MTA’s $7.8B payroll, $75M overtime payments hit record highs: watchdog

An MTA employee wearing a mask and gloves sweeps a subway station while another one drives a train.

The MTA’s payroll reached a record-high $7.8 billion last year, according to the fiscal watchdog group Empire Center for Public Policy.

The state agency’s total payroll surged $663 million, or 9%, in 2023, while its overtime spending leapt $75 million, or 6%, to a total $1.37 billion.

The previous record was in 2018, when overtime clocked in at $1.35 billion.

The MTA’s payroll surged 9% in 2023, while its overtime spending climbed to a record $1.37 billion, according to data from the Empire Center. Getty Images

In all, 724 MTA employees each earned more than $100,000 in overtime in 2023, the Empire Center said.

Of the MTA’s eight subsidiaries, Long Island Rail Road’s employees raked in the highest per-worker overtime, averaging $26,028 in 2023, the Empire Center found.

In addition, the agency’s subsidiaries shelled out $261 million in retroactive pay, Empire Center determined using payroll records.

MTA spokesperson Joana Flores said the agency’s “overall budget is down in real dollars compared to prior years.”

She also defended the agency’s overtime.

Seven hundred and twenty-four MTA employees each garnered over $100,000 in overtime last year. Getty Images

“The MTA is providing a ton more service with record on-time performance, and overtime, which is authorized in accordance with collective bargaining agreements, is a strategic tool used to keep trains running and the system safe,” Flores said.

“That strategy has paid off — crime is down and on-time performance has surged, with schedules that include a substantially higher number of trains.”