T approves $20M dip into reserves

By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

The MBTA board approved a spending plan today that will depend heavily on money from its rainy day fund and on refinancing its current debts to cover a $75 million gap. There will be no fare increase in 2009, but the head of the T has refused to rule out a 2010 hike.

The proposed budget, which would take effect July 1, takes $20 million from the T's $55 million rainy day fund. In addition, the T would restructure $50 million in debt under the plan, adding to the cost of future payments, and find $5 million in savings in the coming budget year, partly by hiring fewer administrators.

"I feel as if I'm on the Titanic," said Grace Shepard, the newest member of the board. "You just have destroyed several of the life rafts."

The Riders Union and other consumer groups have been lobbying state legislators to bail out the T, arguing that riders cannot afford more hikes. So far, Governor Deval Patrick's administration has talked about restructuring the state's transportation agencies and raising money from proposed casinos, but he has not laid out a specific plan to plug all the financial gaps.

Grabauskas has also been lobbying state and federal government leaders to put more money into the system. In an interview Wednesday, he declined to comment on fare hikes beyond the coming year.

"I don't think you can predict that far ahead," he said. ". . . Everybody knows there's a problem. We're trying to find a solution."

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