MANHATTAN — A financial bailout meant to bolster MTA finances has left the cash-strapped agency $200 million short and may force it to impose the service cuts the rescue plan was designed to avert.
The state apparently miscalculated how much money a payroll tax would generate for the MTA, with revenue coming in 20 percent, or $200 million, lower than expectations, MTA Chief Financial Officer Garry Dellaverson told the authority's board members in an e-mail, according to news reports.
"This is a shocking development both because of the magnitude of the under-run and the late date of its discovery," Dellaverson wrote, according to the Daily News. "As recently as last week, the state was continuing to advise us of their comfort with the forecast."
The new shortfall comes on the heels of the state Legislature cutting $143 million from the MTA's budget last week.
Dellaverson said the MTA couldn't cover the gap this year and would pass it on to 2010 with "delaying pension payments" and other cuts, according to the New York Times.
The paper also reported that MTA Chairman Jay Walder was not planning on raising fares next year.
But the shortfall could mean the MTA would revive plans for service cuts that were shelved in May when the payroll tax and other monies were dedicated to the MTA.
"If fares are off the table, I don't know how else to rescue the budget by that much money without service cuts, as well as additional administrative savings," an unidentified MTA board member told the New York Post.
