District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty said he’s relying on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s new general manager to get control of the overtime costs of the publicly subsidized transit agency, an issue that’s been ignored by Metro management for more than three decades.
Metro last year spent more than $70 million in overtime, with hundreds of hourly employees, both drivers and train operators, making six-figure salaries.
The overtime has immediate and long-lasting impact. The overtime contributes to an expected $116 million deficit next year, and to make up for it, the agency was prepared to raise fares to more than $2 before new General Manager John Catoe Jr. arrived and scrapped that plan.
But years from now, taxpayers still will pay for the overtime. Under Metro’s rules, overtime payments are calculated in the pensions of Metro employees, unlike Washington city police and firefighters, sometimes giving drivers a larger annual payment in retirement than their on-the-job base salary.
Taxpayers contributed more than half a billion dollars to Metro in 2006, nearly half of the system’s operating budget. D.C. taxpayers paid the largest share of any area jurisdiction — $198 million.
Fenty said he’s counting on Catoe and the Metro board to correct the overtime issues.
“I am confident in their commitment to quickly remedy the situation,” the mayor said in a statement.
But the enormous overtime payments have persisted for decades, according to former members of the Metro board, and have been solidified by strong union pressure.
Jack Corbett, director of Metro-riders.org, a transit riders’ advocacy group that has called on the agency to cut its overtime, said he believes that a large part of the problem is that the board directors are too beholden to the union.
“They’re public officials, and they’re just not hard on labor,” Corbett said.
The District is the only local government that pays nearly the entire portion of its Metro bill. The District’s board representative is new Director of Transportation Emeka Moneme. His spokesman, Eric Linden, said Moneme had no comment on the overtime.
In Maryland, the state picks up the entire tab for the two local governments — Prince George’s County and Montgomery County.
Last year, Maryland paid $246 million for the two counties. The money comes from the Maryland Transit Trust Fund, which pays for the state’s two main transit operations in D.C. and Baltimore. The fund is separate from the state’s operating budget.
Northern Virginia last year contributed $119 million for operating costs. About a fourth of that money comes from local governments —Alexandria, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Fairfax City and Falls Church. About 35 percent comes from passengers fares, 6 percent from a Northern Virginia gas tax and another 34 percent from the state and federal aid.
If you have any information about Metro, please contact Scott McCabe at 202-459-4950 or at [email protected].
