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.