PHOTO: MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas Prendergast. Photo Courtesy of MTA/Patrick Cashin
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has called on the city to contribute an additional $1 billion to the agency’s Capital Program, on top of the $657 million it pledged earlier this year.
In a July 23 letter to state Budget Director Mary Beth Labate and New York City First Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris, the extra funds would be spread out over five years, and trigger further aid from Albany.
“Should the city offer this assistance, the remaining $7.3 billion gap would need to be covered by state resources (supplementing the state’s $1 billion base contribution). Therefore the city would contribute a total of $3.2 billion. The state, in turn, would contribute a total of $8.3 billion. We believe this split is more than equitable to the city, particularly given that $22 billion of the $26.8 billion Capital Program is for projects in New York City.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said that the MTA must resolve gap issues without raising fares beyond the scheduled increases.
Prendergast said the $9.8 billion hole “must be filled by state and city funds.”
He concludes the letter by saying, “Everyone agrees the Capital Program is vital to the future of the city and the state. We know that the governor is anxious to resolve this matter. Our revisions to the plan will maximize its efficiency, and we believe they form a more than reasonable request.”
City spokeswoman Amy Spitalnick said that the administration upped its contribution to meet the MTA’s request in May.
“It’s worth noting that, just a few months ago, the city increased our capital contribution to the MTA to $657 million—the largest general capital contribution to the agency in recent history—in addition to contributing $1 billion a year in operating funds and $200 million more in capital from the Vanderbilt Corridor rezoning,” Spitalnick said.
“And as the Citizens Budget Commission and the comptroller have made clear, New York City, through taxes, tolls, and fares, already contributes over 70 percent of the MTA’s operating budget,” she continued. “In fact, in FY2014, city residents paid $10.1 billion in fares, tolls, and dedicated taxes—which was $288 million more than what the MTA spends on NYC Transit, MTA Bus, and [Staten Island Railroad].
“We appreciate the MTA’s effort to find savings in their capital plan without cutting vital projects or further shifting costs onto the backs of riders, as well as the governor’s commitment to—for the first time—start to address the chronic underfunding of this vital state authority. We look forward to understanding the source of the additional state funding.
“We are reviewing the letter and—as we made clear in a letter this week—are ready and willing to have a comprehensive conversation on a sustainable funding stream for the MTA.”
In a letter to de Blasio dated July 28, Prendergast noted that Cuomo has voiced his support for the MTA’s plan for increased city and state contributions.
“Because every transit system depends on public subsidy, we want an MTA whose finances are stably grounded on subsidies that are fair to the city, state and customers. I believe all of these goals are reflected in our proposal and I look forward to a significant city commitment.”
By Michael V. Cusenza
michael@theforumnewsgroup.com
