Beyond Chron story on the MTA hearing yesterday. Both Charles and I spoke at the hearing. My quote is at the bottom of the article. sk Battle Over Muni Begins by Casey Mills for BeyondChron.com http://www.beyondchron.org/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=110&twindow=&mad=&sde tail=1204 December 8, 2004 The fight over how to close a projected $9 to $15 million budget gap for Muni over the next fiscal year kicked into full gear last night, as Muni chief Michael Burns unveiled his proposals and concerned citizens weighed in on them at a Municipal Transportation Authority (MTA) meeting. The public voice remained almost unanimously opposed to fee hikes and service cuts, and supportive towards increasing revenue through taxation on car owners and downtown interests. Burns' proposals ranged from ideas as regressive as increasing Muni fares to $1.75, to as progressive as raising the fees at public parking garages. A coalition of environmentalists, pedestrian and bicycle activists, and public transportation advocates provided strong arguments for the latter. Perhaps the strongest testimony came for making car owners pay their fair share of the social cost of driving. Speakers strongly supported the fee hike and public garages, in addition to an increase in parking meter rates and an expansion of their hours of operation, a parking tax increase, and local vehicle environmental impact fee. "It's time the MTA, as a multi-modal transportation agency, to ask motorists to pay the full social, environmental, and public health costs that they impose on the rest of us," said Transportation For a Livable City's Jeremy Nelson prior to the meeting, "instead of balancing their budget exclusively on the backs of transit riders as they have in recent years." A sizable group of Muni employees also attended, speaking to prevent cuts in services. The cuts would decrease the salaries of many workers despite their union, Local 258, giving up more than 200 positions over the past two years. "They're trying to balance this budget on the backs of riders and drivers," said Ellen Murray, a 19-year employee of Muni. "There are provisions available to make downtown property owners and big-time C.E.O.s pay their fair share, but they're not being used. Instead, we have a menu of fee and tax increases aimed at the working class, and not the big guys." Murray wasn't the only one arguing that Burns did not provide enough options to raise revenue to the public. Green Party activist Susan King, for example, raised the possibility of a tax rate increase on private parking facilities. She also proposed a downtown tax assessment district to explore the benefit businesses there enjoy from Muni getting many of their workers to their jobs, as well as an in crease in the Transportation Development Impact Fee. "I just don't think they're looking at these options," said King. "Instead, they're looking to the riders, which is the absolute wrong place to be looking." In addition to a litany of possible cuts and new sources of revenue, Burns asked the MTA to declare a fiscal emergency. The emergency would allow the MTA to pass proposals for balancing the budget without obtaining an Environmental Impact Report first - otherwise, the process for all proposals, be they required to go to a ballot or to the Board of Supervisors, would remain the same. Burns claimed he hoped to obtain the declaration to speed up the balancing of Muni's budget, which by law must be done before the end of each fiscal year. The MTA will meet again on January 4 to decide on how to best solve their budget crisis.