Metro Board of Directors adopted the budget for fiscal year 2013. It is Item 54 on the consent calendar of Board meeting underway.
Here is the news release:

Metro Adopts Fiscal Year 2013 Budget

• Online: http://www.metro.net/about/financebudget/
  Select > Budgets, Select > Fiscal Year 2013 Budget

Metro’s Board of Directors today adopted a $4.5 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012 at the board meeting held May 24 at Metro headquarters.

Metro’s FY 2013 budget, which is balanced with no shortfall, does not propose raising fares, which already rank among the lowest in the nation. Metro’s farebox recovery will stay at 28 percent, again near the bottom of any major operator, and passenger loads also will be low compared to other transportation agencies in the same range.

The FY 2013 budget includes the following: $1.467 billion for transit operations, $278.5 million for deferred maintenance of Metro’s rolling stock of buses and trains, $1.084 billion for construction of Measure R transit projects, $134.5 million for other capital improvements, such as bus maintenance facilities, $236.5 million for a robust highway program; $339.5 million for debt service obligations and $974.7 million in subsidies distributed by Metro to fund Metrolink, regional operations and transit projects throughout Los Angeles County.

Against the backdrop of high gas prices, Metro will be offering commuters and others viable public transit alternatives with new light rail service on the Expo Line connecting downtownLos AngelesandCulver Cityand the Metro Orange Line busway extension to the Metrolink/Amtrak station in Chatsworth. Metro also will bolster express bus service on the Harbor Transitway and the I-10 between downtown andEl Monteas the ExpressLanes congestion pricing demonstration project debuts

Highway projects include the I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project, the High Desert Corridor, the SR-710 north gap closure and the widening or other enhancements on various stretches of the I-5, I-605, I-710 south, and SR-138. Efforts will continue to construct sound walls and implement Metro’s freeway beautification program.

Metro CEO Art Leahy stressed a renewed focus on customer service with a strong emphasis on reliability, cleanliness and courtesy. Metro is purchasing hundreds of new buses and rail cars and catching up on years of deferred maintenance for Metro’s rolling stock. Stations will be cleaner, safer, and there will be better signage so that customers who speak a multitude of languages can better navigate the Metro system.

The budget restricts hiring new employees except to fill positions needed to deliver Measure R projects and operate new services. Moreover, Metro has set in motion a program to recruit and train the next generation of managers and operations employees to allow for a smoother generational transition.

Metro funding comes largely from local transportation sales tax revenue along with transit assistance and grants from the state and federal governments, farebox revenue, and other revenue sources such as advertising, land leases and commercial filming.

The FY 13 budget is $337.3 million or 8.1 percent more than the current $4.178 billion Metro budget. This reflects a significant expansion of the Measure R program in the next fiscal year. In the new fiscal year Metro will be spending $1.560 billion on Measure R projects and programs compared to expenditures of $1.278 billion this fiscal year. In addition, Metro will be spending $35.2 million to operate the new Expo light rail line in FY 13.

Thanks to Measure R, the half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2008, Metro is overseeing the largest public works programAmericahas seen in decades. Projects underway and about to start construction are designed to stabilize and downsize the region’s worst traffic to manageable levels while generating hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect jobs, stimulating the economy, and improving air quality.

However, the reality is that Measure R does not include enough funds to support operations for all the new rail projects in the pipeline. A reduction in state or federal funding, or a dip in the local economy or ridership will endanger the balanced budget presented.

In terms of the budget, Leahy said it’s prudent to flag these risks now so that Metro’s Board can avoid future roadblocks that could detour crucial progress in this decade. In that sense, FY 13 will be a pivotal period for Metro andLos AngelesCountyin more ways than one.

Metro-089