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MTA money woes should worry riders, Sander says

By Matthew Sweeney, amNewYork Staff Writer | msweeney@am-ny.com

June 24, 2008

The financial outlook at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority seems to be getting worse by the day.

"Riders should be concerned," MTA CEO Elliot Sander said Monday.

The agency Monday presented board members with a plan to cut some $2.7 billion in repairs and improvements from its five-year capital plan that runs from 2004-2009. The MTA says the projects -- including 19 subway stations rehabs -- are merely getting pushed back to the next five-year plan, but that 2010-14 plan already has a $15 to $20 billion hole in it.

"When [a project is] deferred it looks like a cut no matter how you slice it," said Gene Russianoff, lead attorney for the Straphangers Campaign.

Adding to the MTA's financial mess is the continued nosedive of its operating income. Real estate tax revenue slipped another $41 million last month, bringing its operating income to $122 million under budget for the year.

This shortfalls eats into a $300 million operating surplus projected for 2008, a pot of money the agency had counted on to offset a $500 million to $700 million deficit next year. Monday, the MTA cut by half its surplus estimate for 2008.

A fare hike and cuts to train service are both on the table as the MTA tries to balance its budget by the end of the year, in accordance with the law.

With both the city and the state facing their own budget problems and doing little to bail out the MTA, the possibility of a fare hike next year looms large.

To address the budget issues, the MTA has placed most of its eggs in one basket: the commission created by Gov. David Paterson and mandated to find ideas for funding transit by Dec. 5. The commission's first meeting will be held later this week, Sander said.