Orange County Deputy Executive Harry Porr Resigns From MTA Board
Orange County Deputy Executive Harry Porr resigned from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board in March after serving in the post for just under two years.
Porr told The Epoch Times on June 14 that he had left the board to concentrate on county affairs.
He was first appointed to the MTA board two years ago and reappointed in June 2022 to another three-and-half-year term.
Several people have applied for the vacated post, according to County Executive Steve Neuhaus.
Each county within the MTA service district gets a seat on the 21-member governing board; prospects are recommended by county executives, nominated by the governor, and confirmed by the state Senate.
New York City has four members on the board, and labor and advisory groups take six non-voting seats.
Currently, the board has two unfilled posts from Orange and Rockland counties, according to MTA.
Even though Orange County is entitled to one board seat, it shares one vote with three other counties in the Hudson Valley, Rockland, Dutchess, and Putnam, which limits its influence on board decisions.
The main MTA service in the area, the Port Jervis line—operated by NJ Transit through an agreement—meanders through Orange and Rockland before it reaches New York City through New Jersey.
Besides train tickets, MTA taps 0.375 percent of sales taxes in Orange County and charges payroll mobility taxes on businesses within its district to finance its operations.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, MTA ridership dropped significantly, and its already-strained financial situation worsened, prompting the leadership to consider canceling the Port Jervis line at one time.
A proposal in this year’s state budget was to increase MTA payroll mobility taxes on certain businesses to fill the financial shortfalls, but it later got scaled down to only apply to New York City due to strong opposition from affected counties.
Since 2020, MTA ridership has steadily increased, though still short of pre-pandemic levels.
In April, average weekday ridership on all Metro-North lines was around 180,000, about two-thirds of the same month in 2019, according to the latest available data by the authority.
Metro-North consists of five train lines that run east and west of the Hudson River.
As of April, year-to-date revenues received by MTA on the Metro-North lines were about $11 million less than budgeted, whereas expenses were almost $15 million over budget.
Porr told The Epoch Times that for stable, modern, and safe MTA services in the long run, the federal government should play a bigger role in funding the operation.
“MTA is a ‘national resource,’ and it should get continuing increased and regularly scheduled federal financial assistance [from the federal government],” he said.
Before being appointed as deputy county executive of Orange County in 2018, Porr worked as the city manager in Newburgh and Long Beach of Nassau County and as village administrator of Bronxville in Westchester County.
