A WATA bus
The Williamsburg Area Transit Authority’s Board of Directors approved Wednesday a $12.4 million budget for the upcoming year, a spending plan that calls for the local contribution to the authority to increase by $168,680.
The budget document passed Wednesday seeks to boost contributions from the localities by 14 percent each, bringing local contributions to $654,054 from James City County, $370,859 from York County and $343,070 from Williamsburg. Those figures remain preliminary until the localities each pass their budgets later this year.
WATA may adjust the budget before it goes into effect July 1. Contributions from localities or grant funding figures could change. The directors did not offer any comments on the budget prior to approving the budget.
Of the $12.4 million budget, almost $1.7 million is related to operating costs incurred by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. The foundation provides WATA with money to offset the costs reflected in the budget, effectively rendering WATA a pass through for Colonial Williamsburg’s spending on bus services.
There is also $98,716 to provide a 2 percent salary increase to WATA employees. While employees received a 3 percent salary increase last year, they did not receive a direct compensation increase for the five previous years dating back to 2008.
The budget reflects a decrease in state funding during a year in which the authority must grapple with increased costs, primarily in the form of personnel spending — healthcare and retirement costs for its employees are growing — and the maintenance of its bus fleet. The average bus in the fleet is 9.5 years old, though five new buses are slated to join by March.
In all, the new budget increases spending by about $3 million. Federal grant money is projected to climb by $2.45 million, offsetting much of the increase.
The current budget year has seen the introduction of new services from the authority, including a digital service riders can use to track the location of buses in the WATA network and a new route offering service to Jamestown.
Also in the new budget is money for the purchase of a replacement for one of WATA’s trolleys, the purchase of a smaller bus equipped to serve disabled riders and the construction of up to three new bus shelters. It also includes money to deal with increased costs in contractual services like shelter cleaning and bus washing.
WATA serves riders with bus service to about 360 stops. Its network includes James City County, Williamsburg, Upper York County and limited access to Newport News and Surry County.