By Kyle LoJacono
Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) members have closed a $3.3 million budget shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year.
HART agreed to a preliminary $61.2 million budget for 2011-12 and $63.7 million for 2012-13. The board lost $1.9 million from local property taxes and a $1.4 million reduction of federal money, but averted major service cuts by increasing the millage rate up to 0.5 cents per $1,000 in property value.
HART suffered a funding blow in November when Hillsborough voters voted against a 1-cent sales tax increase on every dollar spent within the county, which would have, in part, added money for bus routes. The new budget needs to be adopted by September to go in place in November and the two most likely options to plug the budget hole are cutting services or raising fares.
“We knew we were going to go in this direction if the sales tax failed,” said HART board member and Hillsborough Commissioner Mark Sharpe referring to voters rejecting the sales tax increase.
Sharpe said he would rather look at which bus routes are used the least and cut from those instead of increasing fare. If a hike did happen, he said it would likely be 25 cents per ride, but predicts that would drive people away from using the services.
“When you raise fees like that, people tend to stop using them,” Sharpe said. “We’d have the same problem next year and the next year, if we go down that route.”
HART is proposing reductions to 10 routes starting in November, which would reduce ridership by 1.8 percent.
The millage rate increase will cost the average household in the county — valued at $92,820 — an extra $1.61 each year to a total of $46.41.
Other possibilities for saving money include:
–Eliminating a proposed 3.2 percent salary increase for drivers and mechanics.
–Cutting the percentage of health benefits HART pays for family members.
–Rejecting a planned $2,046 trip for HART Chairwoman Alison Hewitt to a national transit association meeting in New Jersey.
–Reviewing employee salaries.
–Have interim HART director Philip Hale keep running the organization. Hale is paid $149,427 compared with $185,338 for David Armijo, who was fired in April.
At this point, HART is looking at almost any option that prevents layoffs.
“We want people to have jobs,” Sharpe said.
HART is aware of a proposal made by Sen. Jack Latvala, R-St. Petersburg, chairman of the Florida Senate Transportation Committee, to merge the organization with Pinellas County’s bus service, Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA). The radical change could save money by consolidating overhead costs. Latvala said the idea would not eliminate any bus services.
HART already operates a bus route that takes people from Tampa to Clearwater, while PSTA runs two buses between Pinellas and Tampa.
HART spokeswoman Marcia Mejia said her agency has invited Latvala to speak at an upcoming board meeting.
Currently, HART operates 197 buses and 36 vans that transport people along 32 routes. The total ridership for the agency was 12.8 million last year. For more information on HART, visit www.gohart.org.
Lutz-area HARTline route
20X – Express service originates at First Baptist Church of Lutz
Ridership in May 2010: 1,264
Ridership in May 2011: 1,558, increase of 23 percent
Ridership in 2010 year to date: 10,862
Ridership in 2011 year to date: 12,176, increase of 12 percent
Overall, HART bus ridership increased 16 percent in May 2011 compared to the same month last year.
