POUGHKEEPSIE  - Assemblyman Joel M. Miller (R,C,I- Poughkeepsie) once again called on the New York State Comptroller and City of New York Comptroller to speed up efforts on an audit of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) after a troubling report recently released by the Empire Center for New York State Policy.

The report provides a detailed account of the MTA’s payroll for 2009 that indicates continued mismanagement and lack of accountability by agency officials. Miller is confident these audits, including a forensic audit, will increase awareness of what steps can be taken in the future to prevent abuse and mismanagement.

“I am very alarmed with the findings of this report, which detail the level of ineffectiveness and degree of mismanagement at the MTA,” said Miller. “With the ballooning state debt and an ongoing fiscal crisis in Albany, the MTA should not be authorizing an increase in pay for hundreds of its employees. While state officials have been forced to make tough decisions and cut spending, the MTA has chosen to continue its path of irresponsible spending. This stems from a lack of accountability.”

The report showed that for the second consecutive year, the MTA paid more than 10 percent of its 74,708 workforce $100,000 or more in total compensation. The report also revealed that although the number of MTA employees went down by almost 700 in 2009, the average total pay of MTA employees increased by 2.4 percent during the same period. It also brings to light the fact that many MTA employees make well over their base salaries, with more than 150 earning more than double – and some earning 158 percent over their base salary.

“Residents of the Hudson Valley had higher fees and additional taxes forced upon them due to the MTA’s irresponsible spending habits and this report shows that the hike in fares and taxes were not used responsibly or for the good of the state of New York,” Miller concluded.