The MTA’s $47 million budget surplus this year really was too good to be true, according to the Citizens Budget Commission.
The transit agency is actually operating over $2.194 billion in the hole, according to an analysis by the fiscal watchdog agency released today.
That deficit will grow to over $2.6 billion by 2016, according to the report.
The MTA, by contrast, predicts a more modest budget hole of $233 million in 2016.
The discrepancy between the MTA’s budget and the CBC’s stems from different accounting principles.
The CBC’s projections stems from an audit of MTA financial statements and takes into account the agency’s high levels of debt, rising energy costs, and payments for health care for employees and retirees.
The MTA’s budget is largely based on cash needs in a given year.
To help plug the multi-billion budget gaps and pay for capital costs, the CBC recommends that the MTA increase transit fares by at least 21 percent by 2016.
The MTA has said it will increase fares by around 7.5 percent next year, followed by another 7.5 percent hike in 2015.
The CBC also wants motorists to chip in at least a quarter of the costs to run the MTA’s mass transit system.
That would mean not only substantially higher tolls, but also a portion of the fees on driver’s licenses, and vehicle registration to foot the bills.
It also recommended congestion pricing to fund mass transit.
The MTA is not required to institute the CBC’s recommendation.
Chairman Joseph Lhota thanked the CBC for taking a “serious” look at the agency’s finances.
“The MTA has made great strides in cutting costs and stabilizing its finances, and has regularly said we need a stable and reliable funding source for the sake of all our customers and the entire New York economy,” he said.
“However, the CBC’s choice of budgeting methods would create the appearance of a phantom deficit, instead of reflecting our fully balanced budget as required by law.”
MTA Board member Allen Cappelli said he would not support any plan that would add onerous tolls to the region.
“It adds a tremendous cost to small business in the city,” he said.
“It becomes a tax increase on a small group of people.”
He said adding higher tolls to support mass transit is particularly unfair to many motorists in the region who drive because they have to.
“Many people who drive do so because there is no public transportation options,” he said.