[Pequaman]

Originally Posted by ENFD240

oh no, i have no problem grasping that nassau can't afford it.. never said they could. but neither can the mta, who you came out wildly swinging at...

i'm lol'ing at the inconsistency in your blame and your "facts". first nassau was 'taking on most of the cost', then you say "NC subsidizes about 1/3rd" when in reality (and as stated in the report) it's 10 percent...

Inconsistency? really? I'm sorry if my viewing of LIBus as a separate money-losing entity under Nassau County ownership caused any confusion. We obviously don't think alike (refer to the GM-Saturn-Olds relationship).

My facts are correct. You should double-check yours and not simply look at a pie chart as your false premise that Nassau only pays 10%. What about the giant 54% in dedicated taxes that Nassau county pays towards LIBS in the form of the Transportation District Tax (MCTD) and the Personal Mobility Tax (PMT)? What about the exorbitant pensions, benefits and free health care for life that Nassau County is going to be forever burdened with?? If you add in the above, Nassau's contribution toward LIBS likely goes well above 33% and probably closer to 50%. You probably should have actually read this first > http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agenci...StudyFINAL.pdf before making 3 posts of irrelevant, incorrect information.

Now, as seanx4 pointed out on page 2 with his excellent due diligence: the SALARY WAGE & BENEFITS component taking up a MASSIVE 80% of libs budget, is the major beef that Nassau County has with MTA. I am sure the MTA needs libus much more than Nassau county does! I hope we nix it to reduce the size and power of these giant vampire squid unions. Either that or raise fares to reduce the county's burden and distribute fliers to every single rider to show them why we need to raise fares. See..Libus is more than appears to be on surface. It's a fine example of how unions throw the blame at everyone else except themselves. They blame Mangano, taxpayers and nassau county.... and riders believe it!! Again this is a major reason NY is in shambles, everybody fighting against each other when the problem is fairly obvious.

Here's a look at some public information of Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Long Island Bus SALARY component. This is a rough copy/paste of the top 100 salaries out of 1200 total. The salary next to "Annual" is followed by YTD salary which includes Overtime. Names are left out of course but again this is public information. (Note the lines in RED are instances where OT exceeded 50% of base salary).. Remember, with each of these salaries is a giant pension burden to the county, so double what you see here to get an idea of the redundancy, waste and actual deficit footprint it leaves on us):


-Other Agency Support Annual $197,762 $200,250
-Other Agency Support Annual $166,130 $166,994
-Vice President/General Counsel Annual $145,078 $147,421
-Chief Information Officer Annual $140,734 $142,596
-Line Supervisor - Mf Annual $70,208 $132,758
-Line Supervisor - Mf Annual $70,208 $130,791
-Deputy General Counsel Annual $129,354 $129,738
-Line Supervisor - Mf Annual $70,208 $128,388
-Senior Director Of Claims And Litigation Annual $123,567 $124,123
-Mechanic - Farebox Rv Annual $59,582 $122,598
-Line Supervisor - Mf Annual $70,208 $118,266
-Storekeeper - Mf Annual $59,582 $115,052 <-- wtf 2x base
-Line Supervisor - Mf Annual $70,208 $113,446
-Line Supervisor Rvc Annual $70,208 $113,376
-Line Supervisor Rvc Annual $70,208 $113,248
-Administrator Data And Prod Annual $112,867 $113,186
-Mechanic - Mf Annual $59,582 $112,922
-Regional Bus Merger Team Annual $112,179 $112,247
-Mechanic - Mf Annual $59,582 $111,284 2x base
-General Superintendent Transportation Annual $106,664 $111,239
-Director Project Management Annual $110,040 $110,938
-Other Agency Support Annual $110,000 $110,307
-Mechanic - Mf Annual $59,582 $108,703
-Paratransit Transportation Coordinator Annual $57,732 $108,361
-Mechanic - Mf Annual $59,582 $108,005
-Dir. Fac Maint And Capital Annual $106,077 $107,633
-Director Of Human Resources Annual$106,090 $106,557
-Other Agency Support Annual $104,027 $106,466
-Line Supervisor - Mf Annual $70,208 $106,296
-Line Supervisor Rvc Annual $70,208 $105,352
-Sr Director Procurement Services Annual $103,862 $104,693
-Bus Operator Mitchel Field Annual $55,994 $104,677 ~2x base
-Dispatcher Mf Annual $70,208 $104,652
-Line Supervisor - Mf Annual $70,208 $104,453
-Mechanic - Mf Annual $59,582 $104,298
-Mechanic - Mf Annual $59,582 $104,237
-Bus Operator Mitchel Field Annual $55,994 $103,982 ~2x base
-Mechanic - Mf Annual $59,582 $103,883
-Mechanic - Mf Annual $59,582 $103,793
- Dispatcher Mf Annual $70,208 $103,462
-Paratransit Transportation Annual$56,600 $103,362
-Line Supervisor Rvc Annual$70,208 $102,846
-Bus Operator Mitchel Field Annual$55,994 $102,477
-Depot Training Supervisor Mf Annual $59,676 $102,278
-Assistant Controller Accounting Annual $101,465 $101,895
-Dispatcher Mf Annual $70,208 $101,805
-Dispatcher Mf Annual $70,208 $101,289
-Director Of Communications (Pio) Annual $100,786 $101,214
-Dispatcher Mf Annual $70,208 $100,649
-Dispatcher Mf Annual $70,208 $100,452
-Depot Manager Fixed Route Maintenance Annual $95,196 $99,975
- Mechanic - Mf Annual $59,582 $99,709
-Mechanic - Rvc Annual $59,582 $99,582
-Mechanic - Mf Annual $59,582 $99,103
-General Superintendent Transportation Rvc Annual $95,177 $99,010
-Command Center Dispatcher Annual $78,933 $98,388
-Bus Operator Rockville Centre Annual $55,994 $98,140
-Command Center Dispatcher Annual $76,569 $97,870
-Bus Operator Mitchel Field Annual $55,994 $97,741
-Assistant Controller Disbursements Annual $97,027 $97,289
-Mechanic - Mf Annual $59,582 $97,131
-Mechanic - Rvc Annual $59,582 $96,987
-Bus Operator Mitchel Field Annual $55,994 $95,597
-Director Of Paratransit Transportation Annual $91,810 $95,588
-Project Manager Annual $94,303 $95,427
-Dispatcher Mf Annual $70,208 $94,845
-Storekeeper - Mf Annual $59,582 $94,519
-Manager Application Development Annual $94,228 $94,379
-Dispatcher Mf Annual $70,208 $94,287
-Mechanic - Mf Annual $59,582 $94,137
-Bus Operator Mitchel Field Annual $55,994 $93,300
-Bus Operator Mitchel Field Annual $55,994 $93,247
-Mechanic's Helper Rv Annual $53,030 $92,344
-Dispatcher Mf Annual $70,208 $92,158
-Senior Project Manager Annual $90,000 $92,128
-Dispatcher Mf Annual $70,208 $92,116
-Bus Operator Mitchel Field Annual $55,994 $91,736
-Bus Operator Mitchel Field Annual $55,994 $91,695
-Senior Project Manager Annual $89,169 $91,152
-Bus Operator Mitchel Field Annual $55,994 $91,129
-Bus Operator Mitchel Field Annual $55,994 $91,068
-Bus Operator Mitchel Field Annual $55,994 $91,026
-Bus Operator Rockville Centre Annual $55,994 $91,015
-Mechanic - Mf Annual $48,006 $90,963
-Mechanic - Body Mf Annual $59,582 $90,479
-Mechanic - Mf Annual $59,582 $90,459
-Bus Operator Mitchel Field Annual $55,994 $90,419
-General Superintendent Support Services Annual $89,324 $90,354
-Mechanic - Farebox Rv Annual $59,582 $90,275
-Bus Operator Rockville Centre Annual $55,994 $90,254
-Bus Operator Rockville Centre Annual $55,994 $90,247


The excessive waste runs about 30 pages deep (almost half of the employees!) .. Am I picking on LIBus employees? No, I am picking on the unions for allowing it to be run like a free-for-all and for looting of taxpayers. Storekeepers pulling in $105k G's -- 2x their base salaries via OT abuse?? C'mon man, who's really to blame here? The MTA is. Kudos to sean sean sean for his excellent research and I'm going to quote his work below.. because he really nailed it on the head and made a great comparison via a better run Hamptons road transit vs the poorly run, wasteful & bloated MTA Long Island BUS: (from this post here)

Originally Posted by Sean sean sean sean

TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES:
-LI BUS: $128,525,707 (100%)
-HRT: $74,479,805 (100%)

MATERIALS, TRANSPORTATION & "OTHER":
-LI BUS: $26,741,378 (20%)
-HRT: $31,359,623 (42%)

SALARY, WAGES & BENEFITS:
-LI BUS: $101,784,329 (80%)
-HRT: $43,120,182 (58%)

I think that pretty much speaks for itself. Maintenance costs? Pfft...a mere 20% of the budget, and $5 million less than a comparably sized system in Virginia. Purchasing new vehicles? LI Bus spent $0 on them in 2009. Redundant, overpaid administrative positions? Sure....they're part of the problem, but when we're talking about $102 million dollars a year it puts in perspective how much more bloat is out there than a handful of six-figure pencil pushers. You can talk about what people "deserve", what you think "is fair" and "tough jobs" or "agendas" all day, but if you think your taxes are unreasonably high and would like that to change, then looking at something like this (and the breakdown is the same for all other government agencies) should really drive home where the problem is and what is needed to fix it. This is the bottom line, beyond all the sentimental BS and emotions and opinions: You can't pay people Don Draper money for doing Ralph Kramden jobs.

Some positions do require the safety of 40 passengers as JIW stated and some are so simple that technology or streamlining operations could replace them. But the safety of 40 passengers is not valid.. does that mean we should go out and pay roller coaster operators at any amusement park a $Quarter million DOLLARS a year?/ $100K+OT+Benefits+Lucrative Pension+free health care for life and retirement in 20 years (a $100k union salary is effectively $250k/yr salary). Again, this is nothing personal against LIBS. But the problem is, this abuse is rampant across all other government agencies . And the unions are the main enablers in the abuse because it helps them to grow in size and power.