JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Transportation Authority leaders went before the Jacksonville City Council on Thursday for the first time since the agency announced sweeping layoffs, a leadership shakeup, and a proposed $30 million loan from the city’s gas tax fund.
Council members pressed JTA leaders on what they knew, when they knew it, and how they plan to move forward.
“My hope is that we are serious about acknowledging what happened, how we got here,” Councilman Chris Miller said. “This to me looks like a 10-year-in-the-making kind of situation.”
Cuts at the top of the agenda
JTA is cutting more than 190 employees as it works to close a $39 million budget gap.
“We had to look at approximately $21.9 million in reduction in force with respect to our staff, our colleagues, our friends that we’ve worked with for a number of years,” interim CEO Cleveland Ferguson told council members.
JTA leaders repeatedly described their plan in three steps: stabilize, right-size and optimize. They said the agency is refocusing on its core mission, which is transit. Part of that plan is a 45% cut to administrative staff. Under a collective bargaining agreement, JTA would have two years to potentially bring some employees back.
A history of cost overruns
A presentation JTA gave council members shows the agency’s financial problems go back years.
In 2014, the city committed $100.5 million in local option gas tax money to a list of JTA road projects known as MobilityWorks. According to JTA’s own figures, those projects ended up costing $168.7 million, about 68% over budget.
JTA blamed designs up to 15 years old, outdated estimates that didn’t account for the full scope of work, too little contingency funding, expired easements that had to be reacquired, added scope and inflation. To cover the difference, the agency pulled in $71.5 million from other sources: $8.4 million from the city, $15.4 million from JEA and $49.1 million in additional JTA funds.
The next round of projects, approved in 2021, carries a budget of nearly $489 million. As of this week, JTA has spent about $13 million of that, less than 3%. Six of its 10 planned Complete Streets road projects show no activity. About half of the program’s budget, roughly $247 million, is set aside for Skyway rehabilitation and expansion. The Skyway is scheduled to stop running Nov. 2.
Questions about paused projects
Council members also asked what the city still owes on projects JTA has put on hold.
“NAVI, what are our obligations for the NAVI in terms of funding?” Councilman Jimmy Peluso asked.
JTA’s NAVI autonomous shuttles are set to stop running Jan. 1.
What it means for riders
As JTA refocuses on bus service, riders will feel the changes starting Nov. 2.
“We are working day by day adjusting our schedule for the November 2nd service change,” Ferguson said.
Riders on several routes will wait longer between buses, and nine routes will run only once an hour.
Miller said riders who depend on JTA need to stay at the center of every decision.
“A single parent with five kids can’t afford a car, trying to get to all the places that the family needs to get to, their medical appointments,” Miller said. “Especially when we’re downsizing, cutting routes, increasing time between routes. If somebody misses a bus, what does that do to them?”
What’s next
The proposed $30 million, zero-interest loan would come from unspent local option gas tax funds and would not have to be repaid until 2037. JTA has said it plans to use the money to pay down a line of credit. Council committees are scheduled to take up the legislation Oct. 5 and 6, before a final vote by the full council.
Action News Jax will continue to follow JTA’s finances and what they mean for your tax dollars.
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