Metro is considering a $2.37 billion budget for next year that would not require any fare increases or service cuts but would mean $72.5 million more in taxpayer dollars. If the local jurisdictions can’t make up that difference, the agency said it would consider selling naming rights to its 86 stations, among other options.
| Metro’s new faces offer new voices |
| Metro got a glimpse of its future Thursday as four of its incoming board members showed up to attend two board committee meetings. |
| D.C. Councilman Tommy Wells, D.C. appointee Tom Downs, Arlington County Board member Mary Hynes and former Takoma Park Mayor Kathy Porter all showed up even though they won’t be sworn in until Jan. 27. |
| They don’t yet have a vote – despite Wells’ attempts to politely abstain — however, all but Downs sat at the table and spoke out, jumping into the discussion and asking questions to staffers. |
| Additional new members are expected to be named in coming weeks to the 14-person board, which is undergoing a major shift after months of criticism. |
Interim General Manager Richard Sarles proposed the budget on Thursday, the first one in two years that hasn’t called for major service cuts.
But Board Chairman Peter Benjamin said such an increase in taxpayer subsidies would be “difficult.” The local governments served by the transit agency paid $572 million for the current budget, kicking in $25 million more than the prior year to avoid service cuts.
Federal representative Mortimer Downey called the budget “a zero sum” game. “There is no magic here,” he said. “We’re going to have to look at a lot of options.”
Naming rights for Metro stations could bring in up to $2 million, the agency estimates. New York’s subway system has tried the same thing, agreeing in 2009 to add the Barclays bank name to a Brooklyn station for $4 million over 20 years.
Metro said it could negotiate lump sums from tenants on its properties instead of getting annual rent checks, providing a one-time windfall. Or the agency said it could borrow against its infrastructure funds as it has done in the past, among other options.
The budget is far from a done deal. Thursday’s proposal is a first draft, calling for $1.5 billion in operating costs and $851 million for capital expenses. Board members will spend up to five more months hashing out the details.
But the agency faces some challenges. It is expecting to make $20.5 million less in fare revenue, despite major fare increases enacted last summer.
“We are holding our own on ridership year to year,” Chief Financial Officer Carol Dillon Kissal told board members. “The growth is not happening as much as we’d like it to be.”
Metro also is expecting to pay $7.3 million extra in overtime to make up for a shortage in bus drivers, train operators and station managers until new ones can be hired.
The capital budget, meanwhile, offers a stripped-down version of improvements to the rail and bus system, proposing to fix the existing problems but nothing more. “We have basically taken out any additional enhancements to the Washington Metro system,” Sarles said.
