HSR Authority reports $3.8 billion cash position, ongoing Central Valley construction progress
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Summary
CFO Jamie Matalka told the committee the authority had about $3.8 billion in cash (including Prop 1a and greenhouse gas funds), outlined budgets and contingency use, and Victor Diaz reported December Central Valley expenditures of $96.5 million with guideway and railhead milestones.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority’s chief financial officer told the Audit & Finance Committee on March 4 that the authority’s cash position was approximately $3.8 billion as of the reporting period and provided updates on budgets, change orders and grant activity. The committee also received a Central Valley construction update highlighting steady progress on guideway, structures and the Bell railhead.
Chief Financial Officer Jamie Matalka said the authority had "approximately $3,800,000,000" in total cash, comprised in the report of $86,000,000 in Proposition 1a bond funds, $3,700,000,000 in greenhouse gas reduction funds and about $14,000,000 in property management funds; she noted the November 2025 auction proceeds ($210,000,000) were processed in February 2026 and would appear in the next reporting period. Matalka said there were no late payments for the period and that the dispute summary showed a $2,000,000 decrease attributable mainly to one contractor.
On the authority’s support budget, Matalka described a fiscal-year support budget of $117,000,000, with $41,500,000 for administrative support and $76,000,000 for capital support, and said year-to-date expenditures were $41,000,000. She reported the authority had filled 388 of 514 authorized positions and a vacancy rate of 24.5% (forecast to improve modestly). On capital outlay, the authority’s fiscal-year capital budget was $2,700,000,000 with approximately $826,000,000 spent through six reporting periods.
Matalka reviewed contingency and change-order activity: during the reporting period the authority executed 25 change orders totaling about $151,000,000. For CP1 the change orders totaled about $7.2 million; CP23 change orders totaled about $120.2 million (with three large items accounting for 56% of that total); and CP4 included a $21.6 million reconciliation to support final invoicing. She said the top drivers included new freight-railroad coordination requirements, private property water and sewer installations, cost escalation, drainage work and additional inspection and environmental compliance activities.
Victor Diaz, the senior contract manager for CP2/3, presented the Central Valley status report for December 2025: total expenditures were $96,500,000, with CP1 comprising roughly 34.9 (million), CP2/3 about 40 (million), and CP4 $21,600,000. He reported 58 structures complete, 80 miles of guideway finished, and utilities relocation rates above 90% for electric and telecom; right-of-way deliveries were 99.7% (2,284 of 2,292 parcels delivered). Diaz highlighted heavy activity and milestones at the Bell railhead and said final acceptance for the railroad construction was expected within weeks. The committee asked for a missing CP2/3 earned-value slide; Diaz said staff would provide the slide afterward and that executives were engaging with the contractor to bring earned-value metrics fully within expected limits.
Matalka closed with a look-ahead noting expected slight dips in capital expenditures for the current period, a small improvement in vacancy rate after hires, and two grant applications submitted in January: a federal Innovative Financing and Asset Concession grant request for $2,000,000, and a state Energized grant of $508,000 for Fresno depot EV charging and hydrogen fueling infrastructure.
