‘We owe it to the taxpayers’: Jacksonville committee continues to seek answers on $40M transit authority deficit

A city financial oversight committee met for nearly three hours Monday to investigate how the Jacksonville Transportation Authority accumulated a $40 million deficit, hearing from two former chief financial officers while pressing for testimony from a third.The Financial Audit and Oversight Committee called Greg Hayes, who served as JTA’s CFO from 2017 to 2023, and Heather Obora, who held the role on two separate occasions.“Mr. Hayes, Greg Hayes, I think did a good job of laying out a baseline of where JTA used to be during his tenure,” said Councilman Chris Miller, who chaired the committee.Hayes told committee members he left the agency with a surplus before being asked to leave in September 2023, with leadership citing a desire to “go in a different direction.”Interim CEO Cleveland Ferguson faced questions about the circumstances of Hayes’ departure but said he was limited in what he could disclose due to human resources exemptions under public records law. Ferguson did confirm he w