New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli issued a warning to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Tuesday, saying its debt borrowing could lead to painful service cuts in the future.
According to DiNapoli’s annual report, the MTA’s debt service is expected to grow 55% over the next 10 years. To put this in perspective, 20% of every ticket and swipe goes to paying the MTA’s interest, not for actual service.
DiNapoli said the MTA’s finances right now are stable thanks to an unprecedented amount of federal coronavirus and infrastructure funding. However, he said the MTA is merely kicking the can down the road and betting that future riders will pay for today’s borrowing.
He said if the authority continues down this path it will not be able to pay for future maintenance and repairs.
