Atlanta, GA

New audit finds MARTA overcharged city by millions for expanded bus, train services

Published

1 year ago

August 20, 2024

New audit finds MARTA overcharged city by millions for expanded bus, train services

MARTA may owe Atlanta taxpayers millions of dollars

Atlanta city leaders say MARTA owes taxpayers millions of dollars. This comes after an audit found that the transit agency may have been overcharging for services under the city’s more MARTA program

ATLANTA – Atlanta city leaders say MARTA owes taxpayers millions of dollars after an audit found that the transit agency may have been overcharging for services under the city’s “More MARTA” program.

Eight years after residents voted yes to an expanded bus and train services, the independent audit revealed upwards of $70 million in discrepancies over money spent and the actual cost of services.

“The suspicions have been there…it’s disappointing that the suspicions have been validated,” Atlanta City Councilman Michael Bond told FOX 5.

Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman says he and other council members sounded the alarm on program spending about a year and a half ago.

“The auditors found that certain years, the auditors couldn’t find how MARTA made the calculations for the service deliveries,” he explained.

The findings released to the public on Monday by an independent firm said MARTA overcharged for services between 2020 and 2022.

The transit agency admitted to errors in those years totaling a little over $20 million.

“The calculations that they made were overestimates,” Shipman said.

MARTA officials sent a letter in response to recommendations auditors made for better record keeping and communication —agreeing with most—but denying the findings from 2017-2019 that showed a $40 million gap in services.

In a statement to FOX 5, a MARTA spokesperson said:

“Mauldin & Jenkins’ calculations are wrong. They used a flawed methodology by applying a COVID-based formula to reverse engineer what they believe should have been charged for bus service in 2017, 2018 and 2019, resulting in false calculations. MARTA charged for the cost of actual bus service during those years and the City officials then in charge were aware of the costs, as the minutes of monthly meetings prove.

“MARTA informed the City and Mauldin & Jenkins of their flawed methodology and is disappointed that our responses to the audit which were provided to both parties were not included or referenced.”

Bond says his concern is the public’s perception of trust.

“We went out and took a message to voters that if they supported the referendum, the money would be spent 100% on what they absolutely wanted,” Bond stated.

That statement from MARTA went on to say: “Despite these errors, MARTA will continue to work in good faith with the city to improve the IGA and strengthen the overall success of the More MARTA Atlanta Program.”

The next step is a meeting between MARTA officials and Mayor Andre Dickens to get on the same page.

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Atlanta, GA

Falcons deny Cowboys’ request to interview DC Jeff Ulbrich, per report

Published

2 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Falcons deny Cowboys’ request to interview DC Jeff Ulbrich, per report

The Atlanta Falcons are in the process of hiring a new head coach and general manager, but that doesn’t mean the team is completely cleaning house. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich has done an incredible job with the Falcons defense since replacing Jimmy Lake in the offseason.

The Falcons would prefer to keep Ulbrich, as team owner Arthur Blank stated, but the new head coach will have the final say. According to a report from ESPN’s Todd Archer, Atlanta blocked the Dallas Cowboys’ request to interview Ulbrich on Thursday.

“The Cowboys were denied by Atlanta to talk with Jeff Ulbrich for DC job, according to sources,” wrote Archer. “He remains under contract [with] the Falcons despite their search for a head coach. A potential interview can be revisited later if they hire a [head coach], who has a different coordinator in mind.”

Blank discussed Ulbrich’s impact during his Thursday press conference and said he was impressed with the work he did with the team’s rookie draft class. James Pearce Jr. led all rookies in sacks with 10.5 this season, while third-round pick Xavier Watts racked up a rookie-high five interceptions as the team’s starting safety.

“You can’t dictate to the new head coach who their coordinators would be, but I’d certainly recommend to the new head coach to consider Ulbrich,” Blank said of the Falcons’ current defensive coordinator.

It sounds like the Falcons aren’t going to let Ulbrich out of their sights, and it’s hard to blame them. The Falcons defensive coordinator helped the team record a franchise-record 57 sacks this season, just one year after finishing 31st in the NFL with just 31 sacks.

Follow along with each request and interview with our Falcons head coach tracker.

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Atlanta, GA

What the $245M refinance of a Midtown office tower signals for Atlanta

Published

14 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

What the 5M refinance of a Midtown office tower signals for Atlanta

Business

The tower at 1105 W. Peachtree St., which bears Google’s logo, recently secured a new loan at a time many landlords are struggling to do so.

1105 West Peachtree (Google Tower in Midtown) is shown Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Atlanta. The Google Tower is one of the developments done by Selig Enterprises. (Jason Getz/AJC)

It hasn’t been easy the past few years to be an office landlord.

Many tenants shrunk their workspaces coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning buildings that lost rental revenue also lost value. Interest rates surged. Many banks got gun shy over having too much money lent to office tower owners, and a whole lot of loans have been coming due.

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The tower at 1105 W Peachtree St. in Midtown Atlanta is one of the city’s newest office buildings.

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Zachary Hansen, a Georgia native, covers economic development and commercial real estate for the AJC. He’s been with the newspaper since 2018 and enjoys diving into complex stories that affect people’s lives.

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Atlanta, GA

Atlanta meth lab kingpin sentenced to 30 years after massive seizure

Published

1 day ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

Atlanta meth lab kingpin sentenced to 30 years after massive seizure

ATLANTA – A Mexican national will spend the next 30 years in federal prison for operating clandestine methamphetamine laboratories across the Atlanta area, federal officials announced Wednesday.

What we know:

Ramiro Contreras-Sandoval, 41, of Michoacán, Mexico, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Eleanor L. Ross following his conviction for running conversion labs that housed more than 135 kilograms of liquid methamphetamine hidden in paint buckets. Contreras-Sandoval, who also went by several aliases including Manuel Santiago Vazquez and “Mirin,” was also convicted of possessing firearms as an illegal alien to protect his drug trafficking operation.

The investigation began in April 2019, when law enforcement seized the methamphetamine mixture from a conversion lab in Morrow, Georgia. Contreras-Sandoval and his co-defendant, Genaro Davalos-Pulido, fled the area after a vehicle they were using to transport the drugs was stopped by police.

The pair remained at large until the fall of 2021, when agents tracked them to a neighborhood in Norcross, Georgia. During a search of a Norcross residence, agents discovered a full-scale liquid meth operation, a loaded Beretta handgun, $84,000 in cash, and a .50-caliber rifle that appeared ready for shipment to Mexico. Contreras-Sandoval was arrested nearby with approximately $12,000 in his vehicle and pockets.

What they’re saying:

“This case should send a clear message to anyone thinking about running drugs or using deadly weapons to protect their operation: the federal government will relentlessly seek justice and protect the community from drug traffickers,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg.

“Operating methamphetamine labs is a reckless and dangerous crime,” said Jae W. Chung, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Division. “This conviction underscores that DEA will aggressively pursue anyone who engages in drug trafficking activities that put lives at risk.”

What’s next:

Contreras-Sandoval’s 30-year sentence will be followed by five years of supervised release. His co-defendant, Davalos-Pulido, previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in prison in October 2024.

The Source: The U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office provided the details for this article.

AtlantaNewsCrime and Public Safety

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