Gov. Paul LePage’s administration is putting the brakes on a multimillion-dollar contract to refurbish public transit vehicles for the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority.
In 2014, the Maine Military Authority won a $19 million contract to rehab 32 articulated commuter buses for the Boston-area transit system, known as the MBTA. The goal was to stem job losses at the Loring Development Authority.
Susan Faloon, a spokeswoman for the Maine Emergency Management Agency, says it recently became apparent that the deal was a money-loser for Maine.
“It became clear that the contract to complete the bid was underbid significantly and that the contract would need to be revisited. So in an effort to prevent an additional loss of taxpayer money, officials are considering halting the work until the contract details could be revisited,” she says.
More than 50 workers have been employed by the contract at the Limestone facility, and they have completed about a third of the buses, Faloon says. She says job losses or layoffs are possible, but until a more thorough analysis is done, she adds, it won’t be clear exactly how the situation developed or how it will be managed.
State officials say they plan to renegotiate contract terms with the Massachusetts officials and “act appropriately.”
In an email, a spokesman for the MBTA says the Maine Military Authority has not notified the MBTA of any action related to the contract.