Migrant Transportation Costs at Taunton Hotel: $67,000 Per Family

In the past year, Massachusetts has spent approximately $8 million, or over $67,000 per family, on contracted transportation for an estimated 120 migrant families being housed at the Clarion Hotel in Taunton.

A Freedom of Information Act request to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) details the spending between July 2023 and June 2024 for all costs associated with two contracted companies providing transportation at the Taunton emergency migrant shelter.

TransAction Associates, Inc. and Mercedes Cab Company, Inc. each have contracts with the state to provide services to migrant families living at the Taunton Hotel. According to an email response from Adrian Walleigh, the Counsel and Records Access Officer for EOHLC, TransAction Associates received $3,467,845 for services during the July 2023 to June 2024 time period. Mercedes Cab received $4,710,116 for the same bringing the total transportation cost to $8,177,961.

Transportation services for migrants include the initial drop off at the hotel and any relocation to another shelter or housing, but migrants are also able to use the contracted service to bring them to a litany of other locations including doctors appointments, meetings with service providers as well as any jobs they may have. Migrants schedule their rides with a worker who is on-site at the Clarion.

These transportation costs are in addition to the cost of housing the migrants at this location, which Democratic Senator Michael Rodrigues has said is costing taxpayers approximately $10,000 per family per month.