The bottom line is not that that rail has already run out of money and on the verge of running out of time, but both the city and state are technically insolvent and are also running out of time.  It makes no difference as to weather the funding comes from the general excise tax, transient accommodation tax or property taxes.   In total, they all do not produce the income stream to cover the costs necessary to pay off the public workers long-term liabilities to both the pension fund and the post employment benefits fund while simultaneously paying for the day-to-day operations and maintenance of their respective governments. The only way they have stayed afloat to date is by going yet deeper into debt through the issuance of  general obligation bonds which are used more to pay off older bonds and less to build a better future for the people they govern.