JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville City Council is set to vote Tuesday night on the next step toward stabilizing the Jacksonville Transportation Authority.
The plan would let the agency use $30 million in gas tax money to pay off a loan and cover other costs.
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JTA would have until 2037 to pay that money back for its intended use, building transportation projects.
For weeks now, a council oversight committee has pushed JTA for transparency on its finances. On Tuesday, Action News Jax reporter Taylor Stewart sat down with At-Large Group 2 City Councilman Ron Salem (R), the man calling for an independent audit of the agency.
JTA has already made sweeping layoffs, plans to pause major projects, and has cut service for riders across Northeast Florida since its financial tailspin became public.
RELATED: JTA announces nearly 200 layoffs, major service cuts as agency works to close $39 million budget gap
A $30 million band-aid gets the full council’s attention during Tuesday night’s council meeting.
“Taylor, we have no choice. I don’t see an alternative to stabilizing JTA without providing this funding. They’ve taken out a $25 million loan, which is a death spiral,” Salem said.
That loan is what this gas tax money would pay off.
Council is voting on what appears to be the only path forward for an agency that, by its own account, is insolvent.
RELATED: City leaders point finger at NAVI, ex-CEO, administrations past and present for JTA financial crisis
But two questions remain: how did a state transportation agency lose control of millions of dollars and who is watching the money now?
“Have you been able to tangibly look at debt, the line sheet, that line, I mean, say, this is where that money’s going,” Stewart asked.
“I have not. No, I can’t tell you who’s. I’ve had phone calls from vendors saying I’ve not been paid,” Salem said.
State law limits local gas tax dollars to transportation, from running buses to fixing roads and signals. What we still don’t know is whether every bill JTA plans to pay fits that list.
RELATED: Newly obtained Mayor’s office notes raise questions about JTA warning signs amid state investigation
So we filed an open records request asking JTA for all outstanding, unpaid, or backlogged invoices it plans to pay with this loan.
We also made a few calls.
Council’s auditors reminded us they rely on JTA’s own financial projections -- the same projections that got the agency here.
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Meanwhile, riders are feeling it.
“Now they’re waiting an extra half hour to catch a bus. Because the routes have changed,” Salem said. “That should be the first priority to get these bus routes back in line.”
An agreement that stretches across the aisle.
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“We gotta do something about getting those jobs, those layoffs,” Councilman Jimmy Peluso (D) said.
Even council members with questions agree JTA needs this lifeline. If it passes tonight, JTA gets the 30 million dollars interest-free.
We’re still waiting on JTA to hand over those invoices, so you know exactly where your gas tax money is going.
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