By Dave Lucas
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-898349.mp3
Albany, NY – Downstate officials gathered in Albany today to renew their request that the State Comptroller audit the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. They didn't have to wait for an answer. Capital District Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.
In March, Long Island Assemblyman Dean Murray and a bi-partisan group of 27 other state officials issued a call to State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli to conduct a forensic audit of the MTA to identify instances of waste and fraud.
Murray says that call fell on deaf ears --- weeks passed --- no response from DiNapoli --- until today. Minutes before a scheduled press conference where Murray intended to re-state his request for an audit, a letter written on the comptroller's official letterhead was hand-delivered to him, saying YES - an audit WILL BE LAUNCHED.
Recent data released by the Comptroller states that since 2002 the MTA has hiked fares and tolls by nearly 44 per cent. The MTA is raising fares again next year. Murray and his colleagues want DiNapoli to look at the MTA's payroll as well as the issue of "pension spiking." Residents of the 12-county MTA region are also taxed in various forms, including a tax that appears on their telephone bills, which subsidize the MTA. Huntington Station Assemblyman Jim Conte remarked that DiNapoli's letter agreeing to perform the audit was "one year too late."
Comptroller DiNapoli was in New York City for the day and could not be reached for comment.