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HSRA CFO reports $3.8 billion cash balance, $108.9 million in invoice disputes; one contractor accounts for 97%
Summary
CFO Jamey Matalka reported a roughly $3.8 billion cash position (including Prop. 1A and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Funds) and $108.9 million in disputed invoices—97 percent tied to a single contractor—while noting staffing and procurement steps to address recurring issues.
Jamey Matalka, the Authority's chief financial officer, provided the Finance and Audit Committee with the June 2026 financial update on June 24, reporting a cash balance around $3.8 billion and active invoice disputes totaling $108.9 million.
Matalka said the cash balance is composed of approximately $127 million in Proposition 1A bond funds, about $3.6 billion in Greenhouse Gas Reduction Funds, and $14.4 million in property-management funds. He noted the reported cash did not yet include May 2026 Cap-and-Trade auction proceeds, which are projected to add roughly $192 million once processed.
On disputes, Matalka said one contractor accounts for 97 percent of the $108.9 million total and that the total dispute amount is down roughly 64 percent since August 2025 after actions to resolve a significant change order. He described the contested invoices as including charges the Authority believes were submitted prematurely and said the matter is part of the normal dispute and resolution process on large projects: "They've submitted invoices prematurely that have charges that we have not merited for things that they are claiming for," Matalka said.
On staffing, Matalka reported 394 filled positions of 508 authorized (a 22.4 percent vacancy rate), an increase of 17 filled positions year over year. CEO Ian Choudri explained the Authority has created about 35 rail-specific job classifications to better align salary ranges with the rail labor market and said the reclassifications will be submitted to the administration and CalHR to enable competitive hiring.
Matalka summarized program-level finances: a capital outlay forecast remaining at $2.07 billion for the reporting period, cumulative project expenditures just under $16 billion (about 84 percent funded by state resources) and identified revenues of about $40 billion (about 93 percent state-sourced). He also summarized contracting statistics: 205 active contracts valued at about $13.1 billion with roughly $2.5 billion in remaining commitments, and small-business participation metrics that show incremental gains overall but continuing shortfalls on some DBE goals.
Finally, Matalka outlined near-term items: a projected May capital-expenditure increase (to roughly $214 million) driven by a guideway-turnover milestone in Construction Package 2-3; a CRISI grant application seeking $1.86 billion for Merced-extension final design and civil works; and a $5 million Urban Greening grant for Fresno station nature-based solutions. He also reported three procurement actions to post (task orders to Bancroft Construction and Terra West, and a contract with Rocla Concrete Incorporated for concrete ties).
