If signed, legislation would prohibit transit funding from being diverted for non-transit purposes without accounting for the impacts on riders.
As the conversation on how to adequately fund New York’s mass transit system heats up, so too have calls for improved cost controls and revenue accountability. While there is general consensus that a significant influx of dedicated and sustainable revenue for mass transit is needed to bring New York City’s subway and bus networks into a state of good repair befitting a modern global city, critics have maligned a checkered history of MTA funding diversions and massive debt service payments. Assembly Bill 8511, championed by Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, would require funding dedicated to public transportation systems (including the MTA) be used for their intended purpose. This legislation passed unanimously through both chambers of the State Legislature this past spring.
The bill, which would require express legislative consent to divert transit funding to other purposes, also adds several layers of transparency to the process. For any diversion, there must be a diversion impact statement which reflects the amount of the diversion from each fund listed separately, the amount diverted expressed as current monthly transit fares, the cumulative amount of diversion from the previous five years, and a detailed estimate of the impact on service, maintenance, security, and current capital program. Transit and government reform advocates have maligned the current system where funding intended for mass transit is frequently reallocated to cover budgetary shortfalls in unrelated areas without any input from the public.
Proponents of increased funding for mass transit, particularly for NYCT President Andy Byford’s Fast Forward Plan, have discussed a multitude of possible new revenue sources – including congestion pricing, millionaire’s tax, lifting the cap on gas tax, registration surcharges, and a restoration of the commuter tax. All of these funding mechanisms, if approved, would be implemented with the express intent of funding mass transit improvements such as those mentioned in Fast Forward. In the past, similar revenues have been diverted and replaced with bonds or loans that are backed by these same revenue generators, further adding to an existing debt service burden that has ballooned to over $2.5 billion in 2018 alone.
The bill was delivered to the Governor’s desk on December 17, who now has 10 days (not including Sundays) to either sign or veto the legislation.
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz said: “However we decide to fund our mass transit system, one thing is clear: we need this money to actually be spent on tangible improvements to subway and bus infrastructure in our neighborhoods. Nobody wants to pay more in taxes or tolls or fees, and especially not when they can’t be certain that the money collected from them is actually going to be spent appropriately. We have an obligation to keep our promises to straphangers, and I urge Governor Cuomo to sign this common-sense bill into law before we head into next year’s budget conversation on how to raise revenue for transit.”
