Jacksonville Council Subpoenas Former JTA CEO Nat Ford as Transit Agency's $39 Million Shortfall Forces Layoffs, Skyway Shutdown

A Jacksonville City Council oversight committee has voted to subpoena former Jacksonville Transportation Authority CEO Nat Ford, demanding documents and testimony about how the transit agency ended up with a budget shortfall of roughly $39 million that has already cost nearly 200 workers their jobs and will shut down the downtown Skyway. Councilman Rory Diamond, the council's liaison to JTA, called the agency "a nightmare" in an interview with News4JAX after the vote by the Financial Audit and Oversight Select Committee on Tuesday, Oct. 20.

Ford's last day on JTA's payroll was Wednesday, Oct. 21. He is scheduled to start Oct. 26 as president and CEO of Dallas Area Rapid Transit, where FOX 4 in Dallas reported he will earn $515,000 a year. Diamond told News4JAX that Ford's team has said he will appear voluntarily, likely within several weeks, and documents requested in the subpoena are due Oct. 30.

What council members want to know

Diamond said the committee wants to know who else is responsible for the shortfall and whether JTA's administration inflated ridership numbers for its NAVI autonomous shuttle and the Skyway to obtain federal money. He has also questioned why JTA kept expanding NAVI while it was taking on debt to cover regular operations. Diamond said the council's goal is accountability, not prosecution, which is a matter for state investigators.

Earlier, Diamond had invited Ford to appear on his own and said the council would use its subpoena power if necessary, enforceable in circuit court, according to Action News Jax. DART board members said this week that they stand behind their decision to hire Ford, whom they selected on a 9-6 vote.

How the gap grew

City auditors and JTA's new chief financial officer have described a deficit that built for at least two years while the agency reported a relatively stable picture to city leaders. The Florida Times-Union, reviewing JTA's budget documents, laid out the trend:

The projections repeatedly missed. A July 2025 report forecast a $3.9 million surplus for fiscal 2024-25, but by November 2025 the year had closed almost $19 million in the red, the Times-Union reported. A May 2026 report projected only a $2.3 million deficit for 2025-26; by Aug. 14, a report from new CFO Randall Barnes, who started July 20, projected $31.8 million, and later presentations put the hole at $37 million to $39 million.

Barnes told council members that sales tax revenue, JTA's largest source of money through the half-cent transportation surtax, had been overestimated for at least two years, costing about $19 million, according to News4JAX. Operating costs for NAVI and the Skyway exceeded expectations, and the Connexion paratransit service for riders with disabilities was underbudgeted because the budget assumed service cuts that never happened. The NAVI launch alone added about $11 million to the 2025-26 budget, the Times-Union reported.

By the time Barnes arrived, reserves were depleted and JTA owed more than $20 million in unpaid invoices, with some vendors threatening to stop service. The agency borrowed through a bank line of credit, reported at $20 million to $25 million, to catch up on bills. At an Oct. 15 committee meeting, city auditors described years of overspending and optimistic projections, though one council auditor said they rely on figures JTA provides. Interim CEO Cleveland Ferguson told the committee the agency was not in a good or happy place and warned the inquiry may turn up unpleasant findings, while noting that its major projects had been approved with the mayor and council.

Layoffs, route cuts and a Skyway shutdown

JTA's board approved $14.2 million in spending cuts in February, but Barnes said that was not enough. On Sept. 17, the agency announced layoffs of up to 200 positions, expected to save $21.9 million, along with the elimination of lower-ridership bus routes. Route changes take effect Nov. 2, and Councilman Ron Salem said the cuts would significantly affect residents who depend on buses. Under its union contract, JTA has up to two years to rehire laid-off employees.

The Skyway, the elevated downtown people mover, is set to stop running indefinitely on Nov. 1, and the NAVI autonomous shuttles will pause after December, with no date set for either to resume, according to the Times-Union. JTA's 2026-27 operating budget of $139.2 million is built on conservative revenue estimates. Clay County commissioners have also voted to end their funding agreement with JTA.

NAVI and the Ultimate Urban Circulator

NAVI, short for Neighborhood Autonomous Vehicle Innovation, opened June 30, 2025, as the first phase of the Ultimate Urban Circulator, or U2C, JTA's long-planned program to replace the Skyway monorail with a network of self-driving vehicles. It runs a 3.5-mile loop with 12 stations through downtown, largely along Bay Street to EverBank Stadium, using battery-electric Ford E-Transit vans. Action News Jax reported in November 2025 that the service averaged about 89 daily riders in 2025 and alleged that JTA employees were paid to ride, inflating ridership.

Former JTA board member Megan Hayward, who served about a year and a half before being removed, has said she repeatedly warned about NAVI spending and that its cost grew more than $20 million beyond an original projection of about $250 million. She has called for a criminal investigation into the agency's use of federal funds.

State criminal probe

On Sept. 29, JTA confirmed it had received a criminal subpoena from Attorney General James Uthmeier's Office of Statewide Prosecution. It seeks records primarily from October 2023 through October 2025, including the agency's tuition reimbursement policy, contracts with an organizational development firm, communications involving Ford, his wife and that firm's owner, communications involving Ferguson about scholarships and tuition, and NAVI ridership figures reported to the American Public Transportation Association. Action News Jax reported investigators are also examining spending on massages, murals and hotel stays. JTA said it would cooperate fully. A subpoena is a demand for records, and no one has been charged.

Uthmeier's office has also subpoenaed Mayor Donna Deegan for records of a March 3, 2025, meeting that included Hayward. Deegan's office said it would cooperate but disputed several details, noting that JTA is a regional state agency whose seven-member board includes four gubernatorial appointees and three mayoral appointees.

The city's rescue

On Oct. 13, the City Council voted 15-0 to approve emergency legislation letting JTA use $30 million in unspent local option gas tax money, interest free, to pay off its line of credit and cover other costs. JTA must repay the money by 2037. Salem has pushed for an independent outside audit, and JTA plans to hire a firm for a forensic audit. Deegan signed an executive order encouraging appointed board members to complete finance, ethics and public records training and calling for agency leaders to certify the financial information they give the city. She also rejected the idea of reviving bridge tolls after Ferguson mentioned JTA's dormant tolling authority; the agency later said he was not proposing it.

What's next

Ford's documents are due to the committee Oct. 30, with his testimony expected in the coming weeks. The committee plans five meetings in all over roughly two months. The Skyway shutdown on Nov. 1 and the bus route changes on Nov. 2 will be the first service cuts riders feel, followed by the NAVI pause after December. The attorney general's investigation and JTA's forensic audit are expected to shed more light on how the shortfall developed and whether any laws were broken.