Good morning. At the Aug. 28 meeting of the California High-Speed Rail Authority Finance and Audit Committee, Chief Financial Officer Jamie Matalka presented the authority’s August 2025 financial reports, which reflected data through June 2025 and a total cash position of roughly $4,000,000,000.
Matalka said the cash balance comprises about $305,000,000 in Proposition 1A funding, approximately $3,800,000,000 in cap-and-trade proceeds and $12,000,000 in the Veil Property Management Fund. “We continue our timely payment of invoices with no late payments to report for the period,” Matalka said.
The report noted a large dispute that briefly raised the disputes count to over 300; the matter involved a CP 1 contractor and was resolved and paid in the subsequent cycle, Matalka said. He also told committee members that the authority will submit required state financial reports by the Sept. 2 deadline and expects to submit one day early given the holiday schedule.
Why it matters: the authority’s cash composition and the status of federal funds affect its near-term ability to keep construction moving and to draw down reimbursements. The committee was also shown contingency and contract activity that bears on project cost and delivery risks.
Matalka provided further budget details. The authority’s administrative budget reached 77% utilization for the fiscal year; human resources closed 21 recruitments and recorded 10 separations, reducing the vacancy rate from about 24% to just under 22%. For capital outlay, the report showed roughly $166,400,000 in expenditures for the reporting period, bringing fiscal-year total capital expenditures to nearly $1,500,000,000. Matalka explained that not all capital budget is spent because contingency may be retained depending on how risks mature.
On total program finances, the report listed cumulative expenditures of about $14,600,000,000 to date. The state has covered roughly 83% of expenditures, with federal sources at about 17.6%, the presentation said; the total funding mix in the slide showed roughly 76% state and 23% federal when including federal funds currently in litigation. Matalka flagged that one small Federal Railroad Administration grant — a corridor ID grant for $110,000 in eligible expenditures — was submitted and later reimbursed.
Contracts and small-business participation also featured in the report. The authority’s contract inventory grew by six contracts during the period to 203 contracts with a total value of roughly $12,700,000,000. The small-business program showed a 24% participation rate overall; the authority reported 936 small businesses actively working on the program, including 328 disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs) and 117 disabled veteran business enterprises (DVBEs). “Pre‑November 2023 goals were met and exceeded for both DVBEs and DBEs,” Matalka said, while small-business goals overall remained below target.
The committee received a contingency summary showing 10 change orders executed during the period totaling about $54,000,000 and one contract amendment of roughly $6,600,000 to STV to support completion of the Los Angeles-to-Anaheim record of decision environmental document.
Committee business and requests: Chair Richards asked staff for more detail on the Veil Property Management Fund; Matalka said the fund’s holdings are categorized into commercial (28 properties), residential (11 properties) and agricultural (17 properties) parcels and that the properties are leased. Committee members asked staff to provide a schedule showing property-level revenue and expenditures; Matalka agreed to supply that detail to committee members. The committee also approved the July 10 committee meeting minutes; a motion and second were recorded and the chair said the motion carried.
The finance presentation concluded with a look-ahead: the authority expects a slight decline in total expenditures next month, a small rise in vacancy rates because 18 newly authorized positions (13 to support NEPA delegation work and 5 for IT and operations technology) will be onboarded, and no new federal drawdowns to report for the coming month.
Less-critical detail: the presentation noted the May 2025 cap-and-trade auction proceeds are expected to appear in the next monthly report and that contingency use related to design changes (see Central Valley construction report) will be visible in subsequent financial cycles.