MTA Director Proposes 9% Budget IncreasE : Transit: The $3.4-billion plan would hire 130 officers but calls for layoffs of 246 workers, mostly performing duplicate functions because of a merger. The chief says he has mandate to trim staff.

In a bid to expand security and continue ambitious rail programs, the head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority released a budget proposal Friday that calls for increasing the agency’s budget by 9% to $3.4 billion.

Although the proposal contains an increase of $300 million over last year’s county transportation spending, it calls for laying off 246 desk job employees and hiring an additional 130 transit police officers.

The proposed MTA budget, which would exceed the national budget of Zimbabwe, is scheduled to be presented to board members next week.

MTA chief Franklin White vowed this spring to reduce staff when he took over the agency, which was created when the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission and the Southern California Rapid Transit District merged. The layoffs are expected to be in the planning and administrative departments, where there is duplication among the combined staffs.

“It is very clear to me that one of the main things I was hired to do was to streamline this operation and reduce costs wherever possible,” White said. “Any effective merger should identify areas of duplication and implement consolidation of functions for the sake of efficiency.”

The layoffs will result in a saving of $20 million, which will be offset by other expenses.

Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), architect of the legislation requiring the merger of the two transit agencies, said he was pleased that the MTA has begun to tighten its belt.

“One of the goals we had for the merger was the savings of some $30 million through the elimination of duplication,” Katz said. “It’s a very good first step. . . . The good news, so far, is that the layoffs are in the administrative and not the operational areas. That shows the appropriate priority is service to the public.”

Katz, however, called for additional savings, saying that more could be achieved by eliminating “duplicative or wasteful contracts that are often given out as political goodies.”

White’s proposed budget includes a $1.2-billion capital improvements program, which will cover, for instance, continued construction of the Red Line subway. It also allocates money to hire 158 additional staff, including the 130 security officers.

Under White’s proposal, rail and bus fares would not change, nor would service be diminished, said Kim Kimball, the MTA’s acting deputy chief executive officer. Officials plan to strengthen existing anti-graffiti efforts.

Bus riders have long complained that they are given short shrift because the agency is focusing its attention on costly rail programs. For instance, the agency spends $1.25 on security for each rail passenger and 3 cents for each bus passenger.

The MTA has 45 transit officers to patrol the 3.8 passenger miles of the Red Line subway, while there are 136 transit officers for all the MTA buses that travel throughout Los Angeles County. In addition, more than 100 sheriff’s deputies patrol the Blue Line trolley, running 22 miles between Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The proposed budget calls for increased security, which would include adding 12 officers to the Red Line, 44 for buses and 75 to patrol the Green Line, which will run between Norwalk and El Segundo and open in November, 1994, Kimball said.

“We are very pleased--it will help,” said Capt. Dennis Conte of the Transit Police. “The presence of uniformed officers is the key to deterrence of crime and mischief.”

In addition to hiring security officers, the budget sets aside money for 28 other positions, including 15 positions to assist in Metrolink operations. It was unclear what the other 13 positions will be. Under the proposed budget, the MTA will have a staff of 8,889, or a 3% decrease in staffing level.

White’s proposed budget comes on the heels of his disclosure last week that the agency must drastically cut back its ambitious spending plans, which include the creation of a 400-mile rail network. The agency’s 30-year blueprint would cause a projected $20-billion shortfall because of a dramatic decline in sales tax revenue.

During the next fiscal year, a projected $95-million budget shortfall for bus and rail operations is expected. This shortfall will be covered by using reserve funds, according to MTA officials.

White said the projected shortfalls would mean that many big-ticket transit items would come under scrutiny. But the newly proposed budget provides funding for the planned Blue Line trolley, intended to run between downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena, and the Green Line.

The budget must be approved by the 13-member MTA board, an arduous process in which politicians are likely to try to protect pet projects. The MTA has said a budget will be approved by the end of June. The layoffs will occur in the first four to six months after the budget is adopted, MTA spokesman Jim Smart said.

In an unrelated matter Friday, the MTA’s ad hoc headquarters committee reviewed three proposals for a headquarters site. In a 2-1 vote, committee members decided to recommend the Union Station Gateway project, the site originally proposed by the RTD.