Assemblymen Murray, Montesano Call for MTA Audit

Freshman Assemblymen call for MTA accountability



Freshman Assemblyman Dean Murray (R,C-East Patchogue) was joined today by fellow lawmakers and colleagues at a press conference calling for a comprehensive audit of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The event, hosted by Assemblyman Michael Montesano (R,I,C- Glen Head), took place at the Hicksville Long Island Railroad station. Murray said a complete third-party forensic audit of the MTA is part of his detailed plan to bring accountability and transparency to the authority. Murray has also sponsored legislation to repeal the MTA payroll tax and introduce oversight through a Fiscal Control Board.

“The proposed fare increases and service cuts are another slap in the face to Long Island taxpayers,” said Freshman Assemblyman Dean Murray (R,C-East Patchogue). “This is on top of a state bailout and job-killing MTA payroll tax while the rampant waste, mismanagement, and abuse at the authority go unaddressed. It’s time to bring long-needed oversight, transparency, and accountability to the MTA through a comprehensive, third-party forensic audit.”


“Nassau County sends approximately $40 million back to the MTA’s loose pockets every three months, with nothing more than higher fares, more expensive parking permits, and crowded trains to show for it – the authority may even go ahead with the elimination of one of the largest suburban bus systems in the country,” said Montesano. “Long Islanders cannot continue to bail out a broken agency; we need to enforce a comprehensive forensic audit today. I have contacted Governor Paterson and state regulators in order to demand that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority receive no further tax revenues until a nonpartisan Fiscal Oversight Control Board can establish the transit agency’s true finances in order to rein in out-of-control waste and inefficiencies.”
“The appalling waste at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority must come to an end,” said Assemblyman Andrew Raia (R,I,C-East Northport). “It is time to submit their finances to a full and thorough forensic audit. Without a light finally shined on its broken finances, the MTA will continue to spend millions on water coolers, pay phantom overtime, and overcharge Suffolk County commuters to send our money elsewhere.”
The troubled transit agency has been at the center of controversy recently. Last month, news reports uncovered “phantom overtime” – $34 million in public funds will go to pay vacationing or absent MTA employees in 2010 – and the MTA has so far been unsuccessful in plugging an $800 million budget gap, despite a dedicated .34 percent payroll tax imposed on many Long Island businesses and nonprofits as part of an ill-considered 2009 bailout.
According to estimates provided by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office shortly after the MTA payroll tax was passed in April 2009, Suffolk County residents, school districts, not-for-profit hospitals, and small businesses can expect to fork over at least $107 million more each year in levies. The new revenue stream has not been enough to balance the MTA’s books, resulting in the recent hiring of a “consolidation czar” with an annual taxpayer-funded salary of $217,000.
The public authority also approved a slate of new fare increases and service cuts at a finance board meeting last week. After a public comment period the fare and toll hikes as well as reductions to transportation services on Long Island will go into effect in 2011. One of the major cuts includes the elimination of MTA payments to Long Island Bus, one of the largest suburban bus systems in the nation. The authority already cut 11 bus lines in 2010 alone.