(The following story by Solomon D. Leach appeared on the Delaware County Times website on April 24.)
PHILADELPHIA — With the clock ticking on the state’s transit funding dilemma, two local SEPTA board members expressed doubt Monday that the transit agency would be able to avoid major service cuts and fare hikes set to take place July 1.
“Unless we get relief, and it’s highly unlikely that we will before May 24, it looks we’ll have to adopt Plan B that we rolled out in the public meetings,” said SEPTA board member Thomas Babcock of Springfield.
SEPTA’s Budget Plan B calls for average fares to increase 31 percent, with a 20-percent service reduction and the elimination of 1,000 jobs. As the worst-case scenario, Plan B would be to cover the transit authority’s $129 million budget deficit for fiscal year 2007 without any funds from the state.
Even though the new fiscal year doesn’t start until July 1, Babcock said the board plans to make its decision at the May 24 board meeting. He said, however, the changes might be delayed until the fall.
“Our fiduciary responsibility to the authority is to present a balanced budget,” he said.
SEPTA board member Daniel Kubik of Concord confirmed that the board is strongly considering its Plan B, although a meeting with Gov. Ed Rendell is set for Thursday to discuss where state funding will come from.
“It’s been a very slow process,” Kubik said. “All we’re doing is holding our breath.”
State Rep. Joseph Markosek of Allegheny County, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said the General Assembly is still wading through proposals to come up with dedicated funding for the state’s mass transit systems and highways.
“We’re in about the fourth inning, and obviously June 30 is the bottom of the ninth,” Markosek said, adding that Pennsylvania’s transit systems are in need of about $760 million total. “It’s going to take significant new revenue, and a lot of the methods of raising that revenue may not be politically popular.”
Rendell’s proposed methods include a gross profits tax on oil companies, along with the possibility of leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Markosek said lawmakers are reluctant to give up control of the turnpike because it is one of the state’s greatest assets, and that an added tax on oil companies could lead to a court battle. “I think most legislators are looking at that in terms of not being passable in its current form,” he said.
State Rep. Greg Vitali, D-166, of Haverford, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, indicated that no proposal thus far is a clear favorite.
“I have some serious concerns about leasing the (Pennsylvania) Turnpike (and) I have some serious concerns about raising the sales tax, but generally support oil profits tax,” Vitali said.
He and Markosek said the question about funding for transit is likely to go unanswered until the state budget is settled around June 30.