite observations.

Page 6 of 7
 Maryland Department of Transportation
Maryland Transit Administration

Agency Response Form

Recommendation 5 Agree Estimated Completion Date: 1/24/2022

Please provide details of While MTA Fare Collection does not agree with the description of the
corrective action or environment and basis of the recommendation, we have revised our
explain disagreement. procedure to provide additional independence in the reconciliation
process.

MTA will ensure the cash deposit amount represented by the actual
deposit slip, independently obtained from Finance, is used by the
Manager of Fare Services to verify the deposit records which are
reconciled to the system reports. This process will provide further
assurance that no cash shortages in the deposit are covered through
altering counting records. This process was formally implemented on
January 24, 2022, with verifications to be completed daily.

Auditor’s Comment: MTA’s response indicated that there are more than three
employees involved in the deposit verification and reconciliation that include multiple
individuals preparing and confirming deposit values and reporting accuracy. While we
agree that MTA has multiple employees that perform various duties related to cash
receipts, the three employees we noted had the primary duties which collectively were
intended to serve as a deposit verification.

MTA’s response indicates that observation or a physical walkthrough of the bus fare
collections process would have assisted us in obtaining an understanding of the controls.
Our conclusions were based on audit evidence including interviews with pertinent
personnel, and obtaining documentation from MTA regarding the cash receipt processes.
While observation is a form of audit evidence, we believe we obtained a sufficient
understanding of the bus fare collection process, and our conclusions are valid.

Nonetheless, MTA agreed to implement our recommendation by making changes to the

process that will provide the necessary independence in the reconciliation process.

Page 7 of 7
 AUDIT TEAM
Mark S. Hagenbuch, CPA
Audit Manager

Edwin L. Paul, CPA, CISA

Information Systems Audit Manager

Karen J. Howes
Joshua A. Naylor
Senior Auditors

Peter W. Chong
Information Systems Senior Auditor

Patrick J. Cavanaugh, CPA

Jordan T. Duke
Gary B. Staples, CPA
Staff Auditors