MEMPHIS, Tenn — The Memphis Area Transit Authority went before both the city council and the MATA board Tuesday, detailing their proposed budget to save close to $20 million, but that means hundreds of job cuts and bus routes closing down.
During the finance meeting with the board, MATA Chief External Financial Officer Hamish Davidson revealed their proposed budget would cut at least 241 jobs.
This includes 76 positions in fixed group operations (staff will go from 171 to 95), 23 positions in MATA Plus (staff will go from 73 to 50), six to 10 trolley positions (not counting the 18 already let go), 51 maintenance call center positions (staff will go from 100 to 49) and 85 administrative staff positions (staff will go from 153 to 68).
Davidson also shared more details on how they ended up with a $60 million deficit. MATA leadership said they planned to use leftover CARES Act funding to cover some costs in 2024, only to discover there were none left.
The presentation left MATA board members asking for more detailed information. Tuesday morning’s updates didn't sit well with Memphis City Council members, who gave an earful to MATA leadership.
“My final comment is on behalf of the people,” said Councilwoman Pearl Walker as she ripped the MATA budget presentation to shreds.
Both Walker and Councilwoman Yolanda Cooper-Sutton called the budget presentation “fluff.”
In addition to the 200-plus jobs, the roughly $67 million proposed budget could cut as many as seven fixed bus routes.
MATA interim CEO Bacarra Mauldin presented a layout and timeline of that plan to council members, who said they are missing so many details and demand better transparency.
“If it wasn’t for [the media], we really wouldn’t know that much,” Walker said. “The information we came in with today was from [the media], the citizens, the bus riders and the staff.”
Another question Walker asked was if job cuts would extend to upper management.
“Imagine what a goodwill statement it would’ve been to announce that, ‘We’re cutting jobs, but we’re cutting all across the board,’” Walker said. “‘We’re starting with the C-suite and we’re working our way down.’ But they didn’t say that.”
Mauldin said all options are on the table when it comes to job cuts. She also believes they have been very transparent throughout the process.
“You know more about MATA’s finances today than you probably have at any point in MATA’s recent history,” Mauldin said.
Mauldin also said repeatedly that no final decisions have been made on what bus routes will be cut.
“We have several scenarios that we are sharing in terms of what services changes could look like,” she said. “The actual proposal won’t be revealed until we get more information from the community meetings.”
MATA staffers said a draft of the proposed budget will not be available to public until the day before the board votes on its approval, which is Aug. 27. The notifications about layoffs would come the day after that on Aug. 28.
“What is being proposed can be devastating, will be devastating to this city,” Walker said.
If approved, the new reduced MATA bus route schedule would start November 3rd.