PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The new Pennsylvania budget allows SEPTA to step back from the fiscal cliff — but only temporarily.
Facing a $240 million deficit, SEPTA sought $161 million in new state funding. The budget deal signed Thursday night, though, didn’t increase the share of the state sales tax that would go to mass transit, as Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed. Lawmakers instead provided a short-term fix that gives SEPTA about $51 million in new money.
Legislators plan to revisit transit funding after their summer recess. It’s not clear whether the sales tax proposal would still be on the table, said SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch.
“[We] don’t know if in the fall we’re looking at doing it in the same way, or if there may be another proposal for getting [SEPTA] to the number that we need,” Busch said.
It’s too soon to say how long SEPTA can go without raising fares or reducing service, but Busch said the clock is ticking.
“We’re into the fiscal year where we’re without those COVID relief funds, so we need to find a way to plug that budget gap that we have,” he said. “There really are only two options that SEPTA has to remedy a situation where we have an operating shortfall, and those would be fare increases and service cuts.”
To avoid either scenario, Busch said SEPTA will continue to push for a permanent funding solution.