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Healey Budget Bill Would Balance MBTA Budgets for One More Year
['Christian Milneil', 'Aman Shankardass', 'Meghan Volcy']
Streetsblog Massachusetts
Governor Healey has drawn up a plan to fix the MBTA's budget problems for one more year with a stash of unspent Fair Share revenues – a plan that would postpone a more permanent budget solution until her re-election campaign ends later this year.
Earlier this month, MBTA budget officials warned that the agency could face a $648 million budget gap this summer, under current funding levels (see chart above).
In 2025, when the Fair Share tax was still relatively new, lawmakers dramatically under-estimated how much revenue it would produce.
The FY2025 budget law planned to for $1.05 billion in Fair Share revenue; in fact, high-income households paid more than twice that amount.
The Governor's supplemental budget would give the T an extra $523 million to balance its FY27 operating budget, plus an additional $122 million to replenish its reserve funds (which are going to be depleted after the T pays off a $239 million budget shortfall this year).