JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) is facing intense scrutiny as leadership floated the controversial possibility of reinstating tolls across the city to combat a staggering $39 million budget shortfall.
Interim CEO Cleveland Ferguson presented the idea during a tense session of the City Council’s Financial Audit and Oversight Select Committee this week. While Ferguson emphasized that tolling is currently an exploratory concept rather than a finalized strategy, he noted that the agency maintains the legal authority to implement such charges, potentially through a public-private partnership.
The suggestion immediately met resistance from city leadership. In 1989, Jacksonville voters overwhelmingly approved a half-cent sales tax specifically to abolish tolls on city bridges.
“Tolls would be a tough fight to rebuild,” said City Council President Nick Howland. “JTA must first stabilize its finances, right-size, and optimize the agency before looking to add new burdens on the public.”
The budget crisis has already taken a significant toll on local transit services. JTA has been forced to lay off approximately 200 employees, while riders are grappling with reduced routes and increasingly long wait times. To stave off further collapse, the City Council recently approved an agreement allowing the transit authority to tap into $30 million in local gas tax revenue to address its mounting debt.
However, the financial lifeline has not quieted questions regarding how the agency reached this point of insolvency. Councilman Ron Salem expressed deep concern over the timing of the crisis, noting a “sharp reduction in revenue” that appeared to go unaddressed for too long.
“The other part, and I think we’re all concerned, is the sharp reduction in revenue when it was recognized, why it wasn’t brought forward,” Salem said, suggesting the committee may need to subpoena testimony if voluntary cooperation is not forthcoming.
The committee’s mandate is broad, covering governance, leadership decision-making, and the handling of internal whistleblower concerns. A particular focus will be the sudden departure of former CEO Nat Ford, who stepped down just two and a half months before the full extent of the financial crisis was disclosed.
Adding to the pressure on JTA, the Florida Attorney General has issued subpoenas as part of a separate, ongoing investigation, including a summons to Mayor Donna Deegan regarding meetings with former board members who had previously raised red flags about the agency’s stability.
JTA officials told the committee they are currently reviewing financial records dating back to 2023, the period they believe marked the end of the agency’s solid financial standing. As the first of five planned oversight hearings concluded, committee members pledged to share all relevant findings with the Attorney General’s office.
For now, the agency remains in a state of transition, caught between the need for immediate fiscal repair and the looming specter of a public battle over the return of tolling.
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