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MBTA Update: Deficit Down, Pension Fund Liabilities Up
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The MBTA's Fiscal and Management Control Board met to review mixed reports about the T's finances.
One report indicates the MBTA will come in about $75 million under budget by the end of the current fiscal year. T officials say they'll use the savings to reduce the projected deficit.
On the not so positive side, the MBTA's pension fund long-term liabilities will increase substantially. These reports come out as the board prepares to vote on a proposed fare increase in two weeks, on March 7.
Guests
Rafael Mares, senior attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation. He tweets @RafaelMares2.
Charles Chieppo, research fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School and head of Chieppo Strategies, a public policy writing and advocacy firm.
More
The Boston Globe: MBTA Pension Fund’s Long-Term Liabilities Grow By $53m
- "The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s chief administrator, Brian Shortsleeve, said the T will contribute $8 million more to the $1.6 billion fund in fiscal 2017. That will bring the authority’s annual contribution to $84 million for the year that begins July 1."
Eagle-Tribune: MBTA Reports Early Progress In Controlling Runaway Overtime
- "Internal data to be released Monday at a meeting of the MBTA's fiscal management and control board will show that during the first five weeks of 2016, the agency averaged $115,000 per day in operating budget overtime, representing about a 25 percent reduction from the average $154,000 overtime per day over the full 2015 calendar year."
This segment aired on February 23, 2016.