An agreement is in place between the MTA and state lawmakers to save free student MetroCards for the next school year — a deal that could sink the transit agency further into debt and possibly lead to a larger fare increase in 2011.
The language was inserted into the budget bill that was introduced early this morning. The measure, which is not considered controversial, will likely be voted on today and is expected to pass.
Under the agreement, the state will contribute $25 million to the program, the city will give $45 million, and the MTA will foot the remaining $144 million, as first reported by The Post.
The agency is expected to make up the money used for the fares by further fattening its $400 million budget shortfall for 2010 and 2011, sources said.
“While we had hoped that the State and City would pay the total cost of this program, we recognize the very difficult financial environment for not only the State and City, but for the hundreds of thousands of families in New York City who frankly could not afford to pay the added cost of transit fares for school transportation,” the MTA said in a statement.
Transit brass said the ramifications of paying for the passes would be would be “life-changing” for students and their families.
“In light of these unbearable impacts, the MTA has decided to abandon the proposal to charge students for travel to and from school. As a result, the budget deficit that we are facing will increase,” the statement read.
That could mean more dire cost-saving measures and possibly a higher fare hike than the 7.5 percent increase planned for 2011.
The MTA proposed cutting the student passes in December as a way to save money.
The state contribution to the free-card program would actually decrease from the current $45 million.
Under the deal, a cap on MTA borrowing would be lifted so the agency can get on with the first two years of its next big-ticket capital program, along with provisions that would allow enforcement cameras in rapid-bus lanes.
Still, it’s not the resolution the MTA had planned for, and some lawmakers said the agency lost a game of political chicken.
MTA chief Jay Walder has repeatedly said it’s the job of the city and state to fund the free cards, which have grown in cost over the past decade while government contributions have remained the same or been reduced.
He said the price tag on the program is about $214 million.
But some Albany lawmakers called that number “completely made up,” and many were incensed that the MTA would throw students into a political battle.
“There was something fundamentally wrong with using kids as a bargaining chip,” said Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester), who runs the Standing Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, which oversees the MTA.
Sen. Martin Malave Dilan (D-Brooklyn), the transportation committee chair, said there was no way for the MTA to estimate the cost of the program.
“The trains have to run. The buses have to run” with or without the students, he said.
“They’re accepting it for this year with the hope that in the out years there will be more money.”
City officials called on the state to meet the amount they’re contributing.
“We kept up our end of the deal,” a source said, referring to the previous agreement in which the state, MTA and city all forked out $45 million for the program.
Transit advocates said that the state is being too stingy and that the student passes are being too heavily subsidized by the riding public.
“It’s a deal that was deemed adequate in 1995,” said Gene Russianoff, of the Straphangers Campaign. “I think the Legislature is wrong for cutting funding for schoolkids, and I think the MTA is right in maintaining the discounts.”