Council Members: NYC Shouldn't Pay More For MTA Budget
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Two New York council members say the city shouldn't pay any more than what's already been allotted to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has pledged $8.3 billion in state money for new subway cars and buses, station upgrades and new projects. He said the city should contribute $3.2 billion over five years.
But Council Members Ydanis Rodriguez and Julissa Ferreras said the request would leave city residents paying more than their "fair share.''
MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg said the city should be contributing more because 90 percent of all MTA riders are in New York City.
Lisberg said the city used to pay 11 percent of the capital plan but only budgets 2.5 percent now.
The gap has sparked a fight between Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio.
"We've been putting more into the MTA than we've been getting back for a long time," de Blasio said in an interview with 1010 WINS on Wednesday morning. "What I've said to the state is you control the MTA, the governor controls the MTA, names the head of it. We want to see some clear ground rules going forward."
De Blasio criticized the state for frequently redirecting MTA funding for other purposes.
"If the MTA wants the city to contribute new money, show us, prove to us that it'll not be taken out of the MTA and put right into the state budget for other purposes, cause that's happened a lot in recent years," de Blasio said.
The MTA's 2015-19 capital plan calls for $32 billion in projects, of which nearly half needs funding sources. Several projects could be cut if the gap isn't filled.
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