The chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority wants New York City to ramp up its contribution to the transit agency.
The MTA, one of the largest municipal issuers with nearly $35 billion in debt, has a $15 billion hole in its proposed $32 billion capital program for 2015 to 2019.
Thomas Prendergast,
"The role of the city's mass-transit system is historical and obvious," Prendergast wrote Shorris. "Now, at this critical juncture, is the right time for the city to acknowledge the need for significantly increased investment in the MTA, and in the city's future."
A report by the Independent Budget Office watchdog organization in January said the city's contribution to the MTA's first five-year capital plan, from 1982-1986, averaged $136 million a year but has stagnated at around $100 million per year since 2000. Had the city kept pace, said IBO, its contribution would now total $363 million per year, providing more than $1.8 billion to the proposed plan.
A state review panel last October rejected the capital program without prejudice.
Prendergast's announcement appeared to take City Hall by surprise. Earlier Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city would fully meet the MTA's request of $657 million in capital funds and that he would lobby in Washington next week for better transit funding.
"As of our executive budget, we decided to fully fund the MTA's capital plan request - the largest level of general capital support to the MTA by the city since 2000. Yet after our budget went to print with full funding for the MTA's request, we were surprised to learn this morning that they both nearly tripled their general capital ask and requested another $1 billion," said Amy Spitalnick, a press officer for the Mayor's Office of Management and Budget. "As the mayor has repeatedly said, we are committed to working with the state and our regional partners to find a long-term plan for this vital state authority."
Last week, Prendergast referred to board-meeting comments by chief financial officer Robert Foran of a possible 15% fare and toll increase should the capital plan gap go unfulfilled as "a hypothetical answer to a hypothetical question." He added: "No one has proposed we pay for our capital needs on the backs of our riders, and no one is considering it."
