JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Action News Jax has learned JTA is putting 88 senior leaders within its administrative staff on furlough this year to try to cut costs and balance its budget.
The decision follows a year where JTA saw a $19 million budget overrun, and it will impact agency leaders all the way up to the CEO.
“That was that place we decided to make reductions,” Ford said.
JTA CEO Nat Ford says 88 administrative employees will be furloughed for at least 20 days each this year, saving the agency $2.2 million.
Action News Jax started asking JTA about the furloughs last Thursday.
We didn’t get any answers to our questions until we showed up at the board meeting one week later.
While the furloughed employees will not receive pay during their 20-day furlough period, their benefits will remain in place.
JTA also confirmed the authority has never had to take such measures before.
Ford said the decision came down to balancing the agency’s budget and maintaining one of its most popular services, Connexion Plus.
“We care about this community and whatever we can do to preserve the affordability of our transit services, I think it’s a worthy sacrifice on our part,” Ford said.
But the savings won’t be enough to avoid looming price hikes for the Connexion Plus premium paratransit service, which was on track to see annual costs rise to $8 million this year.
“I would say that it was pretty close to unanimous that we needed to raise that fare to preserve the service,” Ford said.
Those rate hikes will triple fares for some riders starting April 2nd.
Disability advocates are now pitching a plan to limit Connexion Plus to trips of eight or more miles, which they estimate would save $4.1 million annually.
“It would avoid inequitable fare increases, preserve the premium service for longer distances and maintain JTA’s commitment to disability access and transportation equity,” said Center for Independent Living Jacksonville Vice President Sharon Dykes during Thursday’s JTA board meeting.
Ford said JTA will move forward with an open mind.
“We have a meeting scheduled, I believe the first week in April, where we will continue those Connexion and Connexion Plus advisory committee meetings to look at sustaining Connexion Plus,” Ford said.
JTA will be answering questions about the Connexion Plus rate hikes during the next Duval DOGE committee meeting.
DOGE committee member Rory Diamond (R-District 13) weighed in on JTA’s decision to move forward with Connexion Plus rate hikes.
“Raising rates on the totally disabled is both cruel and wrong. JTA asked for two months to find a path to avoid those rate hikes and completely failed,” Diamond said in a statement. “Cut the unnecessary NAVI program and that’s all the money you need to take care of our most vulnerable neighbors.”
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