Property tax decline puts dent in TARTA: Lower cost of fuel helps offset crunch

Aug. 7--Lower fuel prices this year are helping the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority keep its costs under control, but another impact of the slumping regional economy appears poised to hit the bus agency hard: lower property-tax revenue.

Compared with last year, when diesel fuel's price soared to all-time highs, TARTA's fuel expenses are down by $582,000 so far this year, controller Stacy Klink told the transit authority's board of trustees yesterday.

But while driver overtime costs also have declined, she said, declining property values and foreclosures are eroding revenue from the two property levies that last provided the authority with a combined $17.7 million.

Ms. Klink said she expects to receive more specific information from the county auditor's office next month. James Gee, the tran-sit authority's general manager, said he's been told to expect a $1.1 million decline next year.

Mr. Gee added that state budget cuts for transit funding are expected to cost TARTA about $150,000 annually. "There is a crisis in public transit funding in the state of Ohio," Mr. Gee said.

Transit authorities statewide are cutting service and raising fares to balance their budgets, and while no major changes are likely for TARTA before year's end, "there is the potential for significant changes next year," he said.

TARTA reduced off-peak service, dropped 10-cent transfers, and combined six routes into three last summer to cope with skyrocketing fuel costs. Fuel prices' retreat later last year prompted calls for service restoration calls, but transit officials said they would postpone making more changes until after receiving a consultant's analysis of the TARTA system and its funding sources.

Recommendations from that analysis, completed in the spring, included expanding the transit authority to cover all of Lucas County, switching to a sales tax for its local subsidy, and building a central bus terminal in downtown Toledo to replace the ring of five stations on a bus loop, which would be eliminated.

While Mr. Gee said in early May that "significant" service changes could occur by fall, he said yesterday that only "some very minor changes" will be implemented next month.

"Anything substantial, we're going to push to January just so we can see what the property tax impact will be," he said.

TARTA is the last major transit authority in Ohio to rely on a property levy for its local subsidy; others all use sales taxes for that purpose.

A consultant's report released in the spring recommended that TARTA switch to a sales tax too, but to do that, the transit authority would have to expand its service area to include all of Lucas County. That, in turn, will require the agency to resolve its Perrysburg problem.

Perrysburg, unhappy with the amount of property tax its residents pay into TARTA, continues to explore ideas for setting up its own transit operation.

City officials have indicated they won't consent to expanding the transit authority, as is required by state law, until Perrysburg's issues are resolved. They also have come out against switching to a sales tax on the grounds that Perrysburg merchants would lose business to competitors in Perrysburg Township who wouldn't have to collect a transit tax.

During the board meeting yesterday, Mr. Gee also reported that contract negotiations with Toledo Area Regional Paratransit Service drivers have reached an impasse on wages and will go to a fact finder next month.

While TARPS and TARTA drivers are both represented by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 697, the paratransit drivers have been without a contract since the transit authority brought that operation in-house in September, after having contracted it out before that.

Mr. Gee said that under Local 697's contract with First Transit, TARPS drivers would have been entitled to raises of between 3 1/3 and 3 1/2 percent. But that contract is "null and void," the transit manager said, and TARTA cannot afford to grant raises that high.

Contact David Patch at:

dpatch@theblade.com

or 419-724-6094.

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