MTA Begins Hiring Freeze Amid Bailout Uncertainty

By: Bobby Cuza

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With plans for an MTA bailout still up in the air in Albany, agency officials have implemented a hiring freeze in preparation for a worst-case scenario that already includes increased fares and citywide service cuts. NY1's Bobby Cuza filed the following report.

So just how bad is the financial picture at the MTA? So bad, the agency says it's stopped spending money wherever possible, imposing an across-the-board hiring freeze.

"The executive director and CEO has instructed each of the agency presidents to have a hard hiring freeze, which means unless it's an absolute emergency, no slot should be filled," said MTA Spokesman Jeremy Soffin.

In a two-page memo released earlier this week, MTA head Elliot Lee Sander also warned agency presidents they cannot assume Albany will come to the rescue.

The memo even addressed expenses such as office supplies.

"If you have to even think about it, don't do it. You should only make a purchase if it [is] absolutely essential to the operation and safety of the MTA," said Sander.

Of course, the agency is also planning to raise fares and cut service beginning next month. But thanks to the sputtering economy, it says even that won't be enough to close its budget gap without help from Albany.

On Monday, the MTA will forecast its budget, and it's expected that a projected budget deficit of $1.2 billion could balloon to $2 billion by the end of the year.

"As early as the middle of or late next week, we could start to talk about the ways in which we can fill that gap, which will have to be either additional fare increases or service cuts or a combination of both," said Soffin.

In the meantime, the Democratic-controlled State Senate released a draft bill Wednesday detailing its own MTA rescue plan, which includes a payroll tax, a dollar surcharge on taxi rides, and various other vehicle fees.

Majority leader Malcolm Smith has said he has the 32 votes needed to pass it, but some senate Republicans whose support may be needed aren't on board.

"We're not at the table. You can't come out and say, 'This is it. Vote for it.' We've got to be at the table. And we've got to be part of the decision process," said Brooklyn Senator Martin Golden.

The Senate leadership said it anticipates the bill will be formally introduced later this week, with a vote possible sometime next week.

If the plan manages to pass, the State Assembly will then have to take up the issue.