By Milton Kirby | Atlanta, GA | August 28, 2026
The City of Atlanta and MARTA have reached a $52 million settlement ending a years-long dispute over how money collected through the voter-approved More MARTA Atlanta sales tax was allocated for enhanced bus service.
The agreement resolves a disagreement that produced dramatically different conclusions about how much money should have been returned to the More MARTA account.
A city-commissioned audit concluded that MARTA had overcharged the program by approximately $70 million. MARTA disputed that finding, and a later assessment by accounting firm KPMG calculated the amount at approximately $865,630.
The final settlement landed between those figures, but considerably closer to the city’s calculation.
MARTA has already transferred $19.37 million from the MARTA Reserve Account to the More MARTA Atlanta Reserve Account. Under the settlement, MARTA will transfer another $32.63 million in monthly installments, with the full amount transferred no later than Aug. 31, 2028.
The $52 million represents the full and final resolution of the disputed amounts involving More MARTA sales-tax proceeds used for enhanced bus service.
“This agreement puts a long-running dispute behind us and allows us to put our full focus where it belongs, delivering the transit investments Atlantans voted for,” Mayor Andre Dickens said in announcing the agreement.
Dickens credited MARTA General Manager and CEO Jonathan Hunt, MARTA Board Chair Jennifer Ide, Atlanta City Council Transportation Committee Chair Alex Wan and the staffs of both organizations with reaching the settlement.
“We can disagree, work through difficult issues and still find a way forward,” Dickens said. “This resolution protects Atlanta’s investment and gives us a stronger foundation to work together on the transit system our residents and region deserve.”
How Did $70 Million Become $865,630?
At the center of the dispute was not an allegation that MARTA spent More MARTA money on something unrelated to transit.
It was an accounting disagreement over how much of Atlanta’s More MARTA sales-tax revenue should have been charged for operating enhanced bus service and how much should have remained available for capital projects.
Atlanta voters approved an additional half-penny sales tax in 2016 to expand and improve transit within the city. Collections began supporting enhanced service in 2017.
As the program developed, MARTA charged More MARTA for service improvements above an established baseline, including increased frequency on bus routes.
Questions about those calculations eventually led the Atlanta City Council in 2023 to seek an audit of the program.
Accounting firm Mauldin & Jenkins examined More MARTA from its inception through June 30, 2023. Its report concluded that MARTA had charged approximately $70 million more than it should have for enhanced bus service.
MARTA strongly disputed the finding.
The transit agency argued that the methodology used to reach the $70 million figure failed to properly account for changes in transit service, particularly when MARTA reduced service throughout the system during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A subsequent KPMG assessment examined the competing methodology.
KPMG concluded that the original approach to allocating enhanced-service costs worked during the program’s early years, when service was primarily being added in Atlanta. But that methodology became less appropriate after service reductions occurred throughout MARTA’s larger system.
Under the earlier approach, reductions elsewhere in the MARTA system could affect calculations involving Atlanta’s More MARTA operating fund even when those reductions were not caused by changes to Atlanta service.
KPMG recommended a proportional methodology designed to distribute service changes more broadly across the transit system.
Using that approach, the amount calculated as due to the More MARTA capital fund was approximately $865,630.
That left Atlanta and MARTA tens of millions of dollars apart.
City officials continued to stand behind the original audit.
MARTA maintained that the city’s calculation was based on a flawed methodology.
The settlement announced Thursday resolves that argument at $52 million.
No Declaration of a Winner
The numbers make the agreement noteworthy.
The settlement is approximately $18 million below the nearly $70 million identified in Atlanta’s audit.
But it is more than $51 million above the approximately $866,000 calculated under the later KPMG methodology.
The agreement does not say MARTA admitted that Atlanta’s audit was correct.
Nor does the settlement erase the competing conclusions reached during the dispute.
Instead, the city and MARTA describe the $52 million as the full and final resolution of all disputed amounts related to More MARTA sales-tax proceeds allocated for enhanced bus service.
That distinction is important.
The settlement resolves what MARTA will transfer to the More MARTA account. It does not necessarily resolve which accounting methodology should be considered correct.
Disagreement Spilled Into Public View
What began as an accounting dispute eventually contributed to broader tension between Atlanta City Hall and MARTA.
One of the most visible flashpoints involved the planned transformation of Five Points Station, the downtown hub connecting MARTA’s north-south and east-west rail lines.
In June 2024, Dickens asked MARTA to pause work on the approximately $230 million Five Points project while questions surrounding More MARTA and other concerns were being addressed.
Although MARTA and the city later announced plans to move the project forward, disagreement developed over permits needed for construction.
Records later reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution showed city officials telling MARTA representatives that resolving the More MARTA audit and moving the permits forward were linked. Dickens publicly denied that his administration was withholding permits because of the audit.
By March 2025, the disagreement had become unusually public.
Dickens appeared before MARTA’s board as city and transit officials offered conflicting accounts about permits, meetings and communications between the organizations.
The new settlement provides an opportunity to change that relationship.
“Resolving this matter provides greater certainty for both MARTA and the City and allows us to continue moving the More MARTA Atlanta program forward,” Hunt said.
Hunt was named MARTA’s permanent general manager and CEO earlier this month after serving approximately a year in the position on an interim basis.
“Our customers are best served when MARTA and the City are working together in a collaborative fashion,” Hunt said. “This agreement gives us an opportunity to turn the page, strengthen that partnership and focus on making meaningful improvements to our system while delivering safe and reliable transit for the people of Atlanta.”
Where Does the $52 Million Go?
Despite the size of the settlement, MARTA is not writing Atlanta a $52 million check for the city’s general budget.
The money is being transferred between MARTA-administered accounts.
MARTA previously moved $19.37 million from the MARTA Reserve Account into the More MARTA Atlanta Reserve Account. The remaining $32.63 million will be transferred through monthly installments by Aug. 31, 2028.
Those funds will then be available for future More MARTA projects and other program priorities.
The distinction matters because the settlement is ultimately about transit money and where within MARTA’s financial structure that money belongs.
It also raises a broader question.
Moving $52 million into More MARTA means those dollars will not be available for other MARTA purposes.
MARTA officials have indicated the agreement is not expected to affect the agency’s operating expenses, but it could reduce money available for systemwide state-of-good-repair projects. The agency could have to defer or reduce some projects, identify savings or consider financing alternatives.
Those decisions have not been finalized.
A Promise Made by Voters
For Atlanta residents, the larger issue extends beyond the accounting disagreement.
In 2016, voters approved the half-penny More MARTA sales tax to make a substantial long-term investment in the city’s transit system.
The program was envisioned as a way to expand transit and improve mobility throughout Atlanta. An initial collection of dozens of possibilities was eventually narrowed to 17 projects approved by MARTA’s board in 2018.
Those plans have changed over time as construction costs increased, priorities shifted and projects were reconsidered.
Progress has also been uneven.
The Summerhill Bus Rapid Transit project and the NextGen Bus Network have been among the most visible More MARTA initiatives moving toward delivery, while several other projects originally envisioned under the program remain years away or have changed significantly from their original concepts.
That history makes Atlanta City Council Transportation Committee Chair Alex Wan’s emphasis on accountability particularly relevant.
“Atlanta voters made a significant investment in the future of transit when they approved More MARTA, and we have a responsibility to make sure those dollars are accounted for and deliver the improvements residents were promised,” Wan said.
“This settlement provides needed resolution and allows all of us to move forward with greater accountability, transparency and focus on delivering projects.”
MARTA Board Chair Jennifer Ide similarly described the settlement as an opportunity to rebuild the working relationship between MARTA and the city.
“This settlement reflects the kind of responsible governance our customers and taxpayers should expect,” Ide said.
“The Board appreciates the work by both parties to reach a resolution that provides clarity, closes this chapter and creates an opportunity for a stronger working relationship between MARTA and the City of Atlanta.”
From Accounting to Accountability
The settlement answers a question that has followed MARTA and Atlanta for more than two years.
The amount is $52 million.
But resolving the accounting dispute creates another test for both organizations.
The settlement announcement does not specify which More MARTA projects will receive the additional money now being committed to the program.
That means the next phase of the story will not be decided by auditors.
It will be measured by what gets built.
Nearly a decade after Atlanta voters approved an additional sales tax to expand and improve transit, MARTA and the city have agreed on how much money will resolve their dispute.
Now they must show Atlantans what that $52 million will deliver.
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