ATLANTA – The House Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Overview Committee (MARTOC), chaired by State Representative Deborah Silcox (R-Sandy Springs), convened yesterday to discuss the findings of a recent assessment of the More MARTA Program. The More MARTA Program, approved by voters in 2016, aims to expand MARTA transit within the City of Atlanta. The assessment was conducted by KPMG, a multinational professional services network and one of the Big Four accounting firms.
“Yesterday’s discussion underscores the need for accurate and transparent cost allocation in the More MARTA Program,” said Rep. Silcox. “As we review the findings of KPMG, it’s evident that the threshold methodology, while initially suitable, did not adequately account for service changes during the COVID-19 pandemic and led to misleading conclusions. The proportional methodology offers a more realistic and equitable approach by considering the shared nature of our transit system and spreading costs across all routes. This review is an important step toward addressing concerns, ensuring that the program operates with the highest level of accountability and making sure taxpayers’ investments in transit expansion are used efficiently as we continue to improve transit options for our community.”
During the meeting, representatives from KPMG presented their review of the More MARTA Program, which focused on the cost allocation between the More MARTA Program and other non-MARTA routes. Two methodologies were discussed, the threshold method, which attributes all service changes after 2016 to the More MARTA Program and the proportional method, which allocates costs based on fixed percentages derived from service levels between 2017 and 2019. The proportional method, which distributes service increases and decreases across the entire system, was determined to provide a more accurate cost allocation. Under the threshold method, approximately $82 million was calculated as owed by MARTA to the City of Atlanta, while the proportional method suggested this amount was instead approximately $865,000.
KPMG concluded their testimony to the committee by presenting their recommendations for improvement. First, they recommended updating the agreement between the More MARTA Program and the City of Atlanta to define the allocation of funding between operations and capital projects. KPMG also advised that the agreement be revised to include a formal process for documenting service changes, specifying who approved the changes, when they took place and the rationale behind them to ensure that clear documentation is available if questions arise regarding cost allocation or service changes in the future. Finally, KPMG recommended establishing a regular reporting cadence between MARTA and the City of Atlanta, ensuring the City would be informed about the timing and frequency of performance reports, whether monthly, quarterly or on another agreed-upon schedule.
A full recording of yesterday’s House MARTOC Committee meeting may be found here.
Representative Deborah Silcox represents the citizens of District 53, which includes a portion of Fulton County. She was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2016 and re-elected in 2022. She currently serves as Chairman of the MARTOC Committee and Vice Chairman of the Judiciary Non-Civil Committee. She also serves on the Code Revision, Judiciary, Health and Urban Affairs committees.
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