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NYS Legislature May Have Staved Off Transit Doomsday, But Has More Work Ahead Of It

Gov. Paterson and the New York State Legislature agreed on a transit funding plan today that they estimate will generate $2.26 billion for the MTA and prevent deep service cuts and layoffs, while holding the fare increase to 10%, instead of the planned 21-30% increase. The package reportedly includes a 0.34% payroll tax in the MTA region, a taxi surcharge, and increases in vehicle registration, drivers’ license, and car-rental fees. (View the bill here). However, there are questions over how much money the package will actually raise.

The deal does not include tolls on currently free East and Harlem River bridges, which would have been a natural revenue source for the agency’s capital or operating needs. However, the package reportedly funds the first two years of the MTA’s 2010-2014  capital program, which makes it superior to an earlier plan announced this week that did not address the issue at all. After that plan was announced, advocates and union and business leaders sent a letter saying they would withdraw support for the payroll tax if an MTA package did not fund capital needs. Legislators also took considerable criticism from the NY Daily News, NY Post, and Newsday editorial boards for not funding a full capital program.

In a statement, the Tri-State Campaign congratulated legislators for stopping service cuts and fare hikes, but said they must continue working to completely fund the next MTA capital program.

The package also leaves the future of Long Island Bus unclear. It does not appear to include regional bus reforms that would have had the MTA accept full financial responsibility for the agency. LI Bus’s deeply flawed funding structure, which splits responsibility between the MTA, Nassau County, and the state, was the reason that Nassau County bus riders were singled out for a 75% fare increase under the “doomsday” budget. State Sen. Craig Johnson, who deserves credit for getting behind the package and stopping what would have been disastrous fare increases for many of his constituents, should insist that LI Bus riders get equal treatment.

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[…] the metropolitan region: ARC, the Second Avenue Subway, and LIRR East Side Access. While there is some uncertainty over the MTA’s next five-year capital plan, which will fund the latter two projects, this is […]

NY Political Addict
NY Political Addict
15 years ago

If you believe the NY economy will eventually recover there is less need to worry about fixing all of the funding problems now. When real estate activity picks back up the transactional real estate taxes will begin generating revenue again.

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Andrew Wilson
14 years ago

Hello, just stopping by and dropping you a note to say that I enjoyed your Blog. Keep up with the good work!

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[…] sources of transit funding. But state legislators didn’t vote on congestion pricing and dropped bridge tolls from the original MTA funding plan. If suburban interests want to change the balance of MTA […]

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