Increase anticipated in STA reserve

Spokane Transit’s reserve is about to grow again.

STA’s proposed $63 million budget for 2005 includes 10 percent more service than this year, but also resumes a cycle of building up a reserve.

It’s expected to grow by $5.3 million and reach $11.7 million by the end of next year.

The STA Board is scheduled to vote on the budget tonight.

The problem the board faces is that the .3 percent sales tax increase approved by voters earlier this year ($3 on a $1,000 purchase) is more than enough to bring service back up to the desired 1999 level, said STA CEO Kim Zentz. But if the board had asked for only .2 percent, that wouldn’t have been enough. So now there’s a surplus.

STA was criticized for its reserve in past years by some citizens who said the agency had too much money.

But this time is different, Zentz said.

The plan, according to Zentz, is to build the reserve until 2007, at which time the board could elect to cut back its sales tax levy by .1 percent, further expand service or use the money to fund a new transportation program.

That could be anything from a neighborhood bus pass program to funding light rail or another rapid transit system.

Zentz said she’s aware that building a reserve opens STA to criticism, but added that board members have said they aren’t willing to use all the money to expand service when voters could turn down the tax increase when it comes up for reapproval in 2008. That would mean severely reducing routes.

“I didn’t think it was prudent for us to max out the funding during the first sunset period,” Zentz said.

Although the budget will increase by 40 percent, fixed route service is planned to increase in September 2005 by only 10 percent. The disparity is due in part to funds being used for capital projects like replacing larger buses with smaller buses and pass-through funding for federal programs that STA administers.

Fuel prices are also estimated to increase by 45 percent over the course of the year, said STA Finance Director Jim Plaster.

“We’re really trying very hard this year and for the next five years to make sure that everything we do is geared toward increasing ridership,” Zentz said.

Zentz is also proposing giving management employees a one-time, 2.5 percent lump-sum pay boost for 2004. They would return to their previous pay levels in 2005.

Those employees haven’t gotten any pay increases since January 2002, but Zentz said she won’t ask for permanent raises.

“The community was reasonably clear that they didn’t want all the tax increase to go to salary increases,” she said.

An agreement with management employees regarding medical coverage will also create some savings to offset the raises, Plaster said.

Union employees are now in contract mediation.

STA plans to hire the equivalent of almost 29 full-time employees by the end of the year, including drivers and mechanics for the new routes.

There’s some good news in STA’s budget for local municipalities seeking to fix their crumbling streets. If those streets are on a bus route, the cities or Spokane County can apply for $3 million worth of STA cooperative funds.

Road projects will be selected by the Spokane Regional Transportation Council.