Metro News Release
For immediate release: April 28, 2011
Metro's budget outlook improves for FY12
Request for increased support from jurisdictions reduced
Metro General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Richard Sarles reported today during a meeting of the Board of Directors that next fiscal year’s budget estimate has been adjusted to reflect an improvement of $6 million, based on nine months of actual spending data, job growth forecasts, and rising gas prices, which support conservative ridership growth projections.
The revised FY 2012 budget means that Metro expects its operating expenses to be $2 million less than the FY12 budget originally proposed in January, or essentially flat. The update also includes a revised request for an increase in operating subsidies from the jurisdictions, from the original request of $72 million, down to $66 million.
The General Manager’s budget proposal does not include fare increases or major service cuts, and incorporates $74.2 million in operating cost reductions. To provide the revised level of support, the Board has a number of options to consider, including the request for $66 million in additional jurisdiction subsidies.
Those alternatives include monetizing certain ground leases, budgeting preventive maintenance at FY 2011 levels, adjusting reserve for wages, as well as realigning certain bus services and changing the frequency of late-night, weekend rail service.
To encourage public feedback on the options, Metro has scheduled a series of six public meetings from May 16 to 19 in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Open house information and town hall style meetings will precede the official public hearings with members of the Metro Board of Directors and executive leadership team available to talk with and answer questions from the public.
The public hearing portion of the sessions will provide an opportunity for comment on the docket of budget actions. To review the docket, visit http://www.wmata.com/hearings. Town halls present an opportunity for members of the public to learn about Metro’s current work to improve service and comment on any topic, including subjects that are not on the docket.
The Board is slated to act on the FY 2012 budget in June, and any service changes they adopt would take effect September 2011.
Details and directions for transit travel to the public sessions are available on Metro’s website. Open houses will begin at 5:30 p.m. The town hall meetings will start at 6 p.m., followed by the public hearings at 6:45 p.m. The hearings will take place as follows:
Monday, May 16
Treetops Professional Place, Atrium – Hearing 556
8181 Professional Place
Hyattsville, MD
Tuesday, May 17
George Washington Middle School Auditorium – Hearing 557
1005 Mt. Vernon Avenue
Alexandria, VA
St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church – Hearing 558
Fellowship Hall
4125 Fessenden St., NW
Washington, DC
Wednesday, May 18
Arlington County Board Room, Third Floor – Hearing 559
2100 Clarendon Boulevard
Arlington, VA
First Baptist Church of Wheaton
Fellowship Hall
10914 Georgia Ave
Wheaton, MD
Thursday, May 19
Matthews Memorial Baptist Church – Hearing 561
John H. Kearney, Sr. Fellowship Hall
2616 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., SE
Washington, DC
How to register to speak at the public hearing
To establish a witness list for the public hearings, individuals and representatives of organizations who wish to be heard at the hearings are asked to provide in writing their name, address, telephone number and organization affiliation, if any, to Office of the Secretary, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, 600 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20001. Alternatively, requests to speak may be faxed to 202-962-1133 or e-mailed to speak@wmata.com. Please submit only one speaker’s name per letter and reference the hearing number. Lists of individual speakers will not be accepted. Others present at the hearing may be heard after people who have registered have spoken. Please note that this information may be releasable to the public under the WMATA Public Access to Records Policy (PARP). The PARP can be viewed on WMATA’s website at http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/public_rr.cfm under the link marked “Legal Affairs.” Public officials will be heard first and will be allowed five minutes each to make their presentations. All other speakers will be allowed three minutes each. Relinquishing of time by one speaker to another will not be permitted.
How to submit written comments
Written statements and exhibits may be sent to the Office of the Secretary, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, 600 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001, or e-mailed to writtentestimony@wmata.com. Statements also may be faxed to 202-962-1133. Please reference the hearing number. Submissions must be received by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 24. Please note that any personal information such as name, e-mail address, address, or telephone number you provide in the statement may be releasable to the public under the WMATA Public Access to Records Policy, available at http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/public_rr.cfm.
Additionally, if people wish to participate in a survey on possible options to resolve the funding shortfall, please go to http://survey.wbanda.com/budgetsurvey/. People will be asked for their name and address and then asked to respond to questions about possible strategies for funding the shortfall. Names and addresses will not be released to anyone. This option is in addition to the ability to speak at a public hearing or to submit a written statement. The site will open by 5 p.m. on Monday, May 9 and will close at noon on Friday, May 20.
The locations of all public hearings are wheelchair accessible. Any individual who requires special assistance such as a sign language interpreter or additional accommodation to participate in the public hearings, or who requires these materials in an alternate format, should contact Danise Peña at 202-962-2511 or TTY: 202-638-3780 as soon as possible in order for Metro to make necessary arrangements.
News release issued at 3:38 pm, April 28, 2011.