Print |
E-mail to a friend
NEWS
TTA uneasy about funding amid budget cuts
HUNTINGTON -- Budget cutters in Washington have local transit officials nervous.
Their concerns were vocalized Wednesday at the Tri-State Transit Authority's monthly meeting. The comments came as Paul Davis, general manager of TTA, addressed board members about his recent trip to Washington, where uncertainty prevails.
The federal budget, which funds $1.43 million or 24 percent of TTA's annual revenue, continues operating under a series of continuing resolutions -- short-term spending plans aimed at preventing a government shutdown as Congress works to approve a long-term budget.
Davis worries because each short-term fix has included major cuts. For instance, he told board members, the most recent continuing resolution cut $6 billion from the Federal Railroad Administration. He worries transit funding could be the next target, whether that be by passage of a final transportation bill or another continuing resolution.
TTA also faces a potential loss through a U.S. Census adjustment, which would place Huntington and Charleston into the same geographical area potentially causing the two cities to share federal transit funds.
"If we don't have any new increases in operating, then it is eventually when fuel goes up, benefits go up, wages go up -- we've got to have a raise," Davis said. "It will get to the point where it will start causing pressure here at TTA."
Board member Bernard Queen asked Davis if TTA has a strategy if federal funding declines. Davis and staff members responded by saying they have pinpointed "low-hanging fruit," such as increasing bus fares and discontinuing less productive routes.
"If we sit here and wait until it happens, then we're almost in a panic stage as to what we need to cut or how we can get within the budget," Queen said.
Davis' visit to Washington included meetings with members of West Virginia's delegation, to which board member Randy Moore asked for a report. Davis summarized the response from some members.
"We don't know where we're headed over the next couple of years," he said. "We think that the Republicans that have been elected, they think they're on a mandate. We don't think there's going to be any new discretionary money over the next probably two years."
In other news, Davis said TTA continues to work with developer Metropolitan Partners to receive a $50,000 maintenance deposit for Pullman Square. He said Metropolitan Partners has committed to complete $50,000 in maintenance work at the downtown shopping center.
Moore said $50,000 will not complete needed repairs in the parking garages. Davis said that to-do list includes expansion joints, along with normal wear and tear.
The $50,000 deposit was a part of negotiations that lowered the developer's rent.
TTA and Metropolitan Partners share ownership of the 3rd Avenue shopping center.
