LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – At a time when public services are being increasingly relied upon, Lake County's transit authority is facing challenges due to dwindling financial resources coupled with the need to update its fleet.

Lake Transit Authority is a joint powers authority formed in 1996 between the county and the two cities to provide transit services – from buses that traverse the county to dial-a-ride services.

Mark Wall is general manager of Lake Transit. Since 2007, the agency has contracted for transportation services with Bremerton, Wash.-based Paratransit Services, a community-based nonprofit organization which also provides services in Washington and Oregon. In California, besides Lake County, Paratransit Services has operations in Tehama and Glenn counties.

Paratransit Services and Teamsters Local 624, which has represented local transit workers since 2007, reached an agreement on a new three-year employment contract which was ratified by the employees last Sunday, as Lake County News has reported.

That alleviated concerns about a strike, which had arisen over the summer after negotiations appeared to have deadlocked.

With services continuing uninterrupted, that's one less concern for the transit authority, which is facing budget challenges and aging equipment, said Wall.

Such challenges for transit agencies are a statewide concern. The California Transit Association has regularly reported on raids the state has carried out against transit funding over the last several years.

Late in 2009, the association fought the Schwarzenegger administration all the way to the California Supreme Court, which refused to review the Third District Court of Appeals ruling that the funding diversions violated statutory and constitutional amendments.

State transit assistance – which previously was $500,000 annually – was cut and then restored last year. However, the funding source isn't guaranteed, Wall said.

While the state gave the transit agency $350,000 retroactively to cover this year and last, Wall said it's expected that the funding source will go away completely in the 2011-12 fiscal year.

In addition, the local transportation fund – derived from a quarter cent of state sales tax in Lake County – is down by around $100,000 this year, he said.

Both funding sources are used for operating the transit system. To try and keep funding even, Wall said the transit authority has pursued federal grants and increased fares last year. To increase federal funding, they've redesignated routes to have more of an inner city schedule, but that means less flexibility.

The transit authority has been able to avoid cutting services, which many other areas of the state have seen happen, such as Pinole, which has cuts of 50 percent over two years, he explained.

“We're very, very fortunate,” Wall said.

With half of the fleet – or about six to seven buses – beyond the normal life expectancy, the district had to use that $350,000 from the state, along with stimulus and Proposition 1B funds to buy new vehicles, Wall said.

Ridership also has gone down after seeing big increases in recent years.

Wall said the first three quarters of 2010 saw 228,467 passengers, down from 239,504 the previous year, a loss of about 11,000 passengers, or 5 percent.

He attributed the decline to people not having the money to ride as much as they did previously.

That decline in ridership equates to about $34,000 less fair revenue than anticipated, or a 10-percent decrease, he said.

The Area Planning Council estimated the Local Transportation Fund would have approximately $1,150,175 for the 2009-10 budget year, said Wall. That was just adjusted downward to $965,846.

“We have no reserve left,” he said.

The 2009-10 grand jury report found Lake Transit was facing a $384,457 deficit going into the 2010-11 fiscal year.

Wall said that deficit has been alleviated, at least for now.

With state transit assistance funding restored, “We're whole this year but we don't know what it looks like next year.”

He added, “The rest of us are realizing that we have to make things work.”

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