Despite the declining prices of fuel and decreasing driver overtime costs, the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority is still suffering from declining funds because of declining revenues from the property levies allocated to TARTA by the city government.
According to TARTA controller Stacy Klink, rising foreclosure for sale inventories and declining property values have been cutting down tax revenues from real estate properties.
The last funding from the two real property levies assigned to TARTA provided the transit authority with a total of $17.7 million in revenues. James Gee, the general manager of TARTA, said he has been informed of a possible reduction of $1.1 million from the levies.
Meanwhile, funding for TARTA from state finances may be reduced by approximately $150,000 yearly because of state budget cuts.
Gee added that most other cities in Ohio are experiencing reductions in transit funding due to the erosion of property values. Several transit authorities have even eliminated some services and have increased fares to fix their budget deficiencies.
Last summer, TARTA introduced some changes to cope with budget difficulties and increases in fuel costs, including reduction of off-peak services, removal of 10-cent transfers and combination of 6 routes into 3 routes.
When fuel prices declined, commuters called for the restoration of the services, but TARTA explained that they need to evaluate first an analysis of the transit system and the stability of funding sources.
Initial recommendations from the analysis include switching from being funded by property tax to being funded by sales tax, expansion of TARTA to all areas of Lucas County and the construction of a downtown bus terminal to replace the existing loop of 5 bus stations.
According to Gee, TARTA is the only Ohio major transit authority that has not switched to sales tax as main funding source. But Toledo cannot easily switch to sales tax as a funding source because of its need to expand the service to Perrysburg before switching in compliance with state law.
Perrysburg city officials have also opposed the allocation of revenues from sales tax to the transit authority, arguing that Perrysburg would lose to competition from merchants that do not have to pay taxes for the transit authority.
Additionally, TARTA is also currently negotiating wages and other contract details with its drivers and members of the Toledo Area Regional Paratransit Service.
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