Dilan, Democratic Colleagues Oppose Proposed $65 Million Cut to MTA

Senator Martin Malavé Dilan, ranker of the Senate Transporation Committee, was joined by Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and conference colleagues to call on Governor Cuomo and Senate Leaders to reject a proposed $65 million cut to Metropolitan Transportation Authority Payroll Mobility Tax reimbursements as part of the proposed 2017-2018 Executive Budget.

The cut would mark a troubling new precedent in what has been a 6-year commitment between the MTA and State Legislature. As part of the 2011 restructuring of the mobility tax, the Governor committed to cover the lost revenue to the MTA, budgeting approximately $309 million annually in replacement funds. This proposed cut would be the first draw down on what has since become approximately one third of the MTA’s annual dedicated revenue source.

February 17, 2017

Dear Governor Cuomo:

We write today on behalf of the nearly 9 million subway, bus, and commuter-rail riders who depend on New York City’s mass transit system for their livelihood. We are greatly concerned with the Executive Budget proposal to break a standing commitment between the State and transit riders that guaranteed the fiscal integrity of nearly one-third of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s annual dedicated revenue source, the Payroll Mobility Tax (PMT).

When the State restructured the Payroll Mobility Tax in 2011, we committed to cover the lost revenue to the MTA, budgeting approximately $309 million annually in replacement funds. This year however, the Executive Budget proposes to cut that funding by $65 million, a 21 percent cut. We fear the proposed cut is the beginning of a troubling precedent.

In the two years after it was created in 2009, the mobility tax had become a large portion of MTA’s dedicated revenue source. The PMT weighed heavily on our conference, but in the end it was done in the interest of the ridership and the State as a whole. The MTA endured the financial collapse that spurred the PMT. However, today subway delays have skyrocketed in the last five years, and increased ridership has led to severe crowding.

Considering the struggles of our city’s transit system, and current MTA revenue sources like dedicated taxes projected to come in lower this year, we feel it is not the time for the state to roll back its commitment to the MTA. We cannot in good conscience, ask any more of the MTA or its riders. We ask that you return the $65 million in PMT revenue to the MTA. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,