There may finally be light at the end of the tunnel.
Two holdout state senators last night reached a tentative accord with their colleagues on an MTA bailout. If it can be converted to writing, subway and bus riders would face 8 percent – not 23 percent – fare hikes.
There would also be little or no service cuts.
Sens. Craig Johnson and Brian Foley, both of Long Island, would give Democrats the 32 votes needed to pass the rescue proposal by a razor-thin margin in the Senate.
Still skeptical, both said they first wanted to see a plan in writing from Gov. Paterson that exempts school districts from a tax of 25 to 34 cents for every $100 in payroll.
“We need to make sure – notwithstanding the press releases that came out of the governor’s office – we need to be comfortable with what the language is going to be,” Johnson said.
The agreement came after Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) held a 3½-hour meeting with Johnson and Foley.
“We would like to pass the bill this week, once lawmakers work out how and when the school districts will be reimbursed,” Smith said.
Estimates show that an 8 percent fare increase could send a single ride to $2.25 and 30-day unlimited MetroCard to $88.
The deal should also cancel drastic service cuts that would have shuttered the W and Z subway lines, shortened the M and G lines, and eliminated more than 20 bus routes to fill a $1.2 billion budget gap.
But sending an annual $1.76 billion to the MTA will come with a cost.
Taxi riders would be on the hook for an extra 50 cents for every trip.
Driver’s licenses and learner’s-permit fees would go up as much as 30 percent; car-registration fees would increase by $25, and the sales tax on car rentals would jump about 5 percent.
And a new battle may already be brewing.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver claimed his lawmakers are ready to “act immediately,” but also said he wanted to see funding for the MTA’s big-ticket items in the bill.
Paterson, however, said he wants to pass the rescue plan before considering capital spending. Mayor Bloomberg railed against that idea, calling it a “stop-gap measure” that would “kick the big problems down the road.”