The loss of $300,000 in federal and state grant money motivated the North Oakland Transportation Authority (NOTA) board last week to eliminate weekend services and take one vehicle off the road.
‘We are okay for this year,? said Pat Fitchena, director of NOTA. ‘We don’t want to put the people into a panic.?
Unless additional funding is provided, NOTA voted to eliminate its Saturday and Sunday services along with taking one vehicle out of service, both measures effective Sept. 1.
Combined, these measures are expected to save NOTA more than $15,000 this year.
Although the grant loss will mainly affect next year’s cash flow, Fitchena said, ‘We have to start watching the money now.?
‘We have some time,? said NOTA accountant Lynn Gustafson. ‘It’s not a desperate situation by any means right now.?
NOTA provides free transportation to senior citizens, mentally and physically disabled individuals and welfare-to-work recipients living in Oxford, Addison and Orion townships.
NOTA’s loss of $300,000 in JARC (Job Access Reverse Commute) grant money ? half of which came from the federal government and the other half from the state ? was a major blow to the organization.
‘It was like a bomb suddenly hit me in the back of the head,? said Fitchena, describing her initial reaction to the news. ‘All of the sudden NOTA got nothing.?
NOTA had been receiving $150,000 in JARC funds annually, except for last year when it received $300,000.
Apparently this year, NOTA’s JARC money was no longer earmarked as a set guaranteed amount and as a result, it’s all going to the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) and the Detroit Department of Transportation.
The $300,000 loss, compared to last year, is equal to approximately half of NOTA’s annual budget. Fortunately, NOTA has a sizeable fund balance of $341,920, which should cover the projected $164,768 net loss for this year.
‘For cash flow purposes, we’re fine for this year,? Gustafson said. ‘We’ll probably have a net loss for this year, but it’s okay because it will eat into the large fund balance of 55 percent of our budget that we had. It will bring us down to a still healthy fund balance level.?
‘It’s not as if we’re going to run out of money at the end of the year,? Gustafson noted.
It’s how the loss of the JARC monies will affect next year that has NOTA officials worried. But they aren’t taking things lying down.
?(Oakland County commissioners) Eric Wilson, Bill Patterson and I are out in the field and we are drumming up money,? Fitchena said. ‘We are working diligently to try to make up this loss.?
Already they have met with representatives of Crittenton and Beaumont hospitals, places to which NOTA currently transports riders, and requested secure annual funding from each.
‘We walked away from there with a very good feeling that we are going to be awarded at least $30,000 from each one of those entities, hopefully by the end of this year,? Fitchena said. ‘We’re not balking if they want to send us more.?
NOTA also plans to ask for $30,000 from St. Joseph Mercy Oakland hospital in Pontiac.
‘We need all the help we can get, wherever we can get it,? said Fitchena, adding that NOTA not only needs to recoup the lost JARC money, it needs to secure ‘more stable funding? sources than grants.
Fortunately, Training and Treatment Innovations, Inc., the mental health agency that runs Clubhouse Inspiration in Oxford, agreed to increase its annual contribution to NOTA from $150,000 to $200,000.
On the federal level, Fitchena and Wilson met with U.S. Congressman Joe Knollenberg about replacing the lost JARC funds.
‘He said he would look into the situation and see what he could do,? said Fitchena, noting Knollenberg told her the JARC funding was not a ‘done deal? because it’s only gone through the House so far, not the Senate.
‘We already have submitted our 2007 application for JARC (funds),? Fitchena said. ‘We don’t know if that’s going to become a reality.?
‘You’re really at the mercy of these grants,? Gustafson said.
Fitchena said NOTA is too important to lose.
‘There is no other public transportation out here other than us,? she said. ‘Your back is against the wall because there are no taxi cabs here.?
From the grocery store and church to dialysis appointments and jobs, NOTA gave 24,649 rides last year.
‘This service is so needed in this community,? Fitchena said. ‘Every week there’s at least 10 to 15 new riders.?
NOTA has been running 10 of its 13 buses and vans per day (Monday through Friday) to keep up with the demand. That number, however, will go down to nine a day on September 1, unless additional funding is provided.
NOTA’s annual operating cost per vehicle is approximately $30,000. Taking one bus out of service as of Sept. 1 would save more than $10,000.
On Saturdays, NOTA runs two vehicles and on Sundays, three vehicles take riders to church. The recent vote to eliminate these days as of Sept. 1 will save more than $5,000.
Although ‘nobody has ever paid a fee to ride NOTA,? Fitchena said, ‘There is always the chance we could come and ask for a $2 ride to work and back kind of thing.?
‘We really don’t want to burden our seniors with having to pay,? she noted.
As a last resort, NOTA could, if needed, go back to operating six vehicles a day, which Gustafson described as ‘very do-able.?
‘We’ve done that since NOTA began,? she said.
NOTA began running 10 vehicles a day when grants received over the last year added more vehicles to the fleet. Gustafson said NOTA had the funds to operate the additional four vehicles, which weren’t originally budgeted for, thanks to the extra $150,000 in state JARC funds received last year.
Fitchena asked that NOTA riders remain calm during these financial difficulties. ‘I don’t want them to panic,? she said. ‘We’re trying to do everything we possibly can before we make any drastic cuts.?