Officials: NYC To Boost Funding To MTA
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New York City is set to increase its capital contribution to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
City officials told The Associated Press on Monday that Mayor Bill de Blasio's upcoming budget will include $125 million this year for the region's transportation agency.
The MTA asked for $657 million in capital contributions between now and Fiscal Year 2019.
City officials said the city will meet that goal. That will mean $125 million a year for five years. There will also be an additional $32 million city match to a federal grant.
De Blasio will make the announcement during his executive and capital budget presentations later this week.
The city for years had contributed $100 million annually to the MTA's capital plan.
The MTA has a $14 billion capital budget shortfall.
The agency's chief financial officer, Robert Foran, warned last week that fares and tolls could jump 15 percent unless New York state lawmakers provide funding.
An MTA spokesman, however, said the real push is to get more funding from federal, state and city sources to improve the system.
"Our CFO was describing what a hypothetical fare increase would look like in order to generate the debt service to cover the roughly $14 billion we need for our capital program." Kevin Ortiz, MTA spokesman, said. "It was a conjectural statement about math, not a statement about anything the MTA board is contemplating."
(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)