Possible major cuts to JTA budget in the next few months

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A new development in Action News Jax investigations into the Jacksonville Transportation Authority: There could be major cuts to JTA in the next four months.

Action News Jax has been covering legislation that would slash administrative costs at transit agencies across the state. And we now know just how significantly it will affect JTA.

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HB 1307 calculates the average administrative cost for agencies of similar size and limits them from spending no more than 10% above that average.

According to a Florida Public Transportation Association spreadsheet, that average is 24.61%.

That means agencies in JTA’s tier can only spend 27.071% of their overall budget on administration costs.

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Here’s the problem: JTA is significantly over that right now, spending 37.42% of its budget on administrative costs. That is more than all other agencies in its tier.

So, if this bill passes, the agency will have to cut $13,129,887.60 out of its administration budget by the July 1 deadline to meet the state’s new rules.

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HB 1307 passed overwhelmingly in the Florida House of Representatives 82 to 33 this week, so it’s a very real possibility.

JTA Public Information Officer Anthony Junco released the following statement:

“From the beginning of the session, the JTA has worked with policymakers to enact positive transportation-related policies. We will continue to implement enacted legislation as we always have.”

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