Explainer: What are the Transit Funding "Raids" Holding Up the MTA Budget Deal?

The ongoing feud between Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo over just how much the city should be contributing to the MTA's capital program revolves around one big issue: the mayor's lack of confidence that the governor will render unto the MTA the things that are the MTA's.

The governor says he's putting $8 billion towards the MTA's five-year capital construction program, and the city should pay its "fair share," which he pegs at $3.2 billion. (So far, the city has committed $657 million.)

But de Blasio says he won't increase the city's contribution until he gets some assurances that the state will stop moving MTA money around, and on Thursday he repeated this concern. "We certainly know, since this governor came into office, I think $270 million was taken out of the MTA's budget and put into the state's budget for other uses."

The governor shot back later that same day. "It is a joke," he told reporters, "to say 'I give you $1 billion, I take $20 million to pay off bonds as a bookkeeping entity,' and for your response to be 'you took $20 million.'"

The governor did in fact take $20 million out of MTA general operating funds this year — diverting it to the state's General Debt Service Fund, to pay down MTA-related debt service costs. He's done this every year since taking office (in the 2011-2012 budget, he moved $200 million over. In FY 2013/2014, he moved $20 million. In FY 2014-2015, the governor moved $30 million. When you add the $20 million moved out of this year's budget, those four diversions total $270 million — the amount de Blasio references.) And that practice is scheduled to continue until the debt is paid off in 2031.

So why does it matter, especially if the money is being moved to pay off MTA-related debt?

There are two reasons, say advocates, and the first one involves a commitment made several governors ago. Veronica Vanterpool, the executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, says that "in 2002, the state took out those bonds on behalf of the MTA, and the state was paying the interest for them." 

In other words, the state took out the debt to provide annual operating money for the MTA. And promised that the state would cover the debt service payments, so that the MTA didn't have to. "The money that was supposed to directly benefit riders," said Gene Russianoff, "is now benefiting the governor and the state, which is reneging on a promise to pay the debt. And that has consequences to the riding public."

Moving transit funds like this isn't new, and Cuomo was not the first governor to do it. In 2009, Gov. David Paterson diverted $143 million. In 2010, $100 million was diverted.

What else happened in 2010? Oh yeah — the MTA, facing a massive budget shortfall, enacted $93 million worth of service cuts.

The MTA's budgetary diversions have alarmed legislators and transportation advocates for years, who have been trying to get a so-called transit lockbox bill through Albany to prevent this kind of diversion. The governor vetoed the last attempt.

Meanwhile, negotiations over the size of the city's contribution to the MTA's capital plan are ongoing.