Maybe the MTA isn’t so broke after all.
The transit agency — which enacted several fare hikes in recent years, with another due in March — left more than $90 million gathering dust in various bank accounts that could have gone to its strained budget, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a new audit.
“The MTA is leaving money on the table,” DiNapoli said.
“Every dollar counts. The MTA must do better.”
The money wouldn’t have staved off fare hikes next month, the third since 2009. Those are supposed to fill a $382 million budget hole.
DiNapoli’s auditors looked at 10 MTA bank accounts, each designated for different expenditures, totaling $881.2 million. One account dedicated to capital expenditures for bridges and tunnels was required to have a total of $160 million. It actually held $216.3 million.
An MTA spokesman insisted the extra money was needed to keep the agency’s credit rating up.