A tight squeeze is on at the MTA — and not just in crowded subway cars.
Drastic “hard freezes” on hiring and spending were ordered at the cash-strapped agency in an effort to conserve cash and minimize possible service cuts, CEO Elliot Sander said in a memo to top officials.
MTA bosses are under strict directives to halt hiring, cap overtime, make use of “excess employees” and make only “essential” purchases, he wrote in the memo released yesterday.
“If you have to even think about it, don’t do it,” Sander said about new purchases, adding that any new hires or acquisitions should be “essential to the operation and safety of the MTA.”
The directives won’t immediately affect subway, bus and commuter rail service, officials said.
Transit watchdogs said the MTA had little choice.
“I’d rather see them have the money around to maintain service than have a couple of cases of paper towels back in the warehouse,” said Bill Henderson, head of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA.
The agency needs the new round of cost-cutting because this year it’s already $123 million behind on anticipated real-estate tax revenue and $200 million short on state tax revenues.
That’s on top of its $1.2 billion budget gap that has brought about doomsday fare hikes and service cuts scheduled for May 31 if the state Legislature doesn’t come up with new tax revenue for the regional authority.
“The MTA and its agencies must continue to do everything possible to conserve cash,” Sander wrote.
Next Wednesday, the MTA board will discuss what else has to be done to close the gap, said spokesman Jeremy Soffin.
A second round of fare hikes and service cuts hasn’t been ruled out.
The MTA “is facing deficits for the remainder of the year and beyond as a direct result” of the tanking economy, Sander wrote.
Albany lawmakers are deadlocked on a variety of bailout plans that could fill the $1.2 billion gap. So far, each plan has faced fatal opposition in the Senate.
“It’s certainly not going to be any better any time soon and it looks like it’s going to get worse without any commitments from Albany,” Henderson said.
“I don’t think they have any choice.”
MTA officials shouldn’t assume that stalling legislators will rescue the agency, Sander said.
“To date this has not happened; and we cannot assume that it will,” he wrote. “We must continue to operate under the assumption that we will need to solve our financial problems entirely on our own.”
Most departments have cut administrative costs by 5 percent in the latest budget, Soffin said, and the New York City Transit division cut 7.5 percent.
Jobs have been eliminated through attrition, but there haven’t been managerial layoffs, Soffin said.