CEO Accents - SARTA - Stark Area Regional Transit Authority

From CEO, Kirt Conrad

We are trying to complete our budget for 2010, but received some bad news from the State of Ohio last week. SARTA’s state funding was cut an additional $100,000 from last year. The General Assembly and the Governor continue to quibble on how to balance a nearly $1 billion projected shortfall for 2010. Throughout all of this, transit has been hit hard. In 2001, the public transportation agencies serving 60 of Ohio’s 88 counties received $43 million. This was cut to $17 million the 2008-2009 State Fiscal Year (SFY) and further reduced to $14 million by the end of SFY 2009 (the state fiscal year started July 1). The current budget programmed only $10.7 million for transit. This translates into a reduction from $657,000 in 2001 to $117,000 for 2010. When combined with $1.1 million loss in sales tax revenue from 2008 to 2009, SARTA was forced to cut service 12% in September, cut holidays, and eliminate Sunday service.

Other systems in the state have made--or are planning--similar cuts to SARTA. Cincinnati METRO, is proposing a 12% cut and a 25 cent fare increase because of their $12 million shortfall. Greater Cleveland RTA will have to cut all or part of 32 routes because of an $18 million decline in sales tax. Dayton, Columbus, and Toledo are all cutting service or raising fares. According to the Lorain Chronicle Telegram’s December 2nd article “County Kills Transit Routes,” all Lorain County’s fixed routes will be terminated on December 31st. Lorain County (with a population of 300,000) will be the largest county in Ohio without fixed route coverage. Nearly 400 jobs in the county will be impacted because of this cut.

SARTA has sent letters to our state representatives and senators about the proposed cuts. We are also working with the Ohio Public Transportation Association, which we are members, and their lobbyists to retain funding on the state side.

On the federal side, we are still waiting for Congress to pass a spending bill for Federal Fiscal Year 2010 which started on October 1, 2009. As such, we are in the second month of a new spending year without any federal spending authority. This could slow down bus purchases, preventative maintenance, and other capital projects if a bill is not passed soon. Last year, SARTA actually had to borrow from Huntington Bank to finance the preventative maintenance reimbursable grants until Congress passed a spending bill. This type of borrowing is not uncommon and other transit systems in Ohio have resorted to it.

All of this uncertainty comes at a time we are trying to finish our budget for 2010. I want to thank Tom Bernabei for balancing the budget earlier this year. His work kept SARTA going; however, we are not out of the woods yet. We are still looking at a possible $450,000 shortfall for next year. Small changes in our health coverage could save over $250,000 per year. We are looking at other reductions in areas that do not impact our service on the streets. No one likes changes, but if we make small changes now, we can avoid major changes later next year.

Please let me know if you have any questions on the budget or our direction next year. I look forward to providing the best transportation service to Stark County in 2010 and beyond.