Bus stop
Public outcry delays Muni cuts, but battles still loom over slashed service and new taxes

By Liam O'Donoghue

The Municipal Transportation Agency has backed off on a plan to immediately make $5 million in Muni service cuts, although the reprieve may be only temporary, given the agency's projected $32 million budget deficit.

Plans to change some bus routes and trim staff drew angry opposition at the agency's April 20 meeting, where MTA chair Cleopatra Vaughns assured the boisterous crowd that "the board is listening" to the parade of concerned riders who have packed meetings and flooded Muni with more than 600 letters and e-mails.

"I'm happy that our voice was heard," said David Tornheim of political advocacy group Central City Progressives, "but they've still got a big budget problem, and I'm afraid that these cuts aren't going away."

Muni has blamed its fiscal woes on decreased fare revenues and decreased funds from the cash-strapped city.

"Service reductions are still on the table," Muni spokesperson Maggie Lynch told the Bay Guardian, although she did say the 5 Owl and 3 Jackson lines will now be spared. "However we do this, we have to balance our budget, period."

In addition to less frequent buses on some lines and the elimination of others, the proposed budget calls for 125 layoffs, a wage freeze, and higher co-pays for health insurance.

Many transit workers are shocked that they're being asked to shoulder the bulk of the cuts only two months after MTA director Michael Burns received a $60,000 raise, which brought his salary to $280,000, making him the city's highest paid public employee.

Ellen Murray, who's been a Muni operator for 19 years, told us, "Most drivers are outraged that Burns got this raise and then turned around to attack both riders and drivers to resolve Muni's deficit."

Speaking about the raise, Lynch conceded, "I don't think anyone was going to claim the timing on that was spectacular. It wasn't." But she said the raise came as part of a contract extension and was based on the salaries paid by similar agencies. Furthermore, she said, Burns is giving back 15 percent of his pay, as Mayor Gavin Newsom asked of city employees making six-figure salaries.

Although neither Lynch nor Burns are publicly talking about new taxes as a means of closing the budget gap, some MTA staffers have privately said they're studying the idea of increased parking or gasoline taxes, a solution supported by a recent study.

Nonprofit group Transportation for a Livable City believes such taxes would be appropriate under the city's "transit first" policy and has released studies estimating that a 10 percent increase in the commercial parking tax would raise $22 million, with $9 million of that going to Muni. The city also has the authority to charge a local gas tax, which would generate $5 million for every penny taxed on a gallon of gas.

Lynch noted that both ideas would need voter approval and wouldn't help with the current crisis.

Another possible source of future revenue is Sup. Jake McGoldrick's proposal to increase transit impact development fees, which is scheduled for a May 10 hearing before the Board of Supervisors' Land Use Committee.

The current TIDF of $5 a square foot for new downtown office developments was enacted in 1981 as a one-time charge to subsidize Muni expansions that the new buildings would necessitate.

The revised ordinance would expand fees depending on use, from $9 for hotels and industrial spaces to $35 for retail and entertainment projects. McGoldrick's office estimates increased revenues of up to $320 million over the next 20 years for Muni under his proposal, which the business community is trying to water down.

Get involved The MTA board could consider the cuts as early as its May 4 meeting. Call (415) 554-6896 for details and updates. The Board of Supervisors' Land Use Committee meets May 10, 1 p.m., City Hall, Room 263, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl., S.F. Steven T. Jones contributed to this report.