(The Center Square) – A $60 million deficit facing the Memphis Area Transit Authority, a “friendly” restaurant deal in Lebanon and another fumble for Nashville’s Nissan Stadium project topped the 2024 Pork Report by the Beacon Center.
The list of wasteful taxpayer spending is compiled each year by the Beacon Center, a nonprofit that provides free market solutions to public policy issues in the state.
In Memphis, a report by WREG showed the transit system was running at a $60 million deficit as ridership declined. That didn’t stop the Memphis Area Transit Authority from building a new downtown office and purchasing a branded suite for Memphis Grizzlies’ games at a price tag of not more than $510,898 for two years, according to the television station’s investigation.
“After a transit consulting firm labeled these expenses a ‘frivolous use of taxpayer funds,’ which is the understatement of the century, Memphis Mayor Paul Young cleaned house and replaced the MATA board in October 2024,” the Beacon Center said in its report. “However, the impact of this long-term financial mismanagement is already being felt – bus lines have been reduced, trolley lines closed completely, and layoffs announced.”
The new $2.3 billion taxpayer-funded Nissan Stadium is expected to open in 2027, but the NFL is asking for $80,000 in upgrades for the current one, according to the report.
Other reimbursable expenses that took place at the current stadium include an ongoing $220,000 estimated east side perimeter sidewalk, along with power and lighting, more than $95,000 for escalator repairs and more than $8,000 to buy a used golf cart to transport fans at the stadium, according to a previous report from The Center Square.
“Even an extra dollar going to the project from taxpayers’ pockets is egregious after the billions Tennesseans are on the hook for over the coming decades,” the report said.
Lebanon officials gave $1.5 million in benefits to attract a new restaurant to the town about 40 miles east of Nashville.
“The city held the whole deal under secrecy, going so far as calling the new restaurant by a code name, the ‘Central Perk’,” the report said, saying it was stolen from the sitcom Friends. “With current local small business owners and restaurateurs questioning the decision to hand out tax dollars to their competitors, they said one of the most troubling issues was the lack of transparency around the whole deal.”
Tennesseans will pick the “Pork of the Year” when the Beacon Center releases its annual poll on Jan. 6.
