(a) The Controller, in cooperation with the department and the operators, shall design and adopt a uniform system of accounts and records, from which the operators shall prepare and submit annual reports of their operation to transportation planning agencies, county transportation commissions, or the San Diego Metropolitan Transit Development Board having jurisdiction over them and to the Controller within seven months after the end of the fiscal year. The report shall contain underlying data from audited financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, if this data is available. The report shall specify (1) the amount of revenue generated from each source and its application for the prior fiscal year, and (2) the data necessary to determine which section, with respect to Sections 99268.1, 99268.2, 99268.3, 99268.4, 99268.5, and 99268.9, the operator is required to be in compliance in order to be eligible for funds under this article.

(b) (1) For the purposes of the State Transit Assistance Program, which is governed by Sections 99312 to 99314.9, inclusive, the Controller shall provide a mechanism for each transportation planning agency, county transportation commission, and the San Diego Metropolitan Transit Development Board to report to the Controller those operators within its jurisdiction that are STA-eligible operators, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 99312.2.

(2) The mechanism shall require each transportation planning agency, county transportation commission, and the San Diego Metropolitan Transit Development Board to report to the Controller those STA-eligible operators within its jurisdiction that are both:

(A) Eligible to claim local transportation funds under either Article 4 (commencing with Section 99260) or Article 8 (commencing with Section 99400), or under both articles.

(B) A public transportation operator, as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 99312.2.

(3) The Controller shall rely upon that verification to determine whether or not an operator is an STA-eligible operator pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 99312.2. The transportation planning agency, county transportation commission, and the San Diego Metropolitan Transit Development Board shall provide this information to the Controller within seven months after the end of each fiscal year.

(c) As a supplement to the annual report prepared pursuant to subdivision (a), each operator shall include an estimate of the amount of revenues to be generated from each source and its proposed application for the next fiscal year, and a report on the extent to which it has contracted with the Prison Industry Authority, including the nature and dollar amounts of all contracts entered into during the reporting period and proposed for the next reporting period.

(d) The Controller shall instruct the county auditor to withhold payments from the fund to an operator that has not submitted its annual report to the Controller within the time specified by subdivision (a).

(e) In establishing the uniform system of accounts and records, the Controller shall include the data required by the United States Department of Transportation and the department.

(f) Notwithstanding any other law or any regulation, including any California Code of Regulations provision, the City of El Segundo, the City of Huntington Beach, the City of Inglewood, the City of Long Beach, or the City of South Lake Tahoe may select, for purposes of this chapter, on a one-time basis, a fiscal year that does not end on June 30. After the city has sent a written notice to the Secretary of Transportation and the Controller that the city has selected a fiscal year other than one ending on June 30, the fiscal year selected by the city shall be its fiscal year for all reports required by the state under this chapter.

(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 205, Sec. 1. (AB 1157) Effective January 1, 2022.)