The MTA missed up to $410 million in grant money it could have used to buy buses, a new state comptroller audit said Wednesday.
The audit from Thomas DiNapoli’s office criticized the cash-strapped authority for spending over $500 million on 938 buses– and said it should have applied for a federal grant that could have netted between $256 and $410 million for the purchases.
“With fare hikes on the horizon, the MTA needs to pursue every available dollar,” said spokesman Matthew Sweeney. “Our audit found they missed out on possibly hundreds of millions in federal funds for buses.”
The MTA said 450 were test buses, which are not usually eligible for federal funding, and said they did apply for $440.5 million from the feds for other bus money.
They were given $173 million in federal grant money, which they invested in their bus depots.
“Many of the report conclusions are misleading,” wrote Carmen Bianco, president of New York City Transit, in a response letter.
The auditors also charged that the MTA didn’t follow proper protocol in notifying its board about procurements, and purchased 250 buses without a market survey.
“This is pure fiction since this information was included in all staff summaries presented to the MTA board,” said MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz.
The audit created further tension on Wednesday between the LIRR unions, whose workers could strike in July, and the MTA.
“The MTA missed out on over $400 million in grant money,” said Anthony Simon, chairman of the SMART union. “So I guess the MTA is not too broke that they can just throw that money away.”
The authority called Wednesday for a second presidential board of negotiators to ease the labor impasse. It rejected the first board’s recommendations of an almost 20 percent wage increase over six years, and said it would be an enormous burden.