Youngkin proposes using NoVa investment fund to support Metro

In a state budget amendment, Gov. Glenn Youngkin pledged to support Metro with an additional $133.7 million amid a projected shortfall for the transit agency. The pledge came with a caveat: It would strip funding from a transit investment fund used by Northern Virginia jurisdictions.

Leaders from the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, the regional body of jurisdictions responsible for funding Metro, urged lawmakers to reject the amendment.

“The General Assembly worked hard and came to [a] compromise, and we believe it’s the right thing to do to reject the amendment and then re-engage with the administration to find common ground and this is not something that we believe the governor is ideologically opposed to,” said Matt de Ferranti, commission chair. 

Last week, the governor announced his pledge after the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which operates Metro, projected a $750 million shortfall next fiscal year, starting during the summer. In Youngkin’s initial budget proposed in December, he did not include any additional funds for the transit agency.

Since then Virginia’s jurisdictional partners Maryland and the District of Columbia have committed millions to Metro. D.C. has committed up to $200 million, and Maryland is pledging $150 million.

In 2018, the three jurisdictions established a dedicated funding source for Metro to help address any maintenance issues. The Virginia General Assembly created the WMATA Capital Fund to uphold its portion of the agreement.

In December, the governor told reporters that Metro must create a plan to address the change in ridership and service demand before any additional funding is appropriated.

The governor’s proposal

Youngkin’s proposal is less than the $149.5 million proposed by lawmakers, who did not intend to use funds from NVTC.

According to the budget amendment, Virginia would provide $35.7 million from the general fund to NVTC in fiscal year 2026 to support operating assistance for Metro, in addition to the $98 million supplemental allocations held by NVTC. 

The commission said in an April 12 letter to lawmakers that the $98 million was given under previous Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration for the localities to use to address the immediate Metro payments as the country emerged from the pandemic. 

Under the governor’s amendment, the letter said, the commission would be required to pay its normal Metro operating bill, which is approximately $340 million, and an additional increase of $119 million in fiscal year 2025.

The funds would have helped with matching the General Assembly’s allocation to address the projected two-year, $263 million increase in Virginia’s Metro bill: $119 million in fiscal year 2025 and $144 million in 2026.

The letter states that the governor’s intended action would place an overly “disproportionate burden” on local budgets in the counties of Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun, and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church, who would “need to look to taxpayers a second time, beyond the existing local investments already being made in Metro.”

If the NVTC Trust Fund was exhausted, de Ferranti said, it would delay funding road and bike lane projects in the region.

As part of the governor’s plan, additional funds to the transit agency could increase depending on whether Metro meets the administration’s proposed criteria, including hiring a consulting firm to help the transit agency save money and to review how it is managing funds.

The firm would be required to submit its findings to WMATA by Nov. 30, as well as to the governor, and the chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations committees. 

Metro will also be required to provide a management plan to the state for approval by Jan. 15, 2025.

The commission wrote it is concerned about the “procedurally complex and overarching reporting and approval conditions” for the agency Metro on top of other regional efforts. 

“Adding more steps beyond the oversight requirements contained in [the] existing code would undo efforts to have clear lines of authority and add financial uncertainty to the flow of funding, disproportionately affecting NVTC and its jurisdictions,” the letter reads.

Helping Metro

Last week, Metro joined the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments in announcing the launch of a new joint initiative to create a “unified vision” for transit service in the region as Virginia lawmakers weigh the governor’s proposal and conditions.

The initiative comes after the jurisdictions learned more about Metro’s financial challenges to maintain services. Council members also expressed interest in identifying funding and accountability solutions, both in the near and long terms.

“Our public transit network is our region’s most significant, shared asset,” said Clark Mercer, executive director for COG, who added he was pleased leaders are “seizing this valuable opportunity to collaborate and ensure the region’s public transit is positioned for long-term success.”

Council suggests Virginia reset subsidy payments to Metro amid budget shortfall

Randy Clarke, Metro’s general manager and chief executive officer, said on Friday’s The Politics Hour radio show that he expects the Board of Directors to vote on its budget next week, which avoids those “draconian” service cuts. 

According to Metro, some of the agency’s proposed changes include eliminating bus service on 67 of 135 lines, reducing bus service on 41 of 135 lines, a 20% general increase in fares and parking rates, reducing rail service and closing 10 stations.

Nearly two dozen groups, including the Coalition for Smarter Growth, Virginia Bicycling Federation and the Southern Environmental Law Center, signed a statement urging lawmakers to reject the governor’s amendment and restore the funding approved by the General Assembly.

“Failure to provide additional state funding will have dire consequences for the workforce and economy of Northern Virginia and the D.C. region,” the April 12 statement reads. “It would mean massive service cuts and fare hikes at Metro, higher transportation costs for workers, and more congestion on the roads, and discourage next generation companies and workers from locating in the D.C. region.”

While Clarke shied away from commenting on the governor’s decision to pledge less than what the General Assembly voted on, he did say that the current funding model is “complex” and “non-traditional” in the transit industry, which prevents the agency from being able to fully predict its ongoing service needs in Virginia, Maryland and D.C.

“The fact that we kinda go through this every other year is unhealthy for Metro. [Metro] can’t do good service planning, workforce planning, capital fleet planning,” Clarke said.“It’s also is not good for our jurisdictional partners.”

According to NVTC, Metro has continued to be a “key economic driver” for the commonwealth, generating $1 billion in state tax revenue annually.