The Rock Region Metro board of directors approved Tuesday a $19.2 million operating budget for 2019, but Pulaski County and major cities within the county that help subsidize the transit agency's operations will contribute $348,000 less than the staff proposed last month.
The budget instead takes the money from the agency's reserve fund balances after the county and the cities of Little Rock, North Little Rock, Sherwood and Maumelle apparently balked at contributing up to 5 percent more to Rock Region's operations in 2019 than they did this year.
"This item was discussed last month," said Wanda Crawford, the finance director for Rock Region. "Since then, we met with our funding partners. At their request, we had another meeting of our budget committee."
The committee made one change: Adding the $348,000 from reserves to the $135,000 in reserves that already was being used to shore up the 2019 budget.
"This has the full support of the budget committee," said board member Sara Lenehan, the committee chairman and the Little Rock finance director.
The deductions will leave cash-flow reserves totaling $723,767, the minimum required for the transit agency to operate, Crawford said.
Reserves above that amount typically are used by the agency to provide the local matching funds for federal grants. Little Rock City Manager Bruce Moore, who also is a board member, noted that the budget has provisions to match all of the anticipated 2019 grants.
Collectively, the five jurisdictions that subsidize Rock Region's operations will contribute $13.6 million next year, which is 2.25 percent, or $298,793, more than 2018, under the budget approved Tuesday.
Under the initial proposed budget, it was assumed that they would contribute $13.9 million, which was 4.87 percent, or $647,570, more than they contributed this year, which is $13.3 million.
Little Rock, the jurisdiction with the largest population in the system, still contributes the most. Its share is $9.4 million, 2.22 percent more than 2018 but less than the $9.6 million in the draft 2019 budget introduced last month.
North Little Rock will contribute $2,813,062 next year. The figure is 2.2 percent, or $61,212, more than the $2,751,849 it contributed this year.
Pulaski County will contribute $1.2 million, Sherwood's share will be $81,568 and Maumelle's is $40,157.
The 2019 operating budget is 6.2 percent more than the 2018 budget, which agency officials said was needed to offset lower ridership, higher fuel prices, increased health insurance premiums, employee pay increases totaling $291,718 and three additional positions.
The new positions are a planning director, who would serve as a federally mandated security officer, and a driver and a clerk in the agency's paratransit arm, which is a federally required service to carry passengers who are unable to use a bus. Rock Region hasn't added a paratransit driver in seven years.
The board also approved tweaks to five of the 25 regular bus routes that are scheduled to take effect in March. They include:
• Implementing an on-demand pilot project on Route 11 serving Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Little Rock on what was a deviation created to serve Philander Smith College. The deviation didn't attract many riders. Beginning in March, the bus will go to Philander Smith only if the transit agency receives a request to.
• Creating the first cross-town connection in North Little Rock by extending Route 18 serving McAlmont to the eastern end of McCain Boulevard and terminating at the Walmart store on McCain.
In addition to providing access to the store, it will allow riders 10 daily transfer opportunities, with Route 10 serving University of Arkansas/Pulaski Technical University and access to shopping and employment opportunities along McCain and John F. Kennedy boulevards.
• Returning Route 3, which serves Baptist Health Medical Center, to its original configuration that includes crossing the Hughes Street overpass on Interstate 630. Rock Region had modified the route last year while the Arkansas Department of Transportation replaced the overpass as part of an I-630 widening project.
• Simplifying service on Route 22 by eliminating a deviation into the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on its northbound route. Service to the campus will remain with Route 16.
• Removing an off-peak pattern to Route 4 serving the Levy/Amboy area of North Little Rock. Donna Bowers, the agency's operations director, said eliminating the shorter off-peak pattern would increase coverage during the day and reduce confusion among riders.
Metro on 11/28/2018