ATLANTA — Atlanta’s plan to invest $750 million in the city’s infrastructure and economy is running behind, according to a recent audit.
The money was approved by voters in 2022 and is scheduled to go to more than 200 projects over five years.
The plan approved by the city council called for the first “batch” of 94 projects to get “activated” in 2023.
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“Activation of a project that’s basically hitting some numbers and keys on a computer assigning a project manager, making sure the money is there,” Councilman Dustin Hillis said.
The city’s transportation heard the analysis of the audit during a Jan. 17 meeting. The audit revealed that many of the projects slated to begin in 2023 had not been activated.
On Jan. 22, council members received the most recent information about the status of 2023 projects.
Those numbers showed improvement, but still showed that ATL DOT had not started 19 of its 56 projects, and only 12 were past the “activation” phase.
A total of three projects were in the construction phase.
By comparison, all of the Parks and Recreation Department’s 31 projects were past the activation phase.
“We are talking about replacing sidewalks that already exist and that we already have the right of way for and that project hasn’t moved anywhere,” Councilman Hillis said.
The audit said salaries for project managers were not competitive and the city could not hire enough people to start projects on time.
“You can’t pay people a pittance and compete with the private labor market,” Hillis said.
In a statement, an ATL DOT spokesperson said the audit represents a snapshot of the infrastructure program.
“Of the 94 projects included in Batch 1, 85 (90%) have now been initiated for delivery,” the spokesperson said.
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Those numbers contain other department projects. However, they are still higher than the data given to councilmembers days before.
Channel 2 Action News asked where the recently “activated” projects were in the process and if all projects had a project manager on Jan. 25, but have not received a response.
You can see the full plan of proposed plans here, starting on page 55.
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