CU Mass Transit Board Approved FY 2011 Budget

The Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District starts a new fiscal year Thursday with some uncertainty. The MTD Board approved a $36 million budget for F-Y 2011 on Wednesday-- with nearly two thirds of that funding coming from the state. But managing director Bill Volk says they don't know if Governor Quinn will reduce that state funding as part of budget cuts he's announcing Thursday morning.

"Well, we've heard nothing to the contrary (to full funding) at this point", said Volk, prior to Wednesday's CUMTD Board meeting. "But our full appropriation is in both the (Illinois) House and Senate versions, and the approved budget. So we'll just have to wait and see what the governor has to say."

Volk says the CU-MTD has put contingency plans in place, in case their state funding is cut. He says, for example, if state funding to the agency is cut by 10%, or $2 million, the reduction would come out of their Capital Expenditures budget, and NOT out of Operations.

At the same time, the CU Mass Transit District has yet to receive the $4 million the state had allocated to them for the 4th quarter of the fiscal year that ended Wednesday. Volk says the transit agency will use reserve funds and a line of credit to get by until that money arrives.

Meanwhile, the local revenue that makes up the rest of the CU-MTD's budget is taking a hit. Volk says the soft economy has resulted in lower property tax revenues. And he says the CU-MTD may have to seek an increase in the property tax levy.

"We would expect in our levy this year to maybe propose a 4% increase," says Volk. "But that would be the maximum, and it actually will probably end up lower than that."

Volk says the CU-MTD will likely annex additional territory in 2012. Areas that could be annexed include new sections of the Stone Creek subdivision in southeast Urbana, and the Apollo industrial subdivision on the north end of Champaign. But Volk says property tax revenue from newly annexed areas would not be available to the transit district until 2012.

The CU-MTD also lost an estimated $150,000 in the fiscal year just ended, due to its popular $60 annual passes. Volk says the passes have sold well since the price was lowered by nearly 75%. At the same time, he says CU-MTD ridership is up roughly 2%, at a time when public transit use is declining nationwide.