Members of the House Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Overview Committee (MARTOC) had a chance Tuesday to hear the results of an assessment on “the More MARTA Program” – a program approved by voters in 2016 that 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. Deborah Silcox, R-Sandy Springs, who chairs the committee. “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,” Silcox added. “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.”
The review focused on the cost allocation between the More MARTA Program and other non-MARTA routes. According to representatives from KPMG, 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.
Officials said 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, the report indicated.
Representatives from KPMG also presented their recommendations for improvement including 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.
In their final remarks, KPMG representatives 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.
