Comptroller Elaine Phillips Holds the MTA LIRR
Accountable for Use of Your Tax Dollars
County Comptroller Elaine Phillips recently held the MTA accountable for using
Nassau taxpayers as their piggybank. Each year, Nassau taxpayers are forced to pay the MTA $36.5 million to care for Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) stations. That’s $100,000 per day, yet, many LIRR stations are in major disrepair with inadequate and decaying infrastructure. It’s insane!
Recently, Comptroller Phillips joined with County Executive Bruce Blakeman, Legislator Patrick
Mullaney, North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jen DeSena, and local officials to protect taxpayers and demand documentation of how the MTA is spending the $100,000 a day paid by you – Nassau taxpayers – to maintain and operate LIRR stations.
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Site visits to LIRR stations by the Comptroller's Office revealed crumbling concrete, pitted steel, dripping water, unsafe conditions and peeling paint at local the LIRR stations, platforms and waiting areas.
Research and analysis conducted by Comptroller Phillips also revealed that 15 of 58 LIRR stations fail to offer riders an enclosed waiting room or bathroom, and the stations that do typically close by 7 p.m. or earlier - leaving commuters and travelers out in the cold and dark with no facilities. More bad news for riders, only 21 stations open their waiting rooms on the weekend for an average of 4.6 hours a day.
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THE MTA IS CHARGING NASSAU TAXPAYERS MORE THAN YOU THINK!
You and your neighbors are funding the MTA’s budget with over $137 million a year. That’s right! In addition to the $36.5 million per year that Nassau pays the MTA for LIRR station maintenance, they are also reaching into your pockets with fees and taxes every time you register your motor vehicle, renew your driver’s license, record a mortgage and pay sales tax.
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The 12 counties served by the LIRR and Metro North also pay a NYS Mandated Local Operating Assistance to the MTA. Nassau’s annual portion is roughly $11.6 million.
Employers over a certain size* also pay an “MTA Payroll Tax” known as the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax (MCTMT). Nassau County government pays the MTA approximately $4 million a year in payroll taxes.
Worse, the MTA now wants to charge you a commuter tax known as Congestion Pricing. Last month, the MTA announced that in the first 27 days of Congestion Pricing (Jan 5-Jan 31, 2025), the new commuter tax on the Congestion Relief Zone (CRZ) in Manhattan took in $48.66 million in revenue. The MTA netted $37.5 million after expenses of running the program, putting the controversial new toll on track to generate the predicted $500 million a year from commuters.
Even with all these MTA taxes and fees, LIRR fares continue to go up. A single roundtrip peak ticket from Nassau County to NYC on the LIRR costs $29; average monthly commuter tickets in Nassau have reach a peak of $287.
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COMPTROLLER ELAINE PHILLIPS IS A TAXPAYER WATCHDOG!
Whether you drive into NYC or take the train – and even if you don’t use mass transit or go into the boroughs at all – Nassau County residents are subsidizing this mass transit system to the tune of millions of dollars with little accountability to you – the taxpayer.
As your taxpayer watchdog, Nassau County Comptroller Elaine Phillps has demanded an accounting of how your money is spent by the MTA on local LIRR stations. In fact, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has notified the MTA that federal funding may be withheld until they crackdown on waste, fraud and abuse, including fare evasion, violence, and criminal activity in the city’s transit system.
Most recently, Newsday reported that the MTA recovered less than 5% of known fare evasions last year, despite issuing invoices to unticketed riders. Of the $1.98 million in unpaid fares the LIRR billed for in the first 11 months of 2024, it recovered just $96,000. The MTA’s failure to effectively manage fare evasion is among the issues that drive costs up for Nassau County residents.
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Collectively, Nassau County taxpayers contribute more than $137 million to the MTA each year, and for that cost the MTA should provide well-maintained train stations and facilities. As of the date of this document, the Office of the Nassau County Comptroller anxiously awaits a response from MTA and LIRR management.
 *The MTA Payroll Tax applies to employers whose payroll expense for covered employees in the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District (MCTD) exceeds $312,500 in any calendar quarter. This includes employers in Nassau, Suffolk, NYC, and the counties served by Metro North. https://www.tax.ny.gov/bus/mctmt/emp.htm
 Comptroller Phillips and her team are committed to ensuring accountability and transparency in the use of Nassau County taxpayer dollars and will continue to improve efficiency and uncover and prevent waste and fraud.
If you have any questions, please feel free to call or email my office: (516) 571-2386 or NCcomptroller@nassaucountyny.gov.
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