On Monday, the Atlanta Mayor’s Office released the results of an audit of MARTA performed at their request by Maulding & Jenkins, focused on the operational performance of the transit agency and its use of funds for the More MARTA Atlanta program.
In an accompanying announcement shared Monday by Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, the city said the audit found that MARTA had overcharged the city roughly $70 million over five years for the More MARTA Atlanta program.
The audit reported that spending on More MARTA Atlanta’s enhanced bus services were “significantly lower than budgeted amounts” in the 2021 and 2022 fiscal years, adding that “in years when the More MARTA Atlanta program’s expenditures on operations exceeded budgeted amounts, MARTA transferred funds allocated for More MARTA Atlanta capital programs from the City of Atlanta Reserve account to MARTA’s Unified Reserve account to cover the difference.”
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Similarly, the audit said that in years where MARTA spent less than expected, the agency would transfer the leftover funds from the Unified Reserve account back to the City of Atlanta reserve.