If the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is the agency New York City residents love to hate, whether for its financial shenanigans or for its penchant for threatening service cuts instead of reforming its practices, some might wonder why we in the State Senate voted to bail them out.
We didn’t. We voted to prevent massive service cuts. We voted not to place tolls on the free East River crossings. And, we voted to keep fare increases to 25 cents.
Of all the proposals to close the MTA’s $2 billion budget gap, the bridge tolls on East River and Harlem River crossings were among the most unpopular and our plan avoids them. Those bridges are extensions of New York City streets, and charging drivers to use them would be as unthinkable as tolling Jewel Avenue to cross Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.
The payroll tax was not an ideal measure, charging businesses $3.40 per $1,000 of payroll, but it will generate more than $1.5 billion in revenue annually for new capital spending. It is irresponsible for a legislator to oppose cuts without providing a revenue source.
The Senate plan also succeeded in minimizing subway and bus fare hikes. The MTA had sought to raise fares by 30 percent, but we know that New Yorkers who use public transportation every day are trying to get to work, to feed their families and make ends meet. The 10 percent increase we approved is not only less painful, it will generate $500 million annually.
We are proud of the reforms which were enacted. The legislation requires a forensic audit of the MTA, gives Albany the tools and oversight to clean out waste and fraud within the agency, and the opportunity to follow up every two years.
For the first time in decades, the MTA must account for its spending, its fiscal planning and the privileges it awards its board and staff. The Senate Republicans permitted the MTA’s two sets of books and rampant fraud, and the taxpayers and riders suffered for it. Last week, we made the best of the mess we inherited, and our reforms are a major step toward ending the MTA’s reign of irresponsibility and raid of riders’ pockets.
We also committed to fully funding a five-year capital plan for the MTA that we will examine in October, once the Legislature has a full accounting of necessary projects and costs. Proposed projects must now be submitted to Albany before the MTA can borrow billions in taxpayer dollars. Gone are the days when the MTA could get a blank check and then direct the funding for uses other than its original intent, which is one way the MTA got itself into this fiscal mess.
The plan is not perfect. But it gives the MTA the resources it needs in order to continue serving its ridership – which, let’s not forget, is its purpose – while requiring it to adhere to new standards of accountability and transparency. The Legislature finally will have the tools to make sound decisions about the MTA’s finances and future. The new Senate majority inherited a squalid mess, and we cleaned it up.
Senator Toby Ann Stavisky represents the 16th Senate District in Queens.
