1. ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS PURPOSE Organization and Purpose: The Gateway Development Commission (Entity) was created in July 2019, by the States of New York and New Jersey through the enactment of parallel legislation by each state and codified as the Gateway Development Commission Act (“GDC Act”). The Entity is a seven-member governed public authority and a government sponsored authority (with three Commissioners from the State of New York, three Commissioners from the State of New Jersey, and one Commissioner directly appointed by Amtrak) that is empowered to facilitate and coordinate activities and encourage the actions of others to effectuate the Gateway Program, in particular, Phase 1 of the Gateway Program which includes the Hudson Tunnel Project (HTP). The Entity, in cooperation with the New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ TRANSIT), the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) and the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), propose the construction of a new two-track heavy rail tunnel along the Northeast Corridor from the Bergen Palisades in New Jersey to Manhattan that will directly serve Penn Station New York. The project is part of the Northeast Corridor Gateway Program, a series of strategic rail infrastructure investments designed to improve current service. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND PRACTICES Reporting Entity: In defining the Gateway Development Commission for financial reporting purposes, management applied the requirements of Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statements No.14, The Financial Reporting Entity and GASB Statement No. 39, Determining Whether Certain Organizations Are Component Units. These statements establish the basis for defining the reporting entity and whether it is considered a component unit of another entity and whether other entities are component units. Based on these criteria, the reporting entity of the Entity includes only the accounts of the Entity. The Entity identified no component units to include in these basic financial statements nor identified any other entity that should include the Entity in its basic financial statements. Basis of Presentation and Accounting: The Entity’s financial statements are prepared on the accrual basis of accounting in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) as applied to government entities and accordingly follow all applicable Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) pronouncements. Revenues are recognized when they are earned and expenses are recorded when a liability is incurred, regardless of the timing of related cash flows. The principal operating revenues of the Entity are received from the States of New York and New Jersey and Amtrak. Together these entities are referred to as the “Funding Partners” and have agreed to fund one third each of the annual operating budget of the Entity. Operating expenses include salaries and wages of Entity staff, fringe benefit expenses, professional support service costs and administrative expenses. The Entity’s primary source of non-operating revenue is from capital contributions. Basis of Presentation - The accompanying schedule of expenditures of federal awards (Schedule) includes the federal award activity of the Gateway Development Commission, for the year ended December 31, 2024. The information in this Schedule is presented in accordance with the requirements of Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (“Uniform Guidance”). Because the Schedule presents only a selected portion of the operations of the Entity, it is not intended to and does not present the financial position, changes in net position, or cash flows of the Entity’s. Expenditures reported on the Schedule are reported on the cash basis of accounting. Such expenditures are recognized following the cost principles contained in the Uniform Guidance, wherein certain types of expenditures are not allowable or are limited as to reimbursement.
The Entity has not elected to use the 10% de minimis indirect cost rate allowed under the Uniform Guidance.
3. RAILROAD REHABILITATION AND IMPROVEMENT FINANCING LOANS The Commission has entered into funding agreements with the States of New York, New Jersey and the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey (“funding partners”) to support borrowing for the HTP by the Commission through three (3) separate Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing loans (“RRIF”) administered through the U.S. Department of Transportation, Build America Bureau. The funding agreements commit the funding partners to pay principal, interest, and certain fees and expenses. The RRIF financing agreements are reimbursement-based, and the Commission will request (draw down) the funds after paying for the eligible capital project costs. Debt service for RRIF loans payable depends on future drawdowns since the loan is reimbursement-based. The Following is the outstaning balance as of December 31, 2024. (See Notes to Schedule of Federal Expenditures for TABLE)
When the Entity receives Federal funds from a government entity other than the Federal government (“pass- through”), the funds are accumulated based upon the Assistance Listing Number (“ALN”) number advised by the pass-through grantor.
The regulations and guidelines governing the preparation of Federal and State financial reports vary by state and Federal agency and among programs administered by the same agency. Accordingly, the amounts reported in the Federal and state financial reports do not necessarily agree with the amounts reported in the accompanying Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards, which is prepared as explained in Note 1 above.
Grants and other contributions used to acquire capital assets are classified as Capital Contributions in the Statement of Revenues, Expenditures and Changes in Net Position. Capital contributions consisted of the following for the year ended December 31, 2024: See Notes to Schedule of Federal Expenditures for TABLE)