The MTA (MTA) is facing growing projected budget gaps over the next four years due to soaring health care and fuel costs, as it struggles to regain the level of farebox revenue it enjoyed prior to the coronavirus pandemic. While the MTA's budget remains balanced in 2026, it is projected to go further into the red over the following four years. The agency's 2027 preliminary budget is $22.8 billion. The MTA's CFO highlighted several expenses, including health care benefits for current employees and retirees, which are expected to increase by over 100% between 2019 and 2030. Electric power costs have also increased by 71% and paratransit costs by 135% over the same period. However, MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber insisted that these deficits do not represent the agency's fiscal "tsunami" after the pandemic, which was averted by a 2023 state government bailout.