It’s been over a year since Sound
Transit CEO Rogoff presented his 2019 budget to the Sound Transit Board. The initial 23 pages of the 232-page
document provided an overview of Sound Transit’s plans for 2017-2041. The Long Range Financial Plan included
projections of sources of revenue, how the funds will be spent, and ridership
for the various transit modes.
Previous posts have detailed how
the 2019 budget’s long-range claims for light rail ridership ignored the
limitations of light rail routed through the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel
(DSTT). That Rogoff’s budget continued Sound Transit’s decade-long refusal to
increase bus service for the next 22 years. That anyone on the Sound Transit Board with a modicum of
public transit competence would have recognized Rogoff’s incompetence. They
clearly didn’t since they unanimously approved renewing his contract for
another three years and giving him a hefty raise.
However the rest of the 247-page budget,
in keeping with previous budgets, provided the details about where the money is
coming from and how the money was to be spent. Projected revenue and financial sources for 2019 were
provided and compared with 2017 and 2018.
Similar comparisons for 2019 projected expenditures were included for operations
and maintenance, salaries and benefits, services, and administration.
Of particular import were 2019
budget details on how the transit modes would deal with the need to
provide public transit.
Projected ridership for five transit modes was compared with previous years. Detailed comparisons about how
the 2019 money was to be spent on Link, Express Bus, Sounder, and Tacoma Link
were included. The budget
compared projected service, boardings, and financial performance for the four
with previous years. Operating
costs, costs per boarding, and fare box recovery comparisons were also included.
By comparison Rogoff’s 36-page, 2020
Budget doesn’t even include a Table of Contents. It’s called a “Summary of the 2020 proposed agency budget”
claiming “We are here to provide information”. The budget 2020 “information” included “”Annual revenue and
appropriation for all agency expenditures” with charts showing revenue and
funding sources, transit operations, debt service, and system and non-system
expansion.
Separate charts showed projected
2020 funding for the transit modes and details of how some of the money will be
used for light rail fleet expansion, funding for the different Link
extensions, Sounder improvements, and bus system expansion and I-405 BRT.
The budget concluded with charts
showing the timeline for 10/24 overviews of the budget and financial plan with
Finance and Audit Committee and Sound Transit Board. They were followed by a 10/31 budget presentation to the
Citizen Oversight Panel and a 11/7 Executive Committee overview of budget.
The budget timeline concluded with
12/12 final budget recommendations from Executive Committee and System
Expansion Committee. The final
budget recommendation from Finance and Audit Committee and board meeting to
approve 2020 Budget and Transit Improvement plan are scheduled for 12/19.
It’s now been nearly 2 months
since the 2020 budget was presented to the board. It’s not clear what was presented to the committees during
the October and November reviews. It’s
unlikely those reviews or any December reviews have materially changed the
budget or will delay its final approval by the board.
What’s “remarkable” is Rogoff’s
2020 budget for funding Sound Transit operations during the year is limited to
a single chart. Where previous budgets have included 25-30 pages showing how
funds will be spent on Link, ST Express, Sounder, and Tacoma Link, the 2020 budget only details how much
money each mode will get.
Rogoff’s operating budget fails to
detail how the funds will be spent during 2020 on Salaries & Benefits,
Services, or Materials & Supplies for the four transit modes and how those
expenditures compare with previous years.
It also neglects to
provide similar comparisons for projected performance data like service
provided, operating costs, ridership, and fare box recovery.
The bottom line is Rogoff’s 2020 operating
budget fails any rational accounting standard. (It also raises questions as to
how one could even audit the budget)
Its emphasis on funding light rail expansion continues his failure to
recognize the DSTT capacity limitations.
It’s way past time for the Sound Transit Board and the Seattle Times
Traffic Lab to acknowledge that reality
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