| Public Release Date: April 25, 1997 | No. 97-22 |
The Metropolitan Sports Facilities commission is a component unit of the Metropolitan Council. Its primary responsibility is the operation of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome sports facility (the Metrodome).
The financial statements show total commission assets of over $90 million as of December 31, 1996. Nearly $67 million of property and equipment comprises the largest portion of the commission's assets; cash and investments accounted for most of its other assets. The commission owed total liabilities of about $38 million at December 31, 1996, with about $36.5 million representing principal and accrued interest on its long-term debt. The financial statements show that the commission had equity of $52.6 million: $17 million in contributed capital, $13.4 million of reserved, and $22.2 million of unreserved retained earnings according to its bond covenants. Pursuant to Minn. Stat. Sections 473.551-473.595 and the bond covenants, all revenues and investments of the commission are pledged for the payment of the Sports Facilities Revenue Refunding Bond.
As required by Minn. Stat. Section 473.595, Subd. 5, we have conducted an audit of the commission's financial statements for the year ended December 31, 1996. We also reviewed the internal control structure of the commission and tested the commission's compliance with significant finance-related legal provisions.
Based on our examination, we concluded that the commission's financial statements were fairly presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. We issued an unqualified opinion on the statements for the year ended December 31, 1996.
We found two areas where the internal control structure needed improvement:
We found no instances of noncompliance with finance-related legal provisions.
