Overview
- JTA disclosed a roughly $39 million operating deficit that forced about 194 layoffs and immediate cuts to routes, longer wait times and planned pauses of the Skyway on Nov. 2 and the NAVI autonomous service on Dec. 31.
- The Jacksonville City Council’s Audit and Financial Oversight Select Committee opened a multi-meeting review of JTA’s finances on Oct. 9 to examine when the shortfall was detected, leadership decisions and how whistleblower concerns were handled.
- Council members approved letting JTA access $30 million in local gas-tax receipts to stabilize operations while the agency arranges an external forensic audit and produces records for investigators.
- Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has issued subpoenas seeking broad records from Oct. 1, 2023 through Oct. 21, 2025 covering contracts, communications and tuition-reimbursement files and is expanding scrutiny of ties between JTA leaders and private developers.
- Mayor Donna Deegan publicly rejected reinstating bridge tolls as a remedy and JTA said media reports misinterpreted board comments, leaving funding, service levels and governance reforms as the key unresolved questions for riders and regional partners.