The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Wednesday unveiled a preliminary operating budget for 2010 that steers clear of service cuts and further fare hikes, even as revenue from fares and real estate taxes continues to plummet at what one official called a “shocking” rate.

After reaching the brink of what some referred to as “doomsday” in 2009, a $2.3-billion bailout from the State Legislature, a 10 percent fare hike, and $64 million in internal belt-tightening allowed the MTA Wednesday to forecast a balanced budget for next year that includes a modest surplus of $39 million. A negligible surplus of $1 million is predicted for 2011, and “manageable deficits” are expected in 2012 and 2013, MTA officials said.

Contrasted against the $1.8-billion deficit that the agency faced before being rescued by Albany, the projections were a welcome bit of good news at Wednesday’s meeting of the MTA Board. But the news was tempered by new figures on two of the MTA’s main revenue sources. Both were worse than already dire projections from earlier this year.

In the first six months of this year, the MTA collected just $190.1 million in state real estate taxes, compared with $526 million over the same period in 2008 and $837.1 million for the same period in 2007. The preliminary budget anticipates the MTA will collect $577 million in state real estate taxes in 2010.

The MTA also predicted closing out 2009 with 2.6 billion riders using all its agencies – a steep drop from last year’s figure of 2.7 billion – a 50-year record. Ridership is expected to fall further next year before rebounding in 2011.

(Source: Newsday)