Montesano calls for forensic audit of MTA

The payroll tax ... threats to cut funding for the Long Island bus .. rising fares on the Long Island Railroad and the elimination of bus routes in Nassau. Those were some recent measures taken to address the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's financial quandary.
   
Assemblyman Michael Montesano (R-Glen Head), who represents Salisbury and parts of East Meadow, told reporters on Monday that he called on Gov. David Paterson to halt taxpayer-funded revenue enhancers — specifically the MTA payroll tax — until a independent forensic audit of the transportation authority is conducted.
   
The MTA employer payroll tax, passed by the state Legislature in 2009, requires businesses, non-profit organizations and school districts to pay a tax that amounts to .34 percent of the total payroll. The tax is in effect only for counties served by the MTA, including Nassau and Suffolk. Several lawsuits have been filed, most recently by Nassau County, against the tax.
   
During a Monday afternoon press conference at the Hicksville LIRR station, Montesano announced his plan to reform what he calls a broken system operated by the MTA. 
   
"I'm calling upon the governor to withhold payment of the MTA payroll tax until there is a audit of the MTA," Montesano said. "We need a financial control board to take over the MTA's management and finances."
   
“Long Islanders cannot continue to bail out a broken agency," the assemblyman added.
   
Montesano's co-sponsored bill includes the creation of an independent Fiscal Control Board that will be charged with auditing the operating budget of the transit agency. The aim is to create transparency and improve operations.
   
Montesano was joined by Suffolk lawmakers Dean Murray, a Republican assemblyman from East Patchogue, and Daniel LoSquadro, the Republican minority leader of the Suffolk County Legislature. 
   
"The fact we haven't had a forensic audit yet is insulting," Murray said.
   
Aaron Donovan, an MTA spokesman, said the agency, which is audited by multiple organizations, is not opposed to a forensic version.