text: Why does the Civil Beat Editorial Board perpetuate the false narrative the FTA told the City to "give us back the $1.55 billion" when the City hasn’t received any where near that amount? Isn't the amount of Federal dollars the City has received and spent closer to $600M? Hasn’t Civil Beat extensively reported on the fact the FTA has already decided to withhold additional dollars above the $600M because the City has failed to explain how the Rail will be funded, completed, and operated? Even if the FTA took the draconian step (possibly unprecedented?) of requiring the full reimbursement of the $600M - despite the progress and the far more significant local investment that has been made in the Project to date - perhaps it’s a reasonable concept for the City to pay the FTA back $600M if it saves the tax-payer billions of dollars in construction costs for more heavy rail and hundreds of millions in operating costs into the future.