Reason 3.5 Million Why No One Trusts the MTA

At a time when the MTA is crying poverty, the MTA is busy doling out $3.5 million more in raises to headquarters employees.

Between March 2008 and March 2009, 140 directors, managers and other employees who work in the MTA's main Madison Avenue offices received raises, according to a Post analysis of agency records. Of these bump-ups, 79 came without title changes.

In the same period, the Midtown HQ's headcount surged by 43 staffers to 695, records show.

The new hires included a $75,000-a-year photographer, a $117,000-per-year director of police support and a $134,204-a-year director of workforce development. Also, for $172,000 a year, it brought on a "chief diversity officer" who is supposed to help give contracts to minority-owned businesses. All were newly created positions.

Overall, payroll at headquarters rose 6.7 percent to $55.5 million.

The MTA succeeded in getting a significant raise and a cash infusion from the state, which includes higher tolls and fare hikes and a massive increase in payroll taxes in NYC metro area counties.

Meanwhile, various capital projects are severely overbudget and wont be finished for years after their originally scheduled completion dates, including the Fulton Street Transit Hub. Other projects are getting strung out, further increasing the overall cost while reducing the annual costs slightly.

This is a microcosm of what has happened across the nation as governments engage in out of control spending and rely on taxpayers and the private sector for ever more funding (via taxes, fees, fares, and tolls) while the private sector declines during the recession.