MATA will undergo forensic audit as it faces deficit
by: Maurice Miller, David Royer
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Mayor Paul Young announced that Memphis Area Transit Authority will undergo a forensic audit, weeks after a $60 million budget deficit came to light.
International firm PricewaterhouseCoopers will conduct the audit, Young said.
“MATA is not in this alone. We are all in this together because, at the end of the day, it’s about the people of our city that rely on this transit system,” Young said. “We understand how critical this is.”
Tuesday, the mayor and interim MATA CEO Bacarra Mauldin answered questions from council members who had a lot of concerns about MATA’s spending and the quality of its service.
City council approved a $30 million lifeline for MATA in late June, but the transit agency was still left in the red. Young said the emergency funding had gone toward payroll.
City Councilwoman Pearl Eva Walker called MATA’s service “just a mess.”
“Progressive cities all have progressive public transit,” she said.
Several council members noted there was a stigma surrounding MATA buses, that it was only for poor people, and that stigma needed to change.
“We are not the poor folks’ people mover. We are a viable source of mobility that needs to get better,” Mauldin said.
MATA will come back before council later this month.
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